At the main round final against Fenerbahce Istanbul, the Munichers want to make the direct play-off feed.
Even Gordon Herbert spared himself for the big Euroleague showdown. Well, in contrast to his players, whom the coach of basketball champion Bayern Munich recreation, was his absence in the Bundesliga top game at Ratiopharm Ulm Involuntary nature. An infection is plagued by the World Championship coach, which had remained in Munich at short notice. But the Canadian wants to be fit again for the cracker on Thursday evening.
The final game day of the Euroleague main round in the sold-out SAP Garden against title candidate Fenerbahce Istanbul (8:00 p.m./Magenta Sport) is a trial point for Bayern this season. Does it go directly into the play-offs? Or do Herbert and Co. have to take the arduous path via the play-in tournament? In any case, there is a thunderous game.
In the event of a defeat against Fener, the direct quarter-final ticket is gone. To jump among the top six, the seventh -placed Munich team need their own victory and stumbling blocks of the competition, which, like Bayern, has 19 wins and 14 defeats. Either Real Madrid (on Thursday with Partizan Belgrade) or Anadolu Efes Istanbul (on Friday against Zalgiris Kaunas) have to pat. In the worst case, Munich can even slip to tenth place.
At such ambitious goals, Bayern were unhappy about the establishment of the league approval in Ulm on Tuesday evening, around 48 hours before Fenerbahce. As a result, Herbert spared important players with Devin Booker, Shabazz Napier and Vladimir Lucic, ultimately there was a 94:109 (51:57) bankruptcy that they can get over in Munich.
“Of course it was not easy with the schedule, at short notice without the coach. We left three boys at home, because in the BBL we still have a few games left-but in the Euroleague there is the most important game on Thursday,” said assistant coach TJ Parker, who represented Herbert in Ulm. However, the Munich people hope for a return of their head coach for Thursday.
The top six teams reach the championship round of the Euroleague directly, places seven to ten games in play-in two more play-off tickets. In the following quarter -finals, the participants will be determined at this year’s Final Four in Abu Dhabi (23 to 25 May). The Bavarians had reached the round of the last eight in 2021 and 2022, and Herbert had issued the first move into the final Four for the first time before the current season.