EuroLeague Matchday 4: Unbeaten Teams Face the Reckoning

After three matchdays, the EuroLeague has clear extremes. Four teams remain unbeaten at the top: Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Valencia Basket, and Partizan. At the bottom, two teams are winless: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Real Madrid, which has never started a European season with three losses. Matchday 4 begins tonight in Paris and brings together the extremes: Real Madrid hosts Partizan, and Panathinaikos face Fenerbahce in Athens with first place on the line.

Wednesday, October 7

Paris Basketball - ASVEL Villeurbanne · 20:45

French derby between two teams with 1-2 records. Paris Basketball got on the board in Matchday 3 against Zalgiris (82-78) with Nadir Hifi deciding the finish once again: 21 points and the go-ahead basket at 69-69. ASVEL is heading in the opposite direction. They won their opener but have allowed over 100 points in each of their two losses, the latest a 18-point comeback by Valencia Basket in Lyon (92-105). Defense is the first problem this team needs to solve, especially after a difficult summer financially.

Thursday, October 8

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Olimpia Milano · 20:05

Maccabi Tel Aviv has the worst start in the competition: 0-3 and the worst point differential in the standings after allowing 109 points to Besiktas and scoring just 24 at halftime in Athens, shooting 0-for-10 from three. Olimpia Milano, at 1-2, is also struggling: they lost in Belgrade to Partizan (92-76) and in Vitoria to Kosner Baskonia (86-76). This is a game neither team can afford to lose.

Panathinaikos - Fenerbahce · 20:15

The game of the week outside Spain. It's the first matchup between unbeaten teams, and the winner will sleep alone in first place. Panathinaikos comes off a defensive masterclass against Maccabi Tel Aviv (90-67) and has recovered Nigel Hayes-Davis after a month out. Fenerbahce also won all three games, though the last one was tougher than expected: Dubai Basketball tied it at 61 in the fourth quarter before the Turks closed it out 15-5 led by Marcus Bingham Jr. (20 points and 8 rebounds). At the OAKA, Fenerbahce faces its first real test away from home.

Bayern Munich - Virtus Bologna · 20:30

Clash between two 1-2 teams coming from opposite directions. Bayern lost at home by two points to Partizan (84-86) in a game they controlled for much of the time. Virtus Bologna comes off their best night yet: Marcus Carr's three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Olympiacos (96-94), with 22 points, 10 assists, and 5-of-8 from three for the point guard. Bayern plays at home and needs the win.

Valencia Basket - Hapoel Tel Aviv · 20:30 · Movistar Plus+

Valencia Basket is the only unbeaten Spanish team, and at La Fonteta they put their perfect record on the line against one of the most uncomfortable opponents of the season's start. They arrive in great form after a 18-point comeback in Lyon, with Nikola Mirotic (22 points that day) playing at a high level. Hapoel Tel Aviv is 2-1 and comes off a win over Real Madrid in Sofia (102-98), with Elijah Bryant (22 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists) and Vasilije Micic (22) firing on all cylinders. It's a rival that runs, has plenty of one-on-one talent, and punishes mistakes. If Valencia Basket wins, they'll reach 4-0 in a week where perhaps another unbeaten team falls by the wayside.

Read also

• Matchday 1 EuroLeague recap: two Spanish wins, two losses, and a historic return
• McKinley Wright's three-pointer in the final minute knocks down Real Madrid in Dubai (78-77)
• Carlik Jones dismantles Olimpia Milano in the fourth quarter and Partizan closes the matchday with a win (92-76)

Real Madrid - Partizan · 20:45 · Movistar Plus+

The game of the matchday. The worst and one of the best starts in the EuroLeague collide: Real Madrid is 0-3, something that has never happened to them before, and Joan Peñarroya's Partizan arrives at 3-0. The Madrid losses follow a clear pattern. They lost by one to Dubai Basketball (77-78) and by ten to Anadolu Efes (84-94), and in Sofia they came back from 22 points down against Hapoel Tel Aviv only to collapse in the final quarter (102-98). That day Theo Maledon scored 26 points and Walter Tavares posted a double-double (14 and 13), but it wasn't enough.

In the Liga Endesa, Pedro Martínez's team is 2-0, though the last game also required suffering: they needed overtime to beat Monbus Obradoiro at Fontes do Sar (107-114). Partizan, meanwhile, has found its place quickly. They beat Olimpia Milano convincingly (92-76) and then added two road wins in Paris (79-92) and Munich (84-86), with Carlik Jones running the show (20 points and 10 assists against Milano). For Real Madrid, this is much more than a fourth matchday: it's the night they have to prove that 0-3 was a stumble at the start and not a reflection of a team that still hasn't found its rhythm.

Friday, October 9

Dubai Basketball - Crvena Zvezda · 18:00

Xavi Pascual's Dubai Basketball lost their first game in Istanbul after beating Real Madrid and Barcelona, but they remain the revelation team of the start. They'll face Crvena Zvezda, who got on the board in Matchday 3 against Anadolu Efes (77-72), Ibon Navarro's first EuroLeague win. It's a good opportunity to see if Dubai Basketball maintains their level at home.

Olympiacos - Anadolu Efes · 20:15

Olympiacos, the defending champion, comes off a loss in Bologna at the buzzer despite 23 points from Mbaye Ndiaye in just twenty minutes. Before that, they had won their first two games. Pablo Laso's Anadolu Efes plays their first game without Mike James, who underwent Achilles tendon surgery and will miss seven to nine months. That's the big question of the game: how does a team reorganize when it loses its leading scorer, in one of Europe's toughest arenas.

Kosner Baskonia - Besiktas · 20:30 · Movistar Plus+

Kosner Baskonia arrives at 1-2 in Europe but in their best form of the season. They beat Olimpia Milano at the Buesa Arena (86-76) and on Sunday dominated FIATC Girona in the Liga Endesa (118-78). Besiktas is also 1-2: they beat Maccabi Tel Aviv scoring 109 points, but against Barcelona they shot just 7-of-31 from three. Both have the chance to go 2-2, and Kosner Baskonia plays at home.

Barcelona - Zalgiris Kaunas · 20:30 · Movistar Plus+

Barcelona closes the matchday at the Palau with a 2-1 record after winning convincingly in Istanbul against Besiktas (82-95) with 16 points from Kevin Punter. Their only loss came to Dubai Basketball. Sekulic's team continues integrating its eleven new faces, and in the Liga Endesa they're 1-1. Zalgiris Kaunas, also at 1-2, lost in Paris a game they had tied in the final quarter. Carsen Edwards missed the possessions that could have changed it. In front of their home crowd, Barcelona has the chance to join the group at the top.

Keys to the Matchday

There are two storylines running through the entire matchday. The first is that perfection won't last for everyone: Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce face each other, Partizan visits Real Madrid, and Valencia Basket hosts a Hapoel Tel Aviv that has already beaten a big team. Friday night could leave just one or two unbeaten teams.

The second is that all four Spanish teams play at home for the first time in the same matchday. For Real Madrid it's the chance to erase the zero, for Kosner Baskonia and Barcelona the chance to move closer to the top, and for Valencia Basket the chance to remain the Spanish leader.

EuroLeague Matchday 4 Games