Alba Berlin a big underdog at Real Madrid
For Alba Berlin, the conditions for Thursday's Euroleague clash with league leaders and defending champions Real Madrid (8:45 p.m./MagentaSport) could hardly be less favorable. "It's not the best time for us to play there. They are currently the best team in Europe," said coach Israel González. In addition, the Berliners have recently suffered three defeats in a row and are bottom of the Euroleague table.
There is therefore little hope of a surprise. Guard Jonas Mattisseck is nonetheless combative. "We can't go there now and say we're going to get slaughtered somehow. We have to put everything into it to show how much we want it. You go there now and know you have nothing to lose," he said.
Alba has only won one game out of nine in the Euroleague, but has at least often kept up well. "We learn a lot from these stressful and pressure situations. That will help us for the rest of the season," said Mattisseck. The Berliners also want to show a different face than they did last Sunday in their home defeat against Syntainic's MBC. "We panicked then. Everything went wrong and everything was bad," summed up González. Mattisseck added: "You can lose sometimes, but not like that. That got to us".
Without the leading players Sterling Brown, Matt Thomas (both injured) and world champion Johannes Thiemann (resting), the young team seemed headless. "Perhaps we didn't have anyone to turn to," said Mattisseck. The problem is that this will only change slightly at Real. Thiemann will be back, but Brown and Thomas will be missing again. "It looks like both will be out for the game," said González.
Despite Alba Berlin's poor form and being without key players, guard Jonas Mattisseck remains optimistic for the Euroleague clash against Real Madrid, the current European champions. He stated, "We can't go there and expect to get slaughtered. We have to put everything into it to show how much we want it." Despite their current position at the bottom of the Euroleague table, Alba Berlin has shown resilience, often keeping up well in tough games.
Source: www.dpa.com
