Dream start: Bayern’s basketball players win against Real Madrid

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid provide the 11,500 spectators with a spectacle at the start in the new SAP Garden, which has been sold out for weeks. At the start of the EuroLeague, world champion coach Gordon Herbert’s team beat Real Madrid 97:89 (52:51).

A crime thriller from the start

Last season, Munich were weak in the EuroLeague, but a new era is about to begin with world champion coach Gordon Herbert and other top-class newcomers. The Canadian Herbert stands for offensive and courageous basketball. The Munich team showed this against Real Madrid and took advantage of the visitors’ lack of intensity to open up a seven-point lead after half of the first quarter.

As the parties progressed, the leadership in the multifunctional hall changed again and again. The Munich team, actually the underdog, showed a flawless party against a physically strong Real. Thanks in particular to world champion Johannes Voigtmann (19 points) and top scorer Shabazz Napier (25), Bayern managed to turn the party around again and again.

Spectacle in the new hall

The model for the SAP Garden is Madison Square Garden in New York, which is shared by basketball and ice hockey. The day before, the EHC Red Bull Munich had already shown how to entertain first-class in the glossy hall in the 7:4 win against Wolfsburg, but judging by the way the game went, the basketball players wanted to go one better.

The audience had to wait a bit for the last quarter because the brand new high-tech music box was broken. After a replacement was organized, Munich quickly got within four points. When the actual time measurement was functional again, Niels Giffey equalized to 75:75. A concentrated Bayern Munich turned the party around again and was able to maintain their lead until the final whistle. Shortly afterwards, Herbert Hainer and Uli Hoeneß came to the 150 million place to congratulate Gordon Herbert.