Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv have a challenge on their hands: Become the first EuroLeague team to beat reigning champions Real Madrid this season. The yellows will host Los Blancos on Tuesday (9:15 PM Israel time, 2:15 PM ET) in their temporary home in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, in a rescheduled Round 6 contest.

The Spanish giants are off to an unbeaten start to the season, winning all 9 EuroLeague games they had thus far - and doing so in dominant fashion. Real, led by head coach Chus Mateo, are leading the competition both in points scored (just over 88 per game) and in points conceded (74 per game). They also rank first in a host of other statistical categories, such as PIR, assists, defensive rebounding and blocks.

No two European teams played each other more times than Maccabi and Real Madrid. Out of the 36 such duels since the birth of the EuroLeague in 2000, the Spaniards won 23 while the Maccabees earned 13 victories. The last time these two met, Maccabi beat Los Blancos 100:96 after overtime in Yad Eliyahu in last season's closer.

There are some games where you need to have everything go your way in order to win. And this time around, nothing did. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv suffered their biggest loss of the season on Tuesday, a 70:99 outcome against the best team in Europe in Real Madrid. On Thursday, the yellows will try to bounce back when they host Alba Berlin in Belgrade.

It was a tough night for Oded Kattash's men, who were in chasing mode throughout the contest. Los Blancos, who are the EuroLeague's only undefeated team this season, ran rampant early on and gathered a 19-point lead midway through the second quarter.



Maccabi made a run in the third, led by Lorenzo Brown who had a fine showing with 16 points and 9 dimes. A 11-0 run by the Israeli champs cut the deficit to 6 points, only for Real to regain a head of steam and pull away for good immediately after. The Spanish powerhouse where led by giant Edy Tavares who scored 19 points. Josh Nebo contributed 14 for Maccabi.

With this loss, the second in a row against Iberian competition, Maccabi are down to a 5-5 record.