By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet defeated Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, finishing the first part of the regular season with a 9-8 record.
In the match against the Israeli team, Ioannis Sfairopoulos’ side suffered a significant drop, allowing the opponent to go on a 17-0 run. However, they managed to turn the situation around, unlike a couple of days ago when a similar drop led to a loss against Anadolu Efes in Istanbul.
“In the EuroLeague, there are no easy games, and everybody must understand this. Sometimes, I feel that a lot of people around the team, outside the team, don’t understand what the EuroLeague is. I feel that they must be more proud of the team; we give a very big fight, game by game and week by week. We win, we lose, but we are fighting. You can see the results of all the teams, and you will understand what I’m saying. We have positive results after the first round, and we are only two wins away from the first position, yet we are not happy,” Sfairopoulos commented.
During Maccabi‘s 17-0 run, the crowd in the Belgrade Arena even booed Crvena Zvezda‘s players.
“For sure, it could be better. We lost some games at the end. We won some games, but nobody expected us to win in Monaco or against Fenerbahce. We don’t have a tradition of being a playoff team, right? We are building this now. You must understand who we are. Maybe the expectations of the fans are unrealistic, but we must stay grounded. We fight really hard. We try to build something good, step by step. There is no magic stick. We need patience, hard work, improvement, and correction of our mistakes and bad periods. We know all of this, and we are addressing it. We are in a positive position in the standings. If you look, Barcelona is behind us, Real Madrid is under us. What more do you want me to say? We are fighting, and we are trying to achieve something good.”
He urged the fans to continue supporting and believing in the team.
“We need the support of everybody who loves the club. The people who don’t love the club, we don’t care. But those who say they truly love the club need to support this team because we are trying. If, at the end of the season, we do not succeed—if I’m not good—I will go. OK, no problem. But let us try, and trust us, because we are fighting. We didn’t become the best team in the world, but when we fight together, we can win anywhere. And when we don’t play well, we can lose to anyone, anywhere. This is the EuroLeague. This is something that everybody must understand. Support the team. We have a 9-8 record, and yet there are people who are not satisfied. I cannot understand this. Excuse me, but I don’t understand this,” Ioannis Sfairopoulos concluded.