Real Madrid, Bayern, Zenit called to break the Game 5 “curse”

By Vangelis Papadimitriou / info@eurohoops.net

The playoffs race ends tonight as three of the four series will be decided and the winners will join CSKA Moscow at the Cologne Final Four. So far, only ten series in EuroLeague history have been decided in game 5 — in all of which the hosts sealed a Final Four qualification. Real Madrid, FC Bayern Munich and Zenit St Petersburg will look to break the “curse” on Tuesday.

Although they started the series 2-0, Anadolu Efes failed to end things in Madrid’s Game 3 and Real tied the series after two epic comebacks. The same scenario came to life in Munich, where Olimpia Milan could not assert their advantage and Bayern sent the series to Game 5. In the meanwhile, Zenit caused trouble to first-placed Barcelona to force a Game 5 in the series as well.

This is the first time in EuroLeague history that three series will be decided in Game 5 since the best-of-three format was introduced in the 2009-10 season. The closest was during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons when a total of two series each season were decided in the last game.

So far, none of the visiting teams has advanced to the Final Four, so history seems to be on the side of the host teams tonight.

The 10 series decided in Game 5: