By the Eurohoops team/ [email protected]
There’s still one matchup left at the Basketball Champions League Play-Ins, but the winner will have to make up for it later as the Roud of 16 doesn’t wait and will start this week with five matches.
It will be a mixed week when it comes to the schedule as Prometey and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem are set to play Game 2 of their best of three Play-In clashes. The Israelis won the first match quite convincingly 95-70.
Meanwhile, the round of 16 begins with five games instead of seven. The duels between BAXI Manresa and Nutribullet Treviso, as well as Galatasaray Nef and Hapoel U-NET Holon, have been postponed to a later date due to COVID-19 protocols. 19.
That leaves only Group L with a full schedule, as Rytas Vilnius await SIG Strasbourg while Lenovo Tenerife travel to Falco Szombathely’s doorstep.
Rytas had an incredible 14-game winning streak until Zalgiris stopped them, but they will no doubt keep the confidence in the game against Strasbourg, which has had its ups and downs recently.
Tenerife is a favorite in most BCL duels and traveling to Hungary doesn’t change that. However, Falco have been a tough home customer and given they will be able to draw energy from the crowd, there could be room for an upset.
The rest of the games are arguably even more interesting. In Group K, Unicaja will take on Cluj U-BT Napoca as the Spanish powerhouse tries to put the fiery newcomers in their place. It will be a good test for Cluj if they have what it takes to aim for the top.
In Group J, a 100% Turkish derby awaits between Tofas and Darussafaka. Dacka had an excellent but tiring week in which they beat Fenerbahce and Galatasaray on the home front and managed to knock out back-to-back champions BCL.
However, Tofas was the team waiting for them in the Turkish league after that and they were the winning team with the score at 81-65. The rematch, a few days later, will be all the more interesting in this spirit.
Finally, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg will host JDA Dijon in Group I. The Germans have established themselves as a title contender with a dominating display in the regular season, but Dijon are an experienced side who have already seen the BCL playoffs. Both teams have won four of their last five games in all competitions.
Timetable (CET)
January 25
Tofas – Darussafaka 6:00 p.m.
Falco Szombathely – Lenovo Tenerife 18:00
Unicaja – Cluj U-BT Napoca 8:30 p.m.
January 26
Rytas Vilnius – SIG Strasbourg 6:30 p.m.
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg – JDA Dijon 8:00 p.m.
