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This weekend in Milan the basketball Euroleague 2013/2014 Final Four will be played. Today, Friday, May 16, there will be the semifinals and on Sunday, May 18, there will be the finals. Let’s see which teams will be the protagonists.
CSKA Moscow
The Russian team has what it takes to win this Euroleague but must first forget the disappointments suffered in recent seasons. In my opinion, it’s at least in theory stronger than Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv so it could win the semifinal with relative ease and reach the final with more energy. However, in the Euroleague’s Final Four theory isn’t worth much so it’s up to coach Ettore Messina, who certainly has a lot of experience, and the players to take advantage of their strength. In my opinion, it might be the favorite team to win the title.
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
Coach David Blatt showed his tactical skills exploiting the lack of experience at this level of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in the quarter-finals. We can expect him to try to use some tactical variants against CSKA Moscow. Honestly I think the team has limited chances of winning the semifinal but for the team it’s important to be back to the Final Four and will have the advantage of playing without pressure.
Real Madrid
The team plays the semifinal against its archrivals of Barcelona. This season, the two teams have already met twice in the Liga ACB, once in the Spanish Super Cup and another in the Copa del Rey. Real Madrid won three of those four games but that’s might not be enough. There are so many technical, strategic and tactical elements to consider when two teams of such high value clash but in the end in such cases the mental component matters tremendously. Real Madrid probably played the best basketball in this Euroleague and in my opinion is favorite in this semifinal. The problem is that, just like one year ago, it could spend so much energy that it might not thave enough for the final.
FC Barcelona
Given its record in this season against Real Madrid, it’s the underdog in the all-Spanish semifinal. However, it’s clear that this is a situation in which a very strong team such as Barcelona could win and it would be difficult to consider it really a surprise. Just like Real Madrid, the problem is that if it wins it will do it spending a huge amount of energy with the risk of paying it in the final.
In the Final Four the games are do-or-die so often the ability to withstand the pressure is more important than technique. The competitive spirit is exasperated but surely we’ll have some emotions.
