After some close calls for Real Madrid and a dominating performance from CSKA Moscow in the playoffs, they should find their way to the final despite tough roadblocks.
The 2015 Final Four of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague will take place in Madrid this weekend. Friday, we will be treated to two semi-finals between some of the most impressive performers of this year’s competition.
CSKA Moscow face off against Greek giants Olympiacos Piraeus, before home-town heroes Real Madrid look to beat road warriors Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul.
The earlier game sees a repeat of the 2011-12 final between seven-time champions CSKA Moscow and three-time winners Olympiacos.
CSKA have already beaten Greek opponents in the last round, outlasting Panathinaikos 3-1 in their best-of-five series which included a rampant 74-55 win to close it out.
They put on a defensive masterpiece, restricting their opponents to 12 or less in three quarters of the game and they have been lifted since the addition of former NBA All-Star Andrei Kirilenko.
Olympiacos had a tougher road to Madrid, managing to knock off FC Barcelona in four games after a buzzer-beater in the final game to win 71-68. They’ll be hopeful that Georgios Printezis can repeat his heroics of 2012, as he did against the Catalan giants, but they are up against a strong team.
In a one-off game of basketball, it can be difficult to call but the sheer quality in CSKA’s ranks at the moment, and their defensive capabilities, simply outweigh what Olympiacos can bring.
Back CSKA to win at the handicap at 9/10 and also take them at 17/20 to be winning by the handicap at half-time, they just look like they’ll overpower the Greeks in this one.
The later game sees regular-season sweethearts Real Madrid facing off against newcomers Fenerbahce.
It’s the Turkish side’s first appearance in the Final Four and they are a team that’s red hot, they’ve been excellent away from home this year and they also knocked out the former champions in Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last round.
However, last year’s runners up Real Madrid will be a very tough challenge after they excelled in the regular season. They were given a few tough games in the playoffs against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, pulling away late on in their final game but it certainly wasn’t the walk in the park they expected.
This one will come down to experience, of which Madrid has in abundance and playing in their backyard will be an enormous advantage. With quality players like Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Llull, they have that added quality that knows how to win and that’ll just edge out a very good Fenerbahce team.
Go for Los Blancos to win with the handicap at 9/10 but for both teams to keep it under 157.5 points at 9/10. This will be a close fought game and no one will be pulling away in this one.
