Reigning champ Real (7-0) will aim to prolong its blistering start to the season against a Monaco (5-3) looking for another winning run after seeing a run of five straight successes come to an end with Tuesday's home loss to Efes.
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid: 'For us, it's important to play with energy'
Seasons
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A must-watch duel comes in the backcourt between the league's top rated guards, Facundo Campazzo (20.4 PIR per game) and Mike James (19.6 PIR). The host will also look to impose its authority in the paint through giant Walter Tavares, who blocked 4 shots in Tuesday's hard-earned victory at Valencia. The task of containing him falls to the smooth footwork of Donatas Moteijunas, who has the ability to stretch the floor with a 40% three-point conversion rate so far this season.
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
"Monaco is a physical team, they have individual talent and they can overwhelm you one-on-one, plus they have experienced players at this level. Last year they were in the Final Four and it must not surprise anyone that they are in the high part of the standings. For us, it's important to play with energy, something we had to do against Valencia, because it was a demanding game, but we managed to succeed with big effort. Now we must continue down that path because that's the key to stay in the positive line."
Walter Tavares, Real Madrid player
"After Valencia, we are facing another strong team, especially on offense. They will make it hard for us. Monaco scores a lot of points and we will need to be focused against them. We can only win this game starting from defense, where we will have to be active and help each other more than normal, because our opponent has great individuals. On offense we must share the ball - as we have been doing - and avoid turnovers. We must be aggressive and focusing on facing a tough game in which we will have to fight until the end."