In the derby of the 9th game of the Top 16, Panathinaikos welcomes Barcelona in a crucial game for the continuation of the two teams in the group. At the moment the two teams are equal in the 3rd place of the group with a record of 5-3 behind Real and Maccabi. Whoever wins today will ensure his presence in the playoffs and will take the lead for 2nd place since I believe that Maccabi will lose several games afterwards as it has a difficult schedule.
Panathinaikos is a team that seems to have a ceiling of 8 but if it gets the home advantage I believe it will reach the final 4. In the Top 16 the greens have got all passable games without scoring anywhere but in the 3 away games against Real, Barcelona and Maccabi did not go overboard, losing all 3. However, if we calculate the gels of Barcelona and Maccabi against the Albai greens, they will have the advantage for the 2nd place if they win today. In OAKA in 9 games this year they have only one defeat but from Barcelona with 80-67 in the last match of the group stage in a game that Diamantidis did not play.
Although Barcelona took a walk in the group stage and took the first place with 9-1, in the Top 16 it appears unrecognizable. All five victories it has made were at home while outside it has 0/3 against Alba, Maccabi and Real. In fact in the previous match, although he defeated Alba in Barcelona with double-digit differences 10 minutes before the end, he needed the extra time to beat the fighting Germans.
Strange odds have come on the market since Barcelona is given as a small favorite while in my opinion the opposite should have been done especially with the image of the Blaugrana in the last games.