Turkish-Spanish double-headers mark Euroleague night

ISTANBUL - MADRID

Fenerbahçe Ülker and Beşiktaş suffered defeats in their first meetings with Real Madrid and Barcelona Regal respectively in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. AA photo

Fenerbahçe Ülker and Beşiktaş meets two European giants to stage a duo of Turkish-Spanish meetings in the Euroleague tonight.

Fenerbahçe Ülker visits Real Madrid as Beşiktaş hosts Barcelona Regal as the two Istanbul teams will take on two Spanish giants.

Fenerbahçe Ülker’s trip to the Spanish capital is decisive for the Group A lead, but Beşiktaş is somewhat more comfortable after booking its ticket to the next round in the competition.
After seven matches, Beşiktaş recorded four wins and three defeats, to trail Barcelona and CSKA Moscow.

Fenerbahçe Ülker is second witha 4-3 winning record, but there are two more teams with four wins, meaning that still anything can happen in the tight group. Real Madrid leads with five wins in seven matches.

Fenerbahçe lost 83-75 to Real in the two teams’ first meeting.

The Yellow Canaries showed signs of improvement when they beat Union Olimpija after two defeats in a row. Coach Simone Pianigiani wants his team to be up for the challenge against Real Madrid, one of the heavyweights in the competition.

Positive signals

“We want to receive from this game some positive signals about our moment to be better,” he told Euroleague website. “So not only watching the results but our performance to be consistent in one of the most difficult games, because Real Madrid is the best team in Europe right now. They are in very good shape in this moment. Especially at home they have incredible qualities to play their rhythm and tempo of the game.

“For us it’s important to give a signal that we are more consistent every day,” the Italian coach added.
For Beşiktaş, it will also be about testing how it will fare against one of the favorites in the competition.
As the debutants in the competition, the Black Eagles exceeded expectations and booked their place in the Top 16 with three matches left in the group stage. Beşiktaş battled hard but lost to Barcelona Regal 72-60 in the two teams’ first meeting.