Monaco – Bayern Munich
89-85
Monaco barely beat Bayern Munich (89-85) on Thursday evening on the last day of the Euroleague, and secured its place in the top 3 of the competition, synonymous with home advantage in the quarter-finals. Like last season, Monaco will therefore host its opponent during the first two play-off matches, on April 23 or 24 for match no. 1, then on April 25 or 26, for match no. 2.
With 23 victories for 11 defeats, the “Roca Team” even had a better regular season than last year (21-13). Despite the financial problems of the company Fedcom, owned by the president and majority shareholder of the Monegasque club, Aleksej Fedoricsev, the Roca Boys have “finished the job”, as their coach, Sasa Obradovic, asked them after last week’s success against Kaunas .
“It’s exceptional to obtain so many victories”
“I am very happy with what we have managed to do this season, it is an accomplishment and it is exceptional to obtain so many victories (12 victories and one defeat since January 12, Editor’s note)”, appreciated the Serbian coach at the end of the match, who praised the “level of French basketball in general”.
For the play-offs, Obradovic has “no preference”, between Fenerbaçe and Olympikaos, who face each other on Friday. Monaco will play against the loser of this match. “It will be very hard anyway and on another physical and mental level,” he said. We will use our experience from last year to have the best mental approach. The play-offs will be very different from this match against Bayern, a team which had nothing to gain. »
A scare at the end of the meeting
Despite a 24-point advantage at the heart of the second period (63-49, 25th), facing an opponent who had forgotten his defensive principles in Bavaria, at the same time as his Spanish star Serge Ibaka, last minute withdrawal, the Monegasques managed to scare each other at the end of the meeting.
It took a personal action punctuated by a dunk from Alpha Diallo, Monegasque’s top scorer of the match (20 pts), 20 seconds from the end to ensure a sufficient gap for victory (86-82). Because the Germans, led by an excellent Carsen Edwards (26 points) had come back to two points (84-82 with 50 seconds remaining). They first made a run (11-0) which allowed them to win the 3rd quarter (30-20), and come back to 12 points (72-60).
Then, under the leadership of French international fullback Sylvain Francisco (17 pts), they achieved an improbable comeback (80-77, 38th, then 81-79, 39th, and finally 84-82). But with experience and energy, the Monegasques held on at the end of the match, giving themselves the opportunity to compete in the Euroleague play-offs for the third consecutive season.
2024-04-11 20:48:00
#Monaco #secures #top #victory #Bayern
