Alba Berlin is still deep in crisis. Three days before the league duel with long-term rivals Bayern Munich, the team led by basketball world champion Johannes Thiemann suffered their tenth defeat in the eleventh EuroLeague game with a score of 81:102 (42:58) against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade and remains bottom of the table.
For Alba it was the sixth bankruptcy in a row across all competitions. On Sunday (5:00 p.m./Dyn) the Bundesliga will be against FC Bayern, who defeated Virtus Bologna from Italy in the European premier class thanks to a strong final quarter with 90:76 (44:46).
“It’s a difficult moment. We have to stay together,” said Alba coach Israel Gonzalez after the next disappointment. In addition to Sterling Brown, Louis Olinde and Matt Thomas, the Berliners were also missing Ziga Samar for a short time with a foot injury.
In front of empty stands in the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, because of the war against Hamas, the Israeli champions are playing their home games in Serbia, Alba lost too many balls and was clearly behind early on. A run prevented an even bigger halftime deficit. Even in the second half, Berlin failed to put Tel Aviv in trouble. The Bundesliga club’s best thrower was Gabriele Procida (22 points).
In front of the eyes of world champion coach Gordon Herbert and Thomas Tuchel, coach of the Bayern footballers, former NBA professional Serge Ibaka (24 points) and Sylvain Francisco (13) were particularly impressive in Munich against the previously strong Italians. The German Cup winners achieved their fourth win in a row across all competitions, and Bayern now have a 5:6 record in the EuroLeague.