After winning their Israeli league opener at Rishon LeZion, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv headed Monday to the Spanish capital to face Real Madrid in round 2 of the EuroLeague season. On paper, facing Pablo Laso's squad on the road is one of the toughest games of the European campaign.

On Thursday, the two teams will meet for the 59th time, and no two teams have met as often in European competitions as Real and Maccabi. The Blancos have won 10 European Championship titles, the most by any club.

Maccabi landed in Madrid late Monday evening. On Tuesday, the team had their annual video session and met with the EuroLeague players union. Before Yom Kippur, the group headed to practice at Fuenlabrada, a city half an hour away from the Spanish capital. The night following Yom Kippur, the team traveled to Fuelabrada to prepare for the game. Thursday morning, the team is scheduled to practice at the WiZink Center, Madrid's home court.



"We have a game against a very steady team that plays with an existing philosophy, the same core players and coach for the last couple of years", Said coach Giannis Sfairopoulos about Real Madrid. "We need to elevate our performance, stick to our gameplan, and control the pace of the game".

Yovel Zoosman talked about the upcoming game: "Madrid is a strong team, they have experienced players that play a lot of years together. We will try to execute the coach's gameplan in the best way possible and be aggressive throughout the game. We will do our best, hopefully taking advantage of our strengths".



Pablo Laso started his 9th season with the club, as he and his talented and experienced squad aspires to win it all every single year. Walter "Edy" Tavares (2.21 Meters) is one of the most dominant big man in the league, joined by newcomer Jordan Mickey that had a successful rookie campaign with Khimki Moscow. Closing out the frontcourt are Captain Felipe Reyes, Anthony Randolph, Jeffrey Taylor, Gabriel Deck, and keep an eye on 17-year-old Usman Garuba, one of the youngest rising stars in Europe.

In the backcourt, Facu Campazzo will lead the charge with the experienced Sergio Llull coming off the bench. Along them, Fabien Causeur, Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Laprovittola, and one of the league's most dangerous shooters Jaycee Carroll.



Real Madrid won both matchups against Maccabi last season. In November, the Blancos came out of Tel Aviv with an 87:66 win over Neven Spahija squad (Johnny O'Bryant 17 points). At the start of January, after a 44:44 at halftime, Real were able to come away with the victory 91:79 (Michael Roll 23 points).

Maccabi's last win in Madrid happened back in the 2009/10 season. It was an aggressive low scoring game that ended with a spectacular 30:19 comeback in the final quarter to get a 66:64 victory. Only six players scored for Maccabi that night, David Blu and D'or Fischer led the scorers with 13 points each, Chuck Eidson and Stephane Lasme 11 each, Doron Perkins contributed with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and Alan Anderson ended the night with 8 points together with 6 turnovers. On the other side, Sergio Llull finished as the top scorer with 14 points.

Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv fought until the final seconds but came up short in the 85:86 defeat to Real Madrid at Wizink Center in the Spanish Capital. Scottie Wilbekin finished the night with 22 points, scored with 10 seconds left on the clock, but Jaycee Carroll hit a shot behind the arc to give his team the victory. Maccabi loses its second game of the young European campaign but showed a lot of hope towards the upcoming EuroLeague season.

Other than Wilbekin, John DiBartolomeo set a career-high in the EuroLeague with 15 points. Maccabi improved their defense in the second half, as she allowed only 36 points after allowing 50 in the first. All of that without Omri Casspi (sick), who didn't take part in the game.

On Monday, the team will play their first home game of the season against Hapoel Eilat. As for Thursday, they'll host Red Star Belgrade in Menora Mivtachim Arena.



Recap
Nate Wolters, Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Quincy Acy, and Tarik Black opened in Giannis Sfairopoulos starting five. Wolters scored the first two points of the game as Maccabi was able to hold Real scoreless for the first two and a half minutes. Wilbekin with 5 points in a row and buckets by Tyler Dorsey and Black kept Maccabi on top 13:10 after five and a half minutes. Two unsportsmanlike fouls gave Real an option to take the lead, but great finishes by Wilbekin and Hunter concluded a 22:22 tie after one quarter.

DiBartolomeo and Bryant started the second quarter with buckets from deep. However, Jordan Micky, with 10 points in 13 minutes, left the home team tied to Maccabi 30:30. Madrid, with great showing on defense and 7 straight points by Sergio Llull, gave them a 43:34 advantage. Sfairopoulos decided to call a timeout, and his team responded well with threes by Wilbekin and DiBartolomeo, but on the other end, Fabien Causeur gave Real a 50:44 at the half.



Deni Avdija began the second half in the starting five, Wolters and Acy with shots behind the arc led Maccabi to a 9:0 run to take a 53:50 advantage. Despite a Pablo Lasso timeout, John D hit another three-pointer for the Yellow & Blue. Tarik Black executed his fourth foul, and coach Sfairopoulos benched him, Real took the advantage to go on a 13:2 run, but an excellent finish by Jake Cohen ended the third quarter in a 65:65 tie.

Hunter opened the fourth quarter with 4 points that placed Maccabi on top, but Gabriel Deck tied it up once again at 72, 5 minutes to the final whistle. DiBartolomeo fouled out. However, Scottie Wilbekin and Elijah Bryant kept Maccabi tight to Real Madrid until the last minute. With 27 seconds left, Wilbekin drove over Fernandez and hit the bucket to give the Yellow & Blue 85:83 with 10 seconds left. Real went to Jaycee Carroll, who knocked down a three to determine the final score, 86:85 to Real Madrid after a thriller.