EuroLeague Round 28 Preview: Khimki Moscow Region vs. ALBA Berlin 4 march 2021

On Friday, March 5, 2021 Khimki Moscow Region will face ALBA Berlin, Germany in a EuroLeague round 28 game. The game will be played in Russia at Arena Mytishchi. Tip-off at 20:00 msk.

ALBA BERLIN (GERMANY)

Founded in 1991
Team colors: yellow, navy, blue
Honors: German League (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2020), German Cup (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020), German Supercup (2008, 2013, 2014), Korac Cup (1995), EuroCup runner-up (2010, 2019)
Arena: Mercedes-Benz Arena (capacity – 14500)
Head coach: Aito Garcia Reneses
President: Dieter Hauert
Official website: www.albaberlin.de

Where to watch

LIVE: Match! Igra (19:55, replay at 04:10), Match! Strana (19:55), Match TV (replay at 02:00), EuroLeague TV, matchtv.ru
Text online: EuroLeague website

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Andrey Maltsev, Khimki Moscow Region interim head coach:
“We have to confirm the result of the game against Real Madrid, in which, despite a good game, there were good emotions and good condition of the players. Now we are playing against ALBA, a very good team, one of the fastest in the EuroLeague. Physically, they are a very strong team, which is not very convenient for us. They have a group of players, I mean seven or eight guys, who score from 8 to 10 points per game. We realize that ALBA has its own problems, as shown by the last quarter in the game against Zenit. We will try to use their disadvantages, and also show our basketball, like against Real Madrid”.
Anton Ponkrashov, Khimki Moscow Region guard:
“It's not easy to play second game in a row in a double week but we have a tough schedule generally. For sure, we feel good after a historic win over Real Madrid. Maybe that win will give us a proper push. We don't have idea of giving up but our situation is difficult. We keep working. It's great that our fans support us; we felt their support in the game against Real Madrid. We will play for them and try to make them happy. I remember last year [with Zenit], when I played my first game of the season against ALBA and we were shocked about their speed and tempo. They have Spanish coach Aito who prefers playing typical Spanish play with fast moves. They change their speed from fast to very fast. It makes tough to play against them as it can ruin our own rhythm. So our main goal is to control the tempo of the game because if we let them feel this fast play it will we tough to compete”.