Hapoel Tel Aviv Faces Real Madrid in Sofia Looking for EuroLeague Momentum
Hapoel Tel Aviv faces Real Madrid in Sofia looking for consecutive EuroLeague wins. Dimitris Itoudis's squad aims to overcome missing key players against the Spanish powerhouse.
Following their historic opening victory over Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, Hapoel Tel Aviv returned to Sofia on Thursday aiming to maintain momentum in the EuroLeague and defeat Real Madrid, a team they lost to in five of six matchups last season. Unlike the Reds, who hold a 1-1 record, Los Blancos dropped their first two games and are desperate to find their footing in the European competition.
Amir Coffey and Jacob Toppin are sidelined for Dimitris Itoudis, alongside Tomer Ginat, who is still recovering from an injury sustained last season. Bar Timor and Caden Carrington are in the squad. Real Madrid underwent an overhaul under new coach Pedro Martinez, who arrived from Valencia, adding players like Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Jaime Pradilla to a veteran core led by Facundo Campazzo and Sergio Llull.
Game Flow
Quarter 1:
Itoudis made a surprising change to his starting five, opting for Bruno Caboclo over Dan Oturu, alongside Vasilije Micic, Tomas Satoransky, Elijah Bryant, and Zach LeDay.
