His two defeats, in Munich (80-84) in the Euroleague and during the derby against eternal rival Panathinaikos (71-78) in the Greek Championship, are almost forgotten. Olympiakos reacted with authority during two home successes. After having tamed the recent finalist Real Madrid (79-69), the Reds did it again by putting Barcelona, the leader of the main event, yet second in attack in the Euroleague before the match (87 .7 points), held at 74 units, but at 60 after 37 minutes, when the outcome of the match was already decided.
Georgios Bartzokas’ men have put their game in order, rediscovered the defensive values which had carried them to the last three Final Four (a final lost in 2023 against… Real), and the Stade de la Paix and Friendship ignited with each interception of a squad which gave nothing to its Spanish counterpart, intractable under the boards (40 rebounds including 16 offensive to only 24 holds for the Catalans).
