Fenerbahce vs Crvena Zvezda: Belgrade have no chance of success

Fenerbahce of Turkey and Crvena Zvezda of Serbia face off in another first-round game of the new Euroleague Basketball season. Who will be stronger? Here are a few options to bet on at once.

The Turkish team did not play their best last season. Fenerbahce made it to the playoffs, where they crashed out of CSKA Moscow without scoring a goal. The main reason for such a hard loss to the Militarians seemed to be in the coaching. Igor Kokoshkov once again proved himself to be not the strongest coach.

Fenerbahce enter the new season with a new coach, Aleksandar Djordjevic, formerly of Virtus Bologna. Djordjevic, in a sense, could be called the successor to Zeljko Obradovic. There’s little doubt he’ll do better at Fenerbahce than Igor Kokoskov.

The team’s roster grew even stronger during the offseason. The old leaders remain: De Colo, Mahmutoglu, Veselý, Bartel, Guduric, Marial Shayok. The new ones are Polonara and Henry from Baskonia, former Khimki forward Devin Booker, Germany’s best young player of 2017, Ismet Akpinar. In short, Fenerbahçe now have effectively two equivalent top-fives.

The Serbian outfit has not been competitive on the European stage in recent years. If the rules for promotion and relegation in European basketball were different, there’s little doubt that Crvena would be playing in the Eurocup rather than the Euroleague by now. As long-term licensees, they remain in the club’s primary competition. Last season they finished the regular season in 17th place with ten wins in 34 games. It is far from certain that the new season will be better for Crvena Zvezda.

The new head coach will be in his second season at the helm. Dejan Radonjic has been with Crvena Zvezda since 2013-17. The squad has undergone serious changes, but it is unlikely to be any stronger. Last season’s big man Jordan Loyd headed to Zenit St Petersburg. Significant acquisitions include Austin Hollins from Zenit, Nikola Kalinic from Valencia, Mitrovic, and Ivanovic from Buducnica, to whom Red Star nearly lost the Adriatic League last season.

Fenerbahce’s line-up for the new season is simply astounding. At least judging by the names, they seem to be the strongest team in Europe right now. Against such an opponent, Red Star, who have been weak in recent years, don’t seem to stand a chance at all. And even on an away trip.

The prediction is a confident win for Fenerbahce.

• Handicap 1 (-9.5) for 1.55;
• W1 and Total Over 153.5 for 2.20.