Valencia Basket seeks to remain solid at home against Laso's Bayern
MADRID, 27 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia Basket will try to add a victory this Thursday during its visit (8:30 p.m.) to Pablo Laso's Bayern Munich in order to have a chance to finish among the top six in the Regular Phase of the 2023-2024 Euroleague after the conclusion of the first round. of the competition.
The 'taronja' team will say goodbye to 2023 away from La Fuente de San Luis, first with this visit to a much more solid rival in their pavilion and then on Sunday the 31st with a demanding trip in the Endesa League to face Real Madrid. Two important duels to try to finish in the top positions of both tournaments.
The team coached by Alex Mumbrú finds itself with a balance of 9-7 with one match left to close the first round of the top continental competition and tied with up to six rivals, including the fourth-placed team, the Greek Panathinaikos. Within that tremendous equality that is only broken so far by the almost unbeatable Real Madrid, Valencia Basket is looking for a third success in a row at home to aspire to start the second round within the 'Playoff' zone and equal its best first round in this format, that of the 20-21 campaign.
The best news for the Valencian team is that they will land in the Bavarian capital after beating the Italian Virtus last week (79-71) and after also having been successful in their two previous outings, against the Greek Olympiacos (56-63) and against the French ASVEL Villeurbanne (55-78). All of them matches that showed that this year their main strength lies in a defensive work that will have a new test against a Bayern that is in front of its public where it plays most freely on an offensive level.
The German team has a balance of 7-9, thanks above all to its performance at home (5-2) despite its last defeat last week against AS Monaco, which broke a good dynamic of four wins in a row. In any case, Pablo Laso's work is yet to come to fruition in a team with the good news of having recovered an important prop like the 'extaronja' Vladimir Lucic, although the Serbian is still far from his best version to help a team more. block where Serge Ibaka stands out.
Valencia Basket arrives in Munich after losing at La Fonteta (75-81) against Coviran Granada in the Endesa League and with the infirmary full since the losses of Víctor Claver, Jared Harper and Semi Ojeleye have been joined by those of Stefan Jovic and Damien Inglis. This could lead to more minutes for newcomer Justin Anderson, signed on a 45-day deal on Christmas Eve from Río Breogán.
“It will be a tough game against an opponent that has a great defense and is the one that leaves its rivals with the worst percentage. It is a team that does not allow the ball to move or the opponent to be comfortable, while in attack they have a lot of scoring from Edwards, Bolmaro, Francisco and Ibaka, which is an atypical '5' that opens up. We know that we have to be good defensively and find the best game options in attack,” said Alex Mumbrú in the preview.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
BAYERN MÚNICH: Bolmaro, Edwards, Bonga, Ibaka y Booker –possible quinteto initial– Lucic, Weiler-Babb, Francisco, Giffey, Obst, Wimberg y Brankovic.
VALENCIA BASKET: Jones, Puerto, Pradilla and Davies –possible starting five– Robertson, Anderson, Toure, Reuvers, López-Arostegui, Hermannsson, Ferrando and De Larrea.
–REFEREES: Belosevic, Racys and Hadzic.
–PAVILLION: BMW Park.
–TIME: 20.30/#Let's go.