The 28th meeting between the sides tips off Friday night's slate of games
Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos set for another chapter of a growing rivalry
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Another star-studded showdown of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague giants is on the slate tonight when Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul hosts Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in a re-match of last season's Final Four semifinal.
The Ulker Sports and Event Hall has been sold out for more than a week for a game that has so many storylines that is hard to even count them.
This game marks another return of Kostas Sloukas to play against the team where he played for five seasons and for which he played a vital role in winning the 2017 EuroLeague crown. Cedi Osman will also return to Istanbul for the first time since coming back to the EuroLeague, as is the case for Omer Yurtseven, who grew up with Fenerbahce before going to the NBA.
Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius has left a big mark in Athens and always enjoys competing against his former club. Meanwhile, this game will also pit Panathinaikos guard Lorenzo Brown on one side against his former Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv teammates Wade Baldwin and Bonzie Colson, who now wear the Fenerbahce uniform.
Then, of course, there is Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos coach and a former head coach of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Galatasaray, going into the den of a great rival.
"Fenerbahce has showed great performances so far in the beginning of the season," Ataman acknowledged, adding Panathinaikos is facing injury issues with forwards Ioannis Papapetrou and Konstantinos Mitoglou missing the game due to illness, and Marius Grigonis questionable with an injury.
"We have some problems with forwards, some important players who have a health problem now, but that's the reason we have a long roster and we go there to win the game," Ataman confirmed.
Due to his history against Fenerbahce, Ataman's arrival to Panathinaikos alone made the games between these two clubs a must-watch TV. On top of that came their Final Four semifinal back in May in Berlin, which Panathinaikos won 73-57 en route to winning the EuroLeague crown.
"Panathinaikos presents a problem with a lot of talent. They have the same team [as in the Final Four]," Jasikevicus pointed out, hinting that the loss in Berlin still bothers him. "We need to learn from the mistakes we committed in the semifinals in Berlin, continue getting better and integrate new players."
And although that Final Four loss was the last meeting between these two sides, Fenerbahce will have only four players from that affair playing on Friday: Nigel Hayes-Davis, Marko Guduric, Tarik Biberovic and Dyshawn Pierre, as Sertac Sanli and Scottie Wilbekin are injured, while the rest of the squad left.
Fenerbahce enters this home game with a 3-1 record. But the team lost its last home game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and does not want to register back-to-back home defeats, nullifying everything good the team has done one the road.
Still, it feels there is more pressure on the visitors, the reigning champs who have lost their last two games, in Paris and in Madrid, and another loss would result a negative 2-3 record after five rounds.
All of that just adds more fuel to the fire off this growing rivalry, whose next chapter is set to tip off at 19:45 CET. Make sure to tune in to EuroLeague TV and see what happens next.