By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens survived a close call against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on the road and coach Xavi Pascual was asked on the Final Four goal and if Panathinaikos will return in Belgrade: “It is a difficult question, we hope so. In this moment we don’t have to think about it. It is a moment to go day by day and get ready for the next occasion. For sure, our fans deserve this, and we will give our best to be in the final four next May.”
His comments on the game were the following: “It was a tough game. We knew it beforehand, that it will be like this. In the second half, we could not play well, but the one reason was that of Red Star (excellent defense) but we also lost our energy in the offense. In the end we kept calm, we controlled the game and finally, we won this important game for us.”
On Calathes’ absence and players stepping up: “I don’t know if anything happens for any reason. We have to find the good things. Players are becoming more confident after Calathes’ injury, and we will need all players to play their best game every single night.”
Crvena Zvezda’s coach Dusan Alimpijevic added: “Tonight we had a great match up with a great team; a top-4 team in the standings. Unfortunately, we did not have enough energy to play like we know.”