Olympiacos vs Real Madrid

Start of EuroLeague quarter-final playoffs between Real Madrid and Olympiacos will take place at the away stadium of Olympiacos. Since they do not hold the homecourt advantage Real Madrid must start the series by playing two matches and possibly game five in Piraeus.

Olympiacos qualified for the playoffs standings by demonstrating the most outstanding regular season performance. The Greek giants achieved 24 victories from their 34 games which included two successful encounters against Madrid.

Real Madrid defeated the Spanish team Real twice in the regular season with a total of 175 points combined. The 13-4 home results by Olympicos represent their attempt to secure their first European championship title after 12 years.

Real Madrid appears in their twelfth straight playoffs run during this year. The Spanish giants with eleven European title victories experienced their last absence from the playoffs during the 2011/12 season.

Real entered their postseason with the seventh seed after finishing the regular season at 20-14 despite their usual status as one of the top seeds.

The eighth seed Paris faced Real Madrid in a single play-in match before advancing to the playoffs. Madrid lost their first ever EuroLeague matchup by an 81-73 defeat to Paris at home as they faced off against the EuroLeague debutants. Real Madrid maintained their chance of winning the title by defeating Bayern Munich 93-71 during the second game of the playoffs.
The Greek team Olympiacos arrives at this match following a series of four victories from their past five games. The team maintains a regular scoring average of 86.9 points during this season (4th position) together with average points allowed of 81.8 (5th rank). The team achieved a regular season triumph by winning 24 matches against losing 10 thereby demonstrating a balanced approach to basketball. All club supporters together with management teams aim to achieve playoff victory because of the outstanding performance. The excellence of their league stars Sasha Vezenkov with 20.2 points per game and Evan Fournier with 15.8 makes additional goals seem impossible.

In their two regular season meetings with Real Madrid, the Greeks prevailed by a score of ten points, proving they could figure out the tactical tricks of the Madrid powerhouses. Olympiacos are once again favored, not only because of the fierce local fan support that makes it extremely difficult to defeat them in Piraeus, but also because of some encouraging roster news. The coach now has more choices in the backcourt with Evans' rehabilitation and the signing of Saben, in addition to Walkup's recovery from an injury that kept him out for many months. An intriguing statistic is that in their past six home games versus Real Madrid, Olympiacos have not let opponents score more than 84 points.

Real Madrid's recent winning streak—nine wins in their past 10 games—is proof that they have been a formidable road team. Their defense performs somewhat better, giving up 82.7 points (7th), while their average scoring is about 85 points per game (10th position). The club can now concentrate on EuroLeague matches as they have all but guaranteed the top place in the Spanish league's regular season.

Their strong defensive performance, which was particularly noticeable in the latter part of the regular season, deserves special emphasis. They were forced into the play-in stage, though, after suffering too many failures in the first half of the season to guarantee a straight position in the knockout round.