The Italian team rekindled its playoff hopes while Zvezda seems to be losing momentum
Milan tails are up as Crvena Zvezda’s slide continues
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Regular Season
Round 29 of 34
Group Regular Season
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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan boosted its hops of earning an automatic playoff berth at the end of the regular season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with a gritty 80-82 win at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, a result that improved the Italian team’s record to 16-13.
It was also a welcome reprieve for Milan after last week’s 76-100 home debacle to Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, highlighting the team’s resilience and the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity.
In January, Milan pulled off a similar stunt when it beat reigning champs Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 87-75 on its home court after a 100-66 road rout at the hands of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, prompting a 4-2 streak which kept the Italian outfit on course for a place in the postsason.
Against Zvezda, Milan prevailed in a fervent atmosphere generated by 20,000 home fans inside Belgrade Arena, with Shavon Shields doing the damage late in the game when he netted with a tough drive to the basket through traffic.
Coach Ettore Messina summed up his team’s effort at the postgame press conference with a succinct description of a matchup which resembled an arm wrestling contest, as it produced a titanic tussle devoid of too many spectacular plays.
“We had three very good quarters, as we found open shots against a very aggressive defense, then in the last quarter both teams were very nervous because of how important the game was, especially at this moment,” the Italian tactician said.
“It came down to one play where we managed to create space for Shavon to attack and go to the rim. We also had three stops at the other end and that was key. We bounced back from a very tough loss and we’re still in the mix.”
Asked to assess the EuroLeague’s quality and level of entertainment, Messina made some interesting analogies as he also acknowledged that the competition keeps evolving and reaching new heights.
“Games are enjoyable to watch for the fans because there is so much drama in every game and they resemble American college basketball by their intensity,” he said.
"The game has become very physical and it’s become increasingly difficult for players to create open shots. The game has also become very difficult to officiate, in my opinion, and the size of these athletes makes the court look smaller.”
Troubling times for Crvena Zvezda
Zvezda’s skid stretched to three games with yet another tough loss, its second successive on home court as the Serbian team fell to Zalgiris Kaunas 80-86 before last week’s 100-82 drubbing at FC Bayern Munich. Ravaged by injuries and illness, Zvezda appears to be running on empty in the home stretch of the regular season and the poor run has seriously dented its chances of clinching a top-six finish, while even a play-in spot now looks far from certain.
The raucous Zvezda fans, who occasionally chanted "Dubai, Dubai" to express confidence they had in the team reaching the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four, were brought down to earth by Milan’s ironclad defense, complemented by a reality check from coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos.
Asked to comment on the situation at the postgame press conference, the Greek tactician responded with an angry outburst aimed at fans whose hopes of glory had rocketed after a good run saw Zvezda push up into the top five on a 16-10 record.
“Fans are shouting ‘Dubai’ but this is a team without a EuroLeague playoff win in its entire history. We must know who we are and go step by step in building something good. We need time, patience and support to achieve this, we have a dream to go to Dubai but it’s unrealistic. Maybe I should try to be a Formula 1 driver starting tomorrow,” Sfairopoulos told a stunned media pack.
“We have five more games and we have to fight in each and every one of them until the end,” he added, with Zvezda up next against runaway EuroLeague leader Olympiacos Piraeus, which has won 12 of its last 13 games prior to this Friday’s eternal Greek derby with Panathinaikos.
“We are still building our identity as a top-level EuroLeague team and we’re up against some quality opposition here. We’ve had injuries after the international break and it’s not easy to keep producing our best performances with so many problems. Having said that, we also conceded some easy points in the last three games and we can’t afford to do that at this level.”
If current form – or lack of it – is anything to go by, Zvezda faces a tall order to live up to its fans’ expectations but the Serbian outfit has shown the kind of fighting spirit this season standing in stark contrast to last term’s campaign, when Zvezda featured as also-rans and finished on an 11-23 record, miles away from the postseason picture.