Euroleague - Regal FC Barcelona v Special Bet

27 January 2010

Preview By Tipster Hayate

It was almost sure that Panathinaikos will face Barcelona at the 2nd phase of Euroleague competition.The other competitors of the group are Maroussi and Partizan Belgrad.I have many times pointed that Panathinaikos is not at the level it used to be the last years.Many injury problems with Batiste,Jasikevicious,Tsartsaris at the start of the season and now with Diamantidis,Spanoulis and Pekovic.The last one is usually in but has a permanent problem and loses some trainings now and then.Jasikevious this season is quite bad i would say.It is known that the Lithuanian never used to play defense but so far he does not contribute in scoring either.The third playmaker of the team,Nick Kalathis,is not ready yet to compete first-class pgs and that means that with a possible absence of Diamantidis or Saras Pao will have some problems.Inside the basket the Greeks are based on Pekovic and Batiste only i would say.Tsartsaris and Fotsis are running one of their worst years and i doubt if they can reach again in a high-level.Barcelona on the other hand is in a furious tempo and since its roster is very deep with 2-3 equal players in each position i think the Spanish team can continue in this tempo.Partizan and Maroussi's hopes here are not many and i think that especially Maroussi has no chances for something good.The Serbians will try at least to take advantage of their court where they seem very powerful.Partizan's players and supporters are always very motivated when they face a Greek team other than Paok so it is possible to see Panathinaikos failing in Belgrad while Barcelona will normally pass.My prediction is that Barcelona will finish with 6-0 or 5-1 final record,Panathinaikos with a 5-1 or 4-2 but in a possible draw we will see the Spanish team taking over the first place.