At this point it's practically done, Milan also wins in Vitoria against Laboral Kutxa 65-83 and already has a foot and a half in the quarterfinals, or among the top eight teams in Europe, something that hasn't happened since 1997, now 17 Years ago. EA7, after the great performances at the Forum, proves to be able to impose itself even away from home, so, one week after the feat in Athens against Olympiakos, the second away success of these Top 16 also arrives, the one that reinforces the his second place in the standings (behind Barcelona) with 7 wins after ten meetings.
Banchi's team entered this game as favourites, given that the Spaniards were last in the group and with almost zero chances of getting back in the race (even if fresh from the clamorous victory at Panathinaikos, among other things a result all to the advantage of Olympia). Today's formation is a young formation that is only a distant relative of the squadron that between the end of the nineties and the first decade of the 2000s reached the final on two occasions and was the protagonist of the Final Four several times and could not even count on Lamar Odom, the two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, landed in Spain less than a month ago to try to recover after the problems on and especially off the field in recent years, but has already returned to the USA to heal some physical problems. All this, however, could have concealed a trap for the Italian team, called to demonstrate their European maturity, but fortunately it didn't turn out to be like this and the Spaniards, coached by the former Scariolo, were unable to give too much trouble to the fast-paced Langford and companions.
Milan dominated the match, also thanks to a 20-5 sprint start, even if one of the blackouts in which it occasionally falls allowed the hosts to make up for it between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. The Milan of previous years would have had difficulty finding each other, but this one instead has the right mentality, and so they re-established the distances and dragged by Gentile they went 14 above the interval. In the second half, the Spaniards, albeit with minimum motivation , they proudly tried to reopen the match, but EA7 never broke down, they controlled and also thanks to some super baskets from Jerrells (17 points) they extended up to the final +18.
This time the red and white formation, yesterday in blue and gold numbers, didn't even have to ask for the usual great performance of Langford, the best scorer of the event, who limited himself to 12 points, sitting on the bench for the entire second quarter, and in the final he accused a suspected strain of the hamstring, however to be evaluated in the next few days. Among others, yet another solid test under the basket by Samuels, who finished with 15 points.
Now, with four rounds still to go and qualification in the pocket, the goal is to hold on to the current second place, which is fundamental in view of the quarter-finals. In fact, by finishing second, Milan would avoid meeting CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid, the two favorite battleships for the final victory who in all probability will finish the other group in the first two places, even if Real's unexpected defeat yesterday against Bayern could upset the cards on the table (at the moment the Russians are leading with a 9-1 record, the Spanish are 8-2, but Maccabi, 7-3, immediately came close, and next week there will be Real Madrid-CSKA). Thus Hackett and his companions would face Maccabi, with the Israelis who are always an absolutely respectable squadron, but are a little less scary than a few years ago. But above all, by finishing second, Olimpia would have home advantage on their side in a possible match (the quarterfinals will be played as the best of 5 games, with the first two and the fifth, if necessary, at the home of the better qualified team) and looking at Milan's roadmap to the Forum this season would be a really big plus.
An advantage that Banchi's boys won't have to let slip away in these last four days, but seeing the standings and the calendar, everything seems to suggest that EA7 can also achieve this goal. In fact, Milan will receive Efes in seven days, still with 2 victories and with almost no chance of returning to the top 4, certainly the right opportunity to close the qualification discussion and avenge the incredible knockout of the first leg. At that point at Olimpia, counting on the various direct matches among others, just one more success in the remaining three games in Turkey against Fenerbahce, at home against a Barcelona that could reasonably be already sure, could be enough to be certain of second position first place and finally away to Malaga. This considering that Unicaja Malaga and Fenerbahce are chasing EA7 two wins apart (and in the first leg both were defeated by the Forum), while the two Greeks, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, with one game in hand are three wins apart and tonight they will be engaged respectively on the field of Efes and Barcelona, to close this tenth round.
