Olympiakos crowed Euroleague champion for a fourth time
Olympiakos is the new Euroleague champion, after beating surprisingly strong Real Madrid 92-85 in the trophy game of the Final Four in Athens on Sunday. It has now got a collecton of four Euroleague trophies in its cabinet.
This was the first European cup for Olympiakos since 2013, when it also had coach Giorgos Bartzokas and captain Kostas Papanikolaou in its roster.
The Spanish were not expected to pose such a stiff challenge to the Greeks, having entered not just the final but the entire Final Four as underdogs, given their reduced roster due to injuries. However, that club’s history – crowned European champion a record 11 times – drove them very close to yet another triumph.
Olympiakos, on the other hand, bore the burden of the favorite, having also finished the regular season at the top of the table, as well as the huge boost from the 18,000 or so fans who turned Telekom Center Athens red.
Real Madrid dominated the first 17 minutes of the final, leading by up to 12 at the start (15-3), as the Reds appeared to be nervous from the outset.
Gradually the Greeks reduced their arrears and led on the 18th minute for the first time in the game, to close the first half with a two-point advantage (44-42), boosted by the huge support at the stands and their supremacy in rebounds.
They even went up by five (49-44) early in Q3, only for the Spaniards to recover and swing the game back in their favor, leading by six (60-54 and 65-59).
The Piraeus giant responded from the start of Q4 and edged ahead (67-65), and the lead kept changing hands until 80-80, with the final stretch belonging to what was to all intents and purposes the home team on the night.
Evan Fournier led the scoring for the new European champion with 20 points, followed by Alec Peters with 16 and Sasha Vezenkov with 12. Trey Lyles scored 24 and Mario Hezonja 19 for Real Madrid.
Among the fans at the stands was also “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo.
There were some ugly scenes before the start of the final, with hundreds of ticketless Olympiakos fans trying to muscle their way into Telekom Center Athens, and police in riot gear pushing them away and chasing them in the surrounding areas.
A number of those fans were apprehended, as well as at least nine others for offenses such as possession of drugs or flares. There was also a number of security officials who were arrested for waiving in fans without tickets.
Fenerbahce, that lost Friday’s first semifinal to Olympiakos, protested formally at the Euroleague for the chaos generated by the ticket allocation and inspection process in this Final Four.
Source:Kathimerini
