Will the Albatrosses manage the opening victory?
In the European team sports, the international competitions and especially the Champions League have already started. Due to the EURO Basket in September, the basketball players are only now following suit. The royal league is the Euroleague, where the German champion Alba Berlin will start on Friday against the traditional Serbian club Partizan Belgrade.
Both teams are in the Euroleague with a wildcard. The Albatrosses are more or less regular participants in this semi-open super league. Partizan Belgrade is participating in the European basketball royal league for the first time in eight years. But that alone should not be an indication of where the journey is heading in this first matchday duel.
The Berliners will do their utmost to transfer the euphoria of the EURO Basket to club basketball. The Mercedes-Benz Arena, where Germany recently won European bronze, should be the perfect place for it. We think you can definitely make a prediction on a home win between Alba Berlin and Partizan Belgrade.
The Berliners had significantly more players at the EURO Basket. This circumstance might have disturbed the preparation a bit, but after the national leagues have already started again, it should only play a minor role on Friday. Therefore, we stick to our betting on a home win in the match between Alba Berlin and Partizan Belgrade.
Alba Berlin – Statistics & current form
In terms of play, there is still room for improvement in Israel Gonzalez’s team at the start of the new season. However, this is due to the fact that the capital city team has sent five players – Maodo Lo, Johannes Thiemann, Tamir Blatt, Yovel Zoosman and Jaleen Smith – to the EURO Basket alone. Nevertheless, the German champions had a very good start into the new season, even if the results were not as clear-cut as one could have expected.
Good start to the season with slight flaws
Two games have just been played in the Basketball Bundesliga and it is little surprise that Alba have two wins to their name. This puts the Albatrosses in second place. Only runner-up Bayern Munich has scored more diligently. However, it matters less how high the victories turn out, so the Albatrosses have nothing to reproach themselves for up to this point.
The Hamburg Towers were guests in the capital for the BBL opener. Israel Gonzalez’s team had to fight for victory for a long time before they prevailed with 81:78. On Sunday, Alba was on the board in Bamberg and secured a 90:80 victory in the end. The bottom line is that we would rather look at the odds for less than 159.5 points in the duel Alba Berlin vs Partizan Belgrade.
The Berlin squad has remained largely the same. They have probably even strengthened with Gabriele Procida and Yanni Wetzell. Coach Israel Gonzalez currently has luxury problems in naming the matchday squad, although with Malte Delow and Marcus Eriksson two key players from last season will still be missing due to injury.
Predicted line-up of Alba Berlin:
Blatt, Koumadje, Olinde, Sikma, Smith, Lo, Machowski, Mattisseck, Procida, Schneider, Thiemann, Wetzell – Coach: Gonzalez
Partizan Belgrade – Statistics & current form
Zeljko Obradovic is an absolute legend in European basketball. He is one of the most successful coaches on the continent and once led Yugoslavia to World Cup and European Championship titles. He has also won the Euroleague nine times with five different clubs, including Partizan Belgrade in 1992. Now 62, the coach has returned to his heart’s club, where he was a player for almost his entire career.
He is supposed to raise Partizan to another level, because in Serbia they have only been number two behind Red Star for many years. In general, Partizan NIS, as the club is called for sponsorship reasons, is active in the ABA League. This is an association of teams from the former Yugoslavia. In terms of performance density, this league is probably one of the strongest in Europe.
Partizan benefited from the fact that the Russian clubs are not allowed to play in the Euroleague this season. Otherwise, the team from the Serbian capital would probably have waited even longer to participate in the top division again. Belgrade has only played one competitive match this season. At the Croatian club Cibona, there was a clear 105:81 victory in the ABA League.
The best scorers were, unsurprisingly, Kevin Punter and Uros Trifunovic. The Serbs are also not free of personnel worries on this first matchday in the Euroleague. Playmaker Aleksa Avramovic will be missing as well as young NBA prospect Alan Smailagic. Overall, Zeljko Obradovic has a strong team together and that’s why we wouldn’t make a prediction for a high home win between Alba Berlin and Partizan Belgrade.
Predicted line-up of Partizan Belgrade:
Exum, Koprivica, Punter, Trifunovic, Vukcevic, Andjusic, Glas, Jovanovic, LeDay, Lessort, Nunnally, Papapetrou – Coach: Obradovic
Alba Berlin – Partizan Belgrade Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Only four times have the teams of Alba Berlin and Partizan Belgrade crossed paths to date. All of these matches were played in the Eurocup, a lower-class international competition. The direct comparison speaks in favour of the Albatrosses with 3:1 victories. It is important in this context that the Berliners won both their home matches against Partizan.
The last meetings took place in the 2018/19 season. In the second group phase, Alba first lost in Serbia with 66:78. In the return match, the Albatrosse took revenge more than impressively with 97:74. At that time, it was above all Niels Giffey and Rokas Giedraitis who left their mark on the game and were the best scorers in the Alba kit.
Alba Berlin – Partizan Belgrade Tip
The season is still far too young to extensively assess the form of the two opponents. The German champions have played just two competitive matches and have been without their European Championship players for long stretches. The Serbs have even played for points only once this season. Both teams won their matches.
So other factors have to be used to assess this match. Both teams have made excellent reinforcements. On balance, therefore, it should be a match of equals.
But we think both defences will allow relatively little. Bets on less than 159.5 points could therefore make sense. We don’t expect a big handicap, but if the Albatrosses can use their home advantage, the first win of the season in the top division should actually be clinched. In any case, we have decided to play the betting odds on a home win between Alba Berlin and Partizan Belgrade.
