First European away game of the season for Bertram: tomorrow in Lisbon with Benfica the first leg of the Champions League will end. Squarcina's words
Reinvigorated by their winning streak in Trapani, Bertram Derthona is ready for their first European trip of the season. Destination Lisbon , where they will face home team Benfica tomorrow at 9:30 PM Italian time at the Pavilhão Fidelidade to close out the first leg of Group G of the Basketball Champions League . After home wins against Chemnitz Niners and BAXI Manresa, the league leaders coached by Walter De Raffaele will face a relegation battle against the Portuguese, who are making their home debut following two clear away defeats in Manresa (92-64) and Chemnitz (103-75) that left them alone at the bottom of the group four. Portugal's most successful club, with 30 domestic titles, including the last three in a row, reached the group stage by winning the Qualifying Round in Antalya, Turkey, defeating Swiss side Fribourg Olympic in the final. Benfica has won both of its league games so far, both on the road: against Imortal Albufeira (61-96) and last Saturday at Galomar Caniço on the island of Madeira (83-87). Bertram, for its part, will be chasing a second hat trick of victories in its first three games of FIBA's premier European club competition, having already achieved that feat in its debut last year.
INFIRMARY Andrea Zerini will not start for Portugal , having already missed the match against Trapani due to a muscle problem.
WHERE TO WATCH IT ON TV The match will be streamed live on DAZN.
STATEMENTS Juventus assistant coach Iacopo Squarcina introduced the match : "It's a team that boasts talent, especially in its American players, who know how to create for themselves first and foremost, especially power forward Tyler Stone and guard Marcus Thornton, who was already seen in Italy at Pesaro and Fortitudo Bologna. These two are the main firepower to limit. They may not have great pace compared to other teams, but they have very experienced players like former Trento player Beto Gomes. Furthermore, they have never been at full strength so far, they have always had injury problems, so much so that their best player, point guard Ahmaad Rorie, was sidelined for a long time after the Qualifying Round. We will first need to understand how many will return; shooting guard Trey Drechsel is certainly back. We will have to respond as a team to the individual impact of their players," continues the Turin coach, " not to make it an isolation game but a game in which we set the pace, in which we don't accept the first shot but build an increasingly better one. The fact of playing At home, it will give them the incentive to do well. They also had problems with the championship, which was suspended due to visa issues. They restarted last week and did so away, so they've practically never played at home, and it will therefore be important to respond appropriately to this impact. It will be yet another challenge to be faced seriously, a really important adjective because it encompasses toughness, discipline, and execution. We'll have to run when we can, but overall, manage the pace as a team." Regarding the strain of the double league and cup schedule, Squarcina responds: "The impact on training, playing every two weeks in the Champions League, is different than in the Euroleague or Eurocup, so it has a lesser impact. It will have a slightly greater impact now that we'll be playing away from home instead of playing at home. We'll have a busy schedule, especially given the postponement of the Bologna game. It will be the first real test, as we'll have to deal with the mix of away games, multiple commitments, and busy weeks. We'll try to be ready, which is why we chose to include 12 real players, because we'll need every single drop of sweat from each player."
