The basketball players of cup winner Bayern Munich easily lost the victory in the first semi-final of the EuroCup. At the Turkish club Darüssafaka Istanbul, the Bundesliga leader lost 74:76 (47:30) after a 23-point lead and is now under pressure in the best-of-three series. On Friday (8 p.m.), the Munich team must win their second duel at home to keep their chance in the final.
“After some games, it’s hard to explain what happened. Like us in the second half,” said Bayern coach Sasa Djordjevic: “We actually had enough experience on the field when we last lost the ball. Now it’s up to us to react in the home game on Friday” In the course of the season to date, the Bavarians have won all ten home games in the EuroCup.
In the first four minutes, FC Bayern did not allow any points for the hosts and led very clearly. In their first European semi-final, the guests, for whom national player Danilo Barthel had a face injury with a protective mask, dominated the weak Turks – at least for 20 minutes.
After the page change the picture changed completely. The Bavarians lost their reassuring lead almost completely, at the latest when Istanbul scored 58:61 (29. minute), the game was open again. In the final quarter, Bavaria’s top scorer Jared Cunningham (20 points) defended their narrow lead until the last minute. 0.7 seconds before the end, Stanton Kidd scored for Istanbul in a threesome.