Basketball players of Crvena zvezda and Partizan faced off in the 21st round of the Euroleague. The match that took place in the “Aleksandar Nikolić” hall brought another spectacular clash of eternal rivals who once again gave the Euroleague a match to remember. The final result was 78:79 in favor of black and white.
Phenomenal basketball in “Pionir”! The eternal derby justified all expectations, passion, struggle, a handful of spectacular moves and of course, an unreal atmosphere. Everything was bursting in the capital of Serbia this night, and two giants of the magical game under the hoops gave another great match to basketball fans.
The overture of the game belonged to the red and whites, but Partizan had a seven-point advantage at one point in the first quarter.All thanks to the inspired Dante Exum and Matthias Lessor. The Australian and the Frenchman built capital that gave wings to the visiting team. However, with goals from the penalty line and a three-pointer by Luka Vildoza in the last second of the first period, Crvena Zvezda came within two points of the deficit.Nedović then pulled back, and showed that he is the true leader of this team. The man who takes responsibility when everything collapses by the end of the first half has already reached 14 points on his account, but he was not able to match the trio of Lesor-Madar-Panther, who in two sections brought +8 to the scoreboard. Tonight, in the derby of the 21st round of the Euroleague, Partizan defeated Crvena zvezda 79:78 as a guest and kept their chances of placing among the top eight teams, i.e. for placing in the playoffs.This is the tenth victory for the black and whites, they have 11 defeats, and now Red Star has the same performance, just like Efes, which tonight after the drama in Vitoria was defeated by Baskonia with 114:111 in overtime.Both three teams now share from 10th to 12th place in the table, and only one win separates them from the Top 8, considering that eighth-placed Maccabi has a score of 11-10. Valencia has the same performance in ninth place, which makes the battle for the playoffs even more difficult.What does not work in Partizan’s favor is that it has a lower head-to-head score against Red Star, Valencia, and Maccabi. He managed to defeat the Efes team in Belgrade, but he has yet to visit Istanbul.What is the schedule of Zvezda and Partizan until the break due to the Radivoj Korac Cup? Crvena zvezda will have two away games in Italy during the next week, first on Tuesday against Virtus, and then two days later against Armani in Milan. Zvezda will have their third consecutive away game in Tel Aviv against Maccabi and it could be one of the key matches in the fight for the Top 8.
As for Partizan, before the Korac Cup, which is scheduled from February 15 to 18, the black and whites will first welcome the Asvela team on Tuesday, and then they will travel to Kaunas for the game against Žalgiris. After that, on February 9, the Partizan team will visit Munich, where they will compete against Trinkieri’s Bayern.If Zvezda and Partizan achieve at least two victories each in these upcoming three rounds, they will retain a realistic chance of qualifying for the playoffs, otherwise it will be much more difficult.
