Crucial Group F encounter takes place on Thursday in Kaunas, Lithuania, as Zalgiris hosts Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv at the S. Darius and S Girenas Sport Center. The game could be a turning point for both teams following their Top 16 opening results. Zalgiris lost a hard-fought contest at Real Madrid 88-85 and cannot afford to drop another game, certainly not at home, if it plans to advance to the Quarterfinal Playoffs for the first time. Meanwhile Maccabi scored a tough 67-75 win at Olympiacos Piraeus and would become a clear favorite to advance to the quarters if it started 2-0 with both wins on the road.

CSKA was looking bad last week and Messina said that his players are tired due hard fixture. But we against see 9.5 pts handicap. And looks that public is tended to back Barcelona. I agree that this is logical bet because CSKA covered handicap only 2 times from 8 games at home (2 times handicap was set right and 0.5 pts difference decided outcome of the bet). But CSKA is still a big club and they usually plays much better in top games. Unfortunately this year it's very difficult to predict CSKA but today I would not be suprised to see more concetraded CSKA and I think that again handicap outcome will be decided in last minutes. It's very interesting to watch at lines history sometimes to make some resume. Last year bookmakers offered 1.35 on CSKA to win against Barcelona at home, and now they are offering "1.15 on CSKA to win against Barce after very poor performance against Roma". What does that mean? Maybe they expect CSKA to blow this evening? Like they did this weekend against Sibirtelekom by scoring 130 points?...

VS

CSKA Moscow - Lottomatica Roma

The game figures to be a tough test for both sides as they look to begin the Top 16 in style. CSKA finished the regular season as the Group A champion and won its last three games. Moreover the Russian champs have won 24 consecutive Euroleague home games. On the other hand Roma, which only advance to the Top 16 as the best sixth-placed finisher, has nevertheless proven to be a dangerous opponent. Head coach Jasmin Repesa’s squad won their last two road games and lost three others on the road at reining champion Panathinaikos, Real Madrid and Partizan by a combined 14 points. The game will be the first between the two proud franchises in over 20 years. CSKA will take the floor for the first time since losing the Russian Cup final last week and head coach Ettore Messina’s men will look to erase that memory with a win. Both teams also will unveil new signings for the game. CSKA brings back defensive center Thomas Van den Spiegel, who helped the club to the 2006 Euroleague title, while Roma added Ibrahim Jaaber, who was leading the Greek League in scoring. Van den Spiegel figures to be involved in one of the game’s more important matchups as CSKA will look to stop Roma’s biggest interior weapon and his former teammate, Erazem Lorbek. It could be a tough time for Lorbek, who will also see another former teammate at times, Marcus Goree. The importance of those matchups is highlighted due to the depth that both teams feature on the perimeter, with J.R. Holden, Theo Papaloukas, Trajan Langdon and Ramunas Siskauskas leading CSKA against Roma’s Roko-Leni Ukic, David Hawkins, Allan Ray, Jon Stefansson and newcomer Jaaber.