After losing its 100% home record with last week's setback against Panathinaikos, league leader Real (22-5) faces a familiar foe as Sarunas Jasikevicius brings his dangerous Fenerbahce (16-11) to the WiZink Center.
Sarunas Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce: 'We are facing the best team in Europe'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 28 of 34
Regular Season
Real MadridRMB
7989
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFBB
Overview
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Real will guarantee qualification for the playoffs with a win, but faces the first team it lost to this season, with Fener taking that overtime tussle 100-99 thanks to 21 points from Marko Guduric in Round 11. The Turkish team's offense was working to perfection in last week's record win over Baskonia, with Nick Calathes dishing 12 of the team's 32 assists. Real will look for Facundo Campazzo to dominate the backcourt both with and without the ball in this heavyweight matchup.
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
"We have worked well this week and we are facing a game against Fenerbahce, who is one of the candidates to be at the top in this EuroLeague. They are playing at a high level and doing things pretty well. They lost few games since Jasikevicius took the reins and they found a somewhat different way of playing that has injected balance and confidence into the players. We will have to give our 100 percent. We always try to do that, but for this game it's even more necessary because, I insist, we are facing a team that could go all the way in the EuroLeague."
Sarunas Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce head coach
"We are facing the best team in Europe. We have to go there with ambition for sure to win the game and to understand that it is going to be a difficult one. Like always, the key playing against Madrid is not to give easy points, they are doing great at transition basketball and at three point shooting. And then a lot will be decided by rebounding, trying to keep Tavares and Poirier off the offensive glass."
Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid player
"Fenerbahce is a great team coached by a great coach, and we know they will bring the energy to the court. This will be the classic game that is hard and complicated but that we all want to win, especially being at home. For us, this game is a big challenge. We want to make good use of the support of our fans, who always push us to the end, so we can get a win that would allow us to fulfill one of our goals, which is making the playoffs."
Nate Sestina, Fenerbahce player
"It is another big game for us. The remaining games of the regular season are super important for us to make a playoff push. Obviously they have a very good team. They are in the first place. Despite the outcome last time, this is a new game so we just got to come prepared, focused and ready to go."