The basketball players of FC Bayern met Red Stern Belgrade in a nerve-wracking play-in game after extra time with 97:93 and thus the chance of reaching the playoff quarter-finals. To do this, the Munich team must win on Good Friday at Real Madrid, which was defeated at home against Paris. Afterwards, coach Gordon Herbert spoke of a roller coaster ride that will bring up his team despite all efforts: “We were on the ground, came back, were down and won in overtime. That brings the team even closer together.”
There was great excitement in the new SAP Garden, which was sold out with 11 200 spectators, before the first pass was played when the Serbian block flew to the expensive places in front of it from the Serbian block with about 500 fans. The spectators fought the vastness. The police, who had already experienced similar incidents with Belgrade followers in the Audi Dome and quickly solved, showed a reasonable presence with several dozen civil servants, but held back and de -escalated the action. The first play-in game in the history of the Munich basketball players was able to begin despite this unsightly intros; The Munich players hadn’t noticed much of the incident anyway, as they completed their warm -up program at the other end of the field.
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And they had learned from the recent 77:89 home defeat against Fenerbahçe Istanbul when they overslept the first quarter and ultimately unsuccessfully ran after a double-digit deficit. Now top scorer Carsen Edwards, who scored 17 points, sank his first three. Nick Weiler-Babb (15), who had remained pale against the Turks, hit just as safe; The hosts quickly moved to 12: 5. But in his last preliminary round game, which the Serbs had lost in the title aspirant Athens, Red Star showed how much class is in this squad, which includes a number of World Cup finalists. Like Nikola Kalinic or Filip Petrusev, who brought their team closer and closer to the Munich and finally took the lead.
In addition to strong shooters, Belgrade also has a very physical defense game that made it difficult for Bavaria – especially since the Serbs pay attention to the strong Munich gids. But they didn’t have one on the bill: Munich’s top talent Ivan Kharchenkov. The 18-year-old had led the German U-18 selection to the European Championship title in the summer, had already been appointed to the A squad at the time by national coach Gordon Herbert-and was now almost solely connected to his club team with eleven points. His threesome brought Bayern to 21:23 after the first quarter.
Drops on a great Euroleague evening: The Serbian fans are throwing beer cups and beating themselves
In the Serbian fan block, this apparently triggered such emotions that a few Belgraders walked each other on the collar. But the police also ended this scene quickly and inconspicuously by picking up and losing a few fans. Then the focus was on ball sports again, the Bavarians fought in an exemplary manner, Edwards and Center Devin Booker (21 points) met from a distance, but Belgrade did not subside. The guests took advantage of their physical superiority and had an answer to every course of the Munich: Red star had moved away to 46:39 at the break.
Bayern had picked up this exhausting Play-in-Umweg themselves, with the unnecessary defeat in Tel Aviv and that against favorite Fenerbahçe, which made them fall back to ninth place. At the weekend they also had to go in the Bundesliga, the game against Belgrade was fifth in ten days – the Serbs were able to collect strength on a game -free weekend.
But the team of the coach Gordon Herbert, which is known to be moved by the national team to FCB, has often scored games with great morality and irrepressible fighting spirit. Elias Harris, who came from the bank, Niels Giffey (11 points), Edwards and Weiler-Babb with threes actually turned the deficit in a 71: 61 lead before the last quarter.
The rest was pure will: the Munich players fought for every centimeter, threw themselves after every ball – but Belgrade held against it and was back at the 80:77. These final ten minutes were not a basketball tasty, but an extremely exciting and intensive exchange of blows: the tour changed several times-and the game went into extra time with 82:82.
Then Vladimir Lucic was on hand with two threes. And the point of this incredible game was provided by the outstanding hamlet of Babb when he threw the ball over his head and back to the opposing basket to Booker, who stuffed it into the basket by dunk to the opposing basket.
“We showed great resistance,” said the trainer, when asked how he would prepare his players for the game on Friday at Real Madrid, he didn’t know any conclusive answer: “The boys should do something else, there is no more training on Thursday. I can’t say more yet.”