By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Pablo Laso heavily implied that Real Madrid will face Anadolu Efes for the last round of the EuroLeague regular season minus at least three players, including Sergio Llull,
“We have six or seven player who are not at 100 percent, which is normal because we had a tough schedule last week. Llull, Maciulis and Hunter have slight problems and we don’t want any players to get serious injuries because of a lack of rest,” said the head coach of the “Blancos”.
While Real Madrid has no serious interest in the match since it will finish the regular season at the 1st place of the standings no matter the result, the outcome has major implications for some other playoff teams, including Efes.
With a victory, the Turkish team might finish even fifth in the standings and will definitely avoid the seventh place and the quarterfinals against defending champion CSKA Moscow. If no major surprises occur in the other games, a possible Real loss can force Fenerbahce to finish 7th and thus face CSKA in the playoffs.
Laso also added, “We are playing a EuroLeague game and to us, all games are important even if we get there being regular season champions. This says good things about the work that Real Madrid has put in this competition but we are playing against a good opponent with high-quality players. Efes is one of the most athletic teams in the league.”