Both teams lost on the road in Round 3, but which side will come out on top in Round 4?
Real Madrid, Panathinaikos looking for a response in 2024 final rematch
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Regular Season
Round 4 of 34
Regular Season
Real MadridRMB
9086
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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It is a game that was marked in red on both teams' calendar: the time Real Madrid and Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens would meet after their epic encounter in the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. This Thursday night, they come head to head once again.
As we all know, the Greens beat Los Blancos 80-95 in Berlin last May to claim their seventh continental crown, the club's first since 2011, and deny Real the chance to win back-to-back EuroLeague titles for the first time since 1968.
The scenario is a little bit different this time around as both teams are coming off losses in Round 3. Paris Basketball beat Panathinaikos 84-80 in the French capital, which was the Greens’ first EuroLeague loss of the season, while Real registered a 76-72 road defeat at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Chus Mateo is without two of his new signings, forward Usman Garuba and playmaker Andres Feliz, for the visit of Panathinaikos, but star point guard Facu Campazzo is back available after serving a one-game ban. This past summer also saw Real bring in center Serge Ibaka and combo guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes. Ibaka, in particular, should be key in tonight’s battle against the reigning EuroLeague champion.
Up against Mathias Lessort, who had three very solid performances against Real last season, Ibaka will need to be wary of the Frenchman’s speed as he looks to erupt for dunks in transition. In his three games against Real last season, Lessort averaged 20.3 points on 23-of-37 two-pointers (62.2% 2FG), 5.7 rebounds and a PIR of 25.0. Fortunately for Coach Mateo, Ibaka and Walter Tavares are two elite players on defense, which should make life tough for Lessort.
Panathinaikos also has some new faces in center Omer Yurtseven, forward Cedi Osman and playmaker Lorenzo Brown. It should be a special game for Brown and Juancho Hernangomez, who are members of the Spanish national team and helped La Roja win a gold medal at EuroBasket 2022.
Real forward Mario Hezonja, the only active EuroLeague player that has won both teams' jerseys, will also be looking forward to the occasion. Hezonja has always shown love and respect for the Greens throughout the years and even watched the second half of the 2011 EuroLeague Championship Game with Panathinaikos’ fans at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Hezonja had just won the ANGE title with Zagreb that morning and went to the stands after receiving the trophy at halftime. Only 12 players have worn both teams' jerseys in the current EuroLeague, and no one has ever won the EuroLeague title with both Real and Panathinaikos.
Looking back at last season, Panathinaikos' great campaign was reflected in its last two games against Real. Of course, Panathinaikos conquered its seventh star by downing Real in Berlin behind an outstanding Kostas Sloukas, who earned 2024 Final Four MVP honors after an iconic performance in the championship game: 24 points on near-perfect shooting, missing just one free throw, 3 assists, 7 fouls drawn and a PIR of 31. He set a new record for most three-pointers made without missing in a Euroleague Final, going 4 of 4. Before that, Panathinaikos broke a 12-game road losing streak against Real which dated back to 2013. It downed Real 86-97 in Madrid behind 26 points from Lessort.
This game has all the ingredients to be the kind of showdown that you only see in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague at this time of the year: the last two EuroLeague champions coming face to face. Head coaches Ergin Ataman (Anadolu Efes Istanbul 2021, 2022; Panathinaikos 2024) and Chus Mateo (Real 2023) have combined for the last four EuroLeague trophies, while we will see almost 20 EuroLeague winners on the floor and as many as eight All-EuroLeague First Team selections: Sergio Llull, Tavares, Campazzo, Dzanan Musa, Kendrick Nunn, Lessort, Brown and Sloukas.
It rarely gets better than this. Again, this is the first time both teams are playing one another since last May’s championship game, so expect a perfect example of why this is the world's most passionate league.