Results in Euroleague thus far:

The Fenerbahce started their Euroleague campaign with an impressive winning streak of four games, Including an away victory against Barcelona. However, this year's format of Euroleague is pretty ruthless, and it is impossible to win every game as every team is super competitive. Fenerbahce had a chance to feel it on their own skin, when at the beginning of November they lost 3 games in a row.

If that is not bad enough for such a powerhouse, Fenerbahce managed to lose the game against Baskonia by 36 points. One of the main reasons for that loss was the injury of Bogdan Bogdanovic. It took time for Fenerbahce to adapt their schemes with Bogdanovic out, but it seems that the bad days are over, and Fenerbahce will come into the game versus Real Madrid having a six to three winning ratio, and ranking third in the group.

Key factor of success - Zeljko Obradovic

For the last 10 years, Fenerbahce was always among European basketball whales. They tossed money to the right... and then left, buying all the expensive players, but nothing ever happened. Fenerbahce had no team spirit, and players could not get along with each other. However, things changed when Zeljko Obradovic joined the club as the head coach at 2013. Since then, Fenerbahce started producing, and last year they were two seconds away from winning Euroleague. They lost. This year Fenerbahce do not want to repeat same mistakes.

The team is so well balanced, that five players are averaging over ten points per game. All the main players except Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesley are ready to shoot behind the arc as Fenerbahce is averaging impressive 41 percent per game from three-point line. On top of That, Fenerbahce is the fourth best defensive team in Euroleague whole, conceding only 77 points per game.

It seems that Zeljko Obradovic knows exactly what he is doing. For the first time in many years, Fenerbahce is playing like a team, and their main strength is that any guy starting with small Bobby Dixon and finishing with center Ekpe Udoh can become a leader on a given day. The team is playing by coach's schemes both in defense and offense, and it has no weak spot, which can be exposed. To beat Fenerbahce in Europe, every team has to have some luck and play their best basketball.

Results in Euroleague thus far:

Real Madrid started the season strong, winning Against Olympiakos (Euroleague 2013 winners) and Maccabi (Euroleague winners 2014). With those victories Real Madrid has shown a resemblance to last season. Real struggled in the first round, and barely made it to the top 8, just to be demolished by Fenerbahce in a series, which ended three to zero. That is another good reason to watch the game, as Real Madrid will be eager to get their revenge.

So, even though Real Madrid faced some defeats along the way, they are now second of all the 16 Euroleague teams with impressive 7-2. Only CSKA has a better 8-1 this season.

Key factor of success - explosive offense

Real Madrid is a team, which is choosing to win by outscoring their opponents. So far so good this season – Real has 91 ppg average, adding 20 assists per game. This might not sound so dominant for NBA fans, but in Europe, most of the games will end with scores like 75:69. So where do all the points come from?

Firstly – Madrid Real's guards. They are fast, playing perfect one on one, and also superbly shooting from three points line. Carroll has 51 percent average behind the arc so far, Maciulis is contributing with his 62 percents shooting, and Nacioni joins the party with 43 percent. We also have to note that Sergio Llull has 19 points per game, which is fairly impressive for Euroleague (there are years, when 14 points per game is enough to be a leading scorer of whole Euroleague) and he is just on fire this season. Pablo Laso trusts this guy and gives him all the freedom in the world. This is providing huge dividends so far, as Llull is not only the leading scorer of the team, but also makes the most assists. In other words – Madrid Real's game is highly dependent on Llull’s performance.

However, Real’s bench is so deep that they could even compete in Euroleague, playing without their starting line-up. I mean, Andres Nacioni, Jaycee Carroll, and even Rudy Fernandez start the game like observers. If we add Luka Doncic, who’s 7 points per game might not look that impressive, until you learn that guy is only 17, and still goes to school. Yup, Madrid Real is full of genius basketball players of this and the upcoming generation.

Prediction

Real Madrid has their little weakness - defense. Even though, guys like Jonas Maciulis is in the team to fix that leaking pipe, sometimes it is not enough, because other guys are more interested in the offensive game. That has to be exposed while playing against Real Madrid, because they will surely score their fair share of the points… even against Fenerbahce. At this stage of the tournament, I can see Real Madrid as a slightly favorite to win this game, but I expect it to be close, and maybe even decided by one shot.

Game Stats Pregame