The Euroleague draw took place today in Barcelona. Panathinaikos found out its opponents for the competition’s regular season. It was set as the top seed of Group D, where it will be facing Maccabi Tel Aviv, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Lokomotiv Kuban, Crvena Zvezda and the team to be provided to the regular season through the competition’s qualifying round.
The groups
Group A: Barcelona, CSKA Moscow, Fenerbahce/Ulker, Budivelnik Kiev, Partizan, Nanterre
Group B: Real Madrid, Anadolu Efes, Zalgiris Kaunas, Brose Baskets Bamberg, ΕΑ7 Emporio Armani Milano, Strasburg
Group C: Olympiacos, Montepaschi Siena, Unicaja Malaga, Galatasaray Liv Hospital, Stelmet Zielona Gora, Bayern Munich
Group D: Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Locomotiv Kuban, Crvena Zvezda, QR WINNER
The Panathinaikos Head Coach, Argyris Pedoulakis, stated: “Although the teams have still not fulfilled their rosters yet, so as for us to have a clearer picture, at first sight our group seems tough. Our opponents are tough teams. The thing is for us to be prepared when the time comes. When you find yourself in a strong group there are positive aspects but also negative ones. The positive aspect is that you enter feisty games straight away, so they improve you and keep you alert. The negative part of the matter is, apart from the opponents’ power of course, that we are going to have hard and long travels”.
Roko Leni Ukic stressed: “It is a tough and… demanding group. It has many good teams, but also certain tough trips. Plus the very important fact, that we have no idea which team will be added from the qualifying round, since it is most likely that it will be yet another tough team. We have quite some quality this season also, enough to advance onto the next round, but we will have to be at our best level when the games begin. I have faith in our team and I believe that we will do well. I don’t believe that any one team stands out, or do I perceive any one to be the best or the worst. Lokomotiv Kuban seems to be building quite a competitive team once more and also has European experience. It might have been the best out of the fourth seeds. And the game versus Crvena Zvezda will also be interesting because it is the first time they will be competing in Euroleague, enthusiasm always exists and it is always a tough home-court to compete in. All of our games will be tough, especially the ones on the road!”
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