Milan's first victory in this Euroleague arrived, 81-74 on the Bayern Munich field, a blow that is worth double because it came away and probably against a direct opponent for the next round (and capable two weeks before giving up by only two points on the Barcelona pitch).
Unforgettable match, with Banchi's boys who got off to a very strong start (even +15 in the middle of the first quarter), but who let the Germans recover point by point up to 41 all in the interval. The second half was dedicated to maximum balance, until Ragland (the best together with Hackett, both 16 points) and Brooks (another performance, however more negative than positive for him) found a couple of winning flashes that directed the match on the red and white tracks. More than talking about singles or great plays, it was a victory of character and of the group, with the awareness that this formation will hardly be able to reach the level of the top 4 or 5 in Europe, but has enormous room for improvement.
After the two initial knockouts, in Turkey with Fenerbahce and at home with Barcelona, and after a pre-season and early season spent a little too much celebrating the Scudetto, but with the first trophy of the season, the Super Cup, "kindly" handed over to Sassari , therefore here is the first important call for EA7, a success that could prove decisive for the purposes of qualification, even if the road is still very long.
Of course, a further defeat would have put Hackett and his teammates against the wall, instead there was a reaction from a team that wants to become great and even if Bayern (until a few years ago relegated to the lower leagues and considered only a offshoot of the sports club which includes the much more famous football team, but which for three years now has begun a process to reach those levels also in basketball) cannot be compared to the various Real Madrid or Fenerbahce, passing on its field is not absolutely a minor thing (Panathinaikos fell a week ago).
But this on the eve was considered by many to be the iron group (all 6 teams won their respective championships) and in fact there is no time for Milan to get distracted given that the next round will see them on stage in the hell of Athens at home of Panathinaikos (who demolished Fenerbahce 91-73 in the last round), while in the last round of the first leg the Italian team will receive the Poles of Turow, in what should be the only easy match of this first phase . Olimpia who in the meantime will return to the field on Monday evening in the postponement of the fourth day of the championship away to Avellino, but this is another story, with Serie A which seems to have become almost a formality for Gentile and his companions, a sort of training for Europe, where the story is very different.
