It’s a game with enormous implications for the postseason futures in Euroleague Basketball of both combatants. FC Bayern welcome Olympiacos for a titanic tussle
The men from Bavaria seem to be making a late push for the play-ins but can FC Bayern overcome the odds to take down Olympiacos in a huge Euroleague Basketball battle on Thursday night?
Key details
Who: FC Bayern (10-14) vs Olympiacos (13-11)
Where: BMW Park, Munich
When: Thursday 1 February at 20.30 CET, 19.30 UK/Ireland, 14.30 CET
Last time out
FC Bayern reignited their hopes of making the postseason of Euroleague Basketball with a vital 112-109 win at home over Baskonia. That ended a run of four straight defeats that looked to have ended their campaign. Now, they are back in the fight and ready to build on it.
Olympiacos made light enough work of Alba Berlin, winning 101-87 to cover the 12.5 point spread. That helped them rebound from defeat to Real Madrid in their prior outing. A victory in Munich is vital to getting some consistency back in their season.
Key battles
Serge Ibaka was immensely productive in the overtime win over Baskonia for FC Bayern. If they want to get the W in this game, then he has to come up big. The key man for the German side however is Vladimir Lucic. The Serbian has already done enough in his time in Bavaria to get his jersey retired. At 34, he remains more than effective as a contributor and is the floor general for this side.
Olympiacos leaned on an explosive game from Isaiah Canaan in their win over Alba Berlin. Their real strength however comes in spreading the threat. Look for Thomas Walkup and Luke Sikma to both try and feature more in this one.
BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.
Need to know
Last week I wrote about Olimpia Milano being in must-win territory. This time it rings true as well for FC Bayern. This is it, this is really it for their Euroleague postseason chances. While the playoffs look out of reach, this feels like the game they must win to have a shot at the play-ins.
The Euroleague Basketball campaign of Olympiacos has been about as up and down as it gets. If they are serious about making it back to the Final Four, the Reds must show they can produce consecutive good performances.
What the bookies think
This one is delightfully tight in the sportsbooks. Euroleague Basketball betting rates Olympiacos at 19/20 on some books while FC Bayern can be found at 10/11.
With odds that tight, it’s natural that the spread is effectively irrelevant. You can find both sides close to their straight-up prices as -1.5 favourites depending on the sportsbook.
BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.
What we think
This one is going to be close. It is going to be fought hard. A battle like this is about depth and energy. That should favour FC Bayern, who get back to back home games. Yet it was the Bavarian side that had to play overtime on Tuesday night.
Olympiacos should be fresher and it’s not like the flight from Athens to Munich is a gruelling one. The Reds should be well rested here and the depth of their bench may prove telling.
The prediction
This should be a real barnburner of a battle. Depth matters in Euroleague Basketball, especially at this stage of the season. It’s a tight call but I’m going with the Reds.
Pick: Olympiacos
Leave a Reply