Fading (13-19) Bayern must win to have any chance of prolonging its play-in hopes against a Panathinaikos (21-11) team that also needs the victory to stay in charge of its top-four ambitions.
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos: 'Important game to protect our second place'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 33 of 34
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
7582
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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Mathias Lessort will hope to propel Panathinaikos against the team he represented in the 2019-20 season, having already done damage with 16 points to procure a 78-71 win over Bayern in Round 2. Backcourt leadership will come from the endlessly reliable Kostas Sloukas, who averages 18.3 points over the last three games. Bayern has lost three in a row and needs to improve an offense which has reached 80 points only once in the last eight games. The German club will hope that Nick Weiler-Babb stays hot after scoring a season-high 17 points in last week's loss to Barcelona.
Pablo Laso, Bayern head coach
"Panathinaikos has invested heavily in players this year, and they have been having a successful season so far. However, we aim to give our best effort to secure the highest possible position. It's a tough game, but we'll strive to win, especially as we'll be playing in front of our fans, who have been supporting us tremendously this season. We need a flawless performance against this team, that's for sure."
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach
"A very important and difficult game. Maybe Bayern missed their goal for the playoffs, but they have one of the best coaches in Europe - I have big respect for coach Laso. They have experienced players and play at home, so we need to be focused and start the game like we did in Bologna. We also have to avoid the mistakes of our second half in Bologna. Important game to protect our second place in the standings."
Luca Vildoza, Panathinaikos player
"It will be tough. Playing on the road is always tough in the EuroLeague. They have a few hurt people, we will try to take advantage of that. We go there with lots of expectations to secure our second place in the standings."