By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos wanted to celebrate the club’s centenary, and even the game spectators got special flags to wave for this occasion since it was the Reds’ first EuroLeague home game in 2025.
Still, nobody expected that this night against Bayern would end up being a record-breaking night, with Sasha Vezenkov scoring 45 points.
The 45 points are a league season-high and Vezenkov also secured the third spot in the all-time best scoring performances and set Olympiacos’ record for both points scored and PIR (52).
This also ranks as the 6th-best performance ever in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
“I could never have dreamed that I would write history in this great club, but the most important thing is the victory”, Vezenkov said after the final buzzer speaking to EuroLeague TV, when asked about the fans who were giving him MVP chants.
As he added: “It’s 2025. 100 years for the club. We know the importance of this for the fans and we give everything to have them happy”.
Speaking about his performance, Vezenkov simply stated that it was a night he felt comfortable: “It’s one of those nights that you feel good. I missed my first shot and then I found my space. My teammates did a very good job, but it all started with the defense. I won’t talk about me. It was a normal night. I will continue to work… Bayern is a very talented team. Everyone came forward. We had two important absences, Evan Fournier and Kostas Papanikolaou. We dedicate the victory to them, but as I said before, we have 15 players ready to play, so we are happy for this victory .”
And speaking about team effort, Vezenkov also commented on the 36 assists of Olympiacos: “I feel great, and 36 is a really high number. This is our philosophy, our coach likes this. We have to do it. Almost everyone here is a good passer. We tried to distribute the ball. We didn’t play selfishly. We are capable of scoring 100 points. The best thing is the defense we played in the 1st period, we have to continue building from there. As we see, the Euroleague is very unpredictable and we have to stay on top”.