Pre-game breakdown
Only Pavel Korobkov remains out with foot injury for the Army Men.
Reigning EuroLeague MVP, Real Madrid guard Sergio Llull could miss the entire season with a torn ACL.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
We have a tough road game ahead of us. Real Madrid remains basically the same team over last several years with some quality additions. They have good chemistry, they play good and aggressive basketball, they have 2-3 players of high level available on each position. It will be a difficult game, a real fight. We are practicing good, and this game will be a timely test for us. In a game like this you have to play hard for 40 minutes but besides you have to find extra motivation, some X-factors that can bring you victory.
Sergio Rodriguez, CSKA guard:
I have so many good memories about that place, it will be a bit weird to play there not in Real Madrid or National Team uniform. But I am really happy here with CSKA and look forward to playing in Palacio, in front of Madrid’s fans. I believe it will be something that I will remember forever. Real has a great team, most of them are playing there for a long time under Pablo Laso, who is a great coach. So they know how to play together. We have to be focused from the beginning and to try to get advantage from what we have.
Referees
Luigi Lamonica (Crew Chief, Italy), Borys Ryzhyk (Ukraine), Emin Mogulkoc (Turkey)þ
“Relativity” connections
Sergio Rodriguez played for Madrid from 2010 to 2016 and in those six seasons he was named 2014 EuroLeague MVP and helped the team make four Final Four appearances and win the 2015 title. He was a teammate of current Madrid players Sergio Llull and Felipe Reyes for his entire time there, played five seasons under Coach Pablo Laso and was a teammate for five seasons with Rudy Fernandez and Jaycee Carroll. Rodriguez also played alongside Facundo Campazzo, Jonas Maciulis, Gustavo Ayon, Luka Doncic, Trey Thompkins and Jeffrey Taylor during his years in Madrid.
Othello Hunter played for Real Madrid last season and helped the team compile the best regular season record and reach the Final Four.
Semen Antonov and Trey Thompkins were teammates at Nizhny Novgorod when the club made its EuroLeague debut in 2014-15.
Nikita Kurbanov and Anthony Randolph were teammates at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar during the 2014-15 season.
Past matchups
Wins-losses: 27-1-14
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. Real – CSKA: 86-69 (-17)
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 91-74 (+17)
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 99-80 (+19)
1964-65 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 88-81 (+7)
1964-65 – Euroleague. Final. Real – CSKA: 76-62 (-14)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 67-69 (+2)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 78-89 (-11)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 103-99 2ÎÒ (+4)
1970-71 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 73-66 (+7)
1970-71 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 58-60 (+2)
1976-77 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. Real – CSKA: 92-111 (+19)
1976-77 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. CSKA – Real: 113-111 (+2)
1980-81 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. Real – CSKA: 104-80 (-24)
1980-81 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. CSKA – Real: 85-80 (+5)
1982-83 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 90-93 (-3)
1982-83 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 91-91 (0)
1984-85 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 85-97 (-12)
1984-85 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 84-72 (-12)
1994-95 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 97-81 (-16)
1994-95 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 84-82 (+2)
1995-96 – Euroleague. 3rd place game. CSKA – Real: 74-73 (+1)
1997-98 – Euroleague. 1st group stage. CSKA – Real: 90-77 (+13)
1997-98 – Euroleague. 1st group stage. Real – CSKA: 101-93 (-8)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 77-92 (-15)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 82-86 (+4)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 90-75 (+15)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 80-93 (+13)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Top 16: Real – CSKA: 94-95 ÎÒ (+1)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Real: 89-73 (+16)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 64-52 (+12)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 71-80 ÎÒ (+9)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 54-58 (+4)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 78-82 (-4)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 86-78 ÎÒ (-8)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 81-72 ÎÒ (+9)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 85-71 (+14)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 93-79 (-14)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 95-81 (+14)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 87-96 (+9)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 91-90 (+1)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 95-85 (-10)
2016-17 – Euroleague. 3rd place game. Real – CSKA: 70-94 (+24)
Short dossier
Real Madrid, Spain
Founded: 1931
Colors: white, blue
Home court: WiZink Center (15,000)
President: Florentino Perez
Head coach: Pablo Laso
Website: www.realmadrid.es
Trophy case:
9-time Euroleague champion (1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1973-74, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1994-95, 2014-15);
ULEB Cup winner (2007);
Korac Cup winner (1988);
4-time Saporta Cup winner (1983-84, 1988-89, 1991-92, 1996-97);
33-time Spanish champion (1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1999-00, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16);
27-time Copa del Rey winner (1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017);
4-time Spanish SuperCup winner (1985, 2012, 2013, 2014);
4-time Intercontinental Cup winner (1976, 1977, 1978, 2015)
