Alba Berlin starts against Barcelona in the next game marathon
Basketball Bundesliga team Alba Berlin is facing a mammoth program in the coming weeks. The Berliners have to play twelve games in 27 days by Easter. The home game against FC Barcelona (8 p.m. / Magentasport) starts on Tuesday. “It’s a bit crazy quickly. A real mountain of games,” said sporting director Himar Ojeda.
With Barcelona, the Berliners are also expecting the leaders of the Euroleague on Tuesday. “They are the most solid team in the league and they punish every mistake. It’s going to be a really tough game,” warned Ojeda. Especially since Alba continues to have personnel problems. Long-term absentees Marcus Eriksson and Louis Olinde will definitely be absent.
There is still a question mark over the German internationals Maodo Lo and Johannes Thiemann, who recently had to take a break. “We have to see how they feel. But they were out for several days and didn’t do anything. I don’t think they can help us then,” said Ojeda, slowing down hopes of a quick comeback.
With the suspension of the three Russian teams from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, Alba has the chance of a playoff place in the premier class with five games left. But Ojeda says: “The playoffs are not a must. You just want to do your best in every game and keep improving.
After all, Alba had a little more time to relax due to the corona-related game cancellation on Sunday at FC Bayern Munich. Good for the moment, bad for the coming weeks. Because slowly it is getting tight in the game plan. “We wanted to play because there is hardly any time to catch up on these games. But we can’t change it,” said Ojeda.