In the quarter-finals of the Champions League there will be a German duel between the MHP giants Ludwigsburg and Medi Bayreuth (first leg 8 pm in the LIVESTREAM FOR FREE on SPOX, second leg on 4. April LIVE on DAZN). For both teams the entry into the final four would be the greatest success in the club’s history.
Twice Turkey, Poland, Madrid, Venice, Athens, Strasbourg and Ljubljana: This season, the people of Bayreuth have reeled off a remarkable programme on their European tour.
For the first leg in the quarter-finals, however, the path was clear. On Monday, the train from Franconia needed a good three hours for the 280 kilometres to get to the baroque city of Ludwigsburg north of Stuttgart.
“Our finance department should be pleased: “Instead of travelling by plane, we could travel by bus,” Bayreuth coach Raoul Korner told the North Bavarian Courier with a wink.
The MHP Arena is a huge event for both teams. In the second year of the Champions League, a German club will move into the Final Four for the first time, which will take place at the beginning of May in one of the cities that provides a participant.
But who will play for the one million euros won by the winner of the competition? Favourites are Ludwigsburgers, who are third in the Bundesliga behind Bavaria and Alba Berlin, especially as Bayreuth “doesn’t necessarily lie” with coach John Patrick’s team, Korner said.
The only clash so far this season went straight to the hosts in Ludwigsburg in December with 78:47. “We really got one on the lid,” Korner said: “But we’re in good company with that.
Indeed, numerous teams have already bitten their teeth out on the unconventional Ludwigsburgers. The unpleasant press defence, famous for Patrick teams, exposes the opponents to immense stress: “We want to destroy the opponent by taking his options. Then he makes mistakes on his own,” Patrick explained in the SPOX interview.
In addition there is a quick change-over and an unbelievable aggressiveness on the board. In the BBL, the Ludwigsburg team takes an average of 14 offensive rebounds per game, which is an absolute record.
For example, French champions Elan Chalon (94:74 and 70:56) and Greece’s top club PAOK Thessaloniki (103:70 and 83:63) were shot out of the arena twice each in the Champions League, where Ludwigsburg was narrowly defeated by Turkish representative Banvit in the quarter-finals last year.
“Ludwigsburg is probably the most aggressive team in Europe,” says Korner: “In terms of depth and physique, hardly any German team can be compared to Ludwigsburg, at the most Bayern Munich.
But Bayreuth is certainly not without a chance. The “Heroes Of Tomorrow”, as they call themselves, has developed outstandingly in recent years. The club almost relegated in 2015, followed in twelfth place in 2016 and fourth place last season.
Also this season the men from the Oberfrankenhalle are well on board. The Korner team finished fifth in the Bundesliga, made it into the Cup Final Four and surprisingly eliminated Turkey’s top club Besiktas in the Champions League round of 16.
Bayreuth has succeeded in retaining some top performers. There is a homogenous squad, strong players like the Egyptian Center Assem Marei, Andreas Seiferth or the US boys De’Mon Brooks and Nate Linhart have been there since 2016.
In summer we also made an excellent commitment with Shooting Guard Gabe York. The 24-year-old American is the Franconian top scorer in the BBL (14.4 points) and in the Champions League (17.5 points).
“I think we’re getting a lot out of our options. As an organization, we have already put together a very strong team, but we are not yet running at 100 percent,” Korner said in the SPOX interview.
What Korner doesn’t like are two gigs this month. In Jena, Bayreuth lost 90:107, which can still be explained by the recent exertions caused by the European Cup.
Before that, however, Alba Berlin had already experienced a severe 68:100 bankruptcy, which really upset the coach. Korner found the attitude of his team “to puke” and described the appearance as “absolute crap”.
The task now is to join forces in order to achieve a result in Ludwigsburg that leaves all possibilities open for the return leg next Wednesday in a separate hall.
“In the offensive we have to move the ball well and thus make the field wide. On the defensive, the key is to stop Ludwigsburg from attacking rebound and thus not allow a second chance to throw,” Korner said.
Then it will become clear which German team will travel to which city for the Final Four. In the other three quarter-finals, Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir and UCAM Murcia, Banvit Bandirma and AS Monaco as well as AEK Athens and SIG Strasbourg will face off against each other.