Reds triumph at Barcelona, Greens narrowly lose to Real
Greek teams always have a hard time facing the Spanish, but this week they tried to change their fortune at the start of the new Euroleague. Panathinaikos came close to upsetting last season’s finalist Real Madrid in Athens, but Olympiakos managed to shock Barcelona in Spain and snatch a very important road win.
Panathinaikos pushed Real Madrid all the way at the Olympic Sports Hall on Thursday before succumbing to a 71-68 defeat.
The Greens forced several turnovers out of the Spaniards who underperformed under pressure from the 10,000 Greek fans at the stands and the fact this is the beginning of the season.
It all came down to the last few attacks by Real that made the necessary triples and won the game by three.
Derrick Williams made 15 points for the Greens and Paris Lee added another 12.
Then on Friday Olympiakos was completely dominant at Barcelona to win 80-70, in style too.
The Reds excelled in defense, holding their hosts to just 28 points in the first half to lead 34-28 at half-time.
The Greek champion remained composed in the second half and never lost the lead, even when the Catalans upped the pressure on the visitors. This comfortable victory bodes particularly well for the new season.
Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiakos with 18 points, plus 12 each from Joel Bolomboy and Giannoulis Larentzakis.
