Matias Lessor will face many of his former teammates in the match between Panathinaikos AKTOR and Partizan on Thursday evening, November 30th. The special relationship he has built with the players of the Serbian team was confirmed for the umpteenth time on the eve of the big game.

And that’s because some of those who lived with him in the locker room at Stark Arena last year were at his – just two-year-old – son’s birthday party. Panathinaikos Center AKTOR came to the party while Kevin Pander, Zac LeDay, Alen Smilagic and others were already waiting for him.

Afterwards (and before blowing out the candles on the cake with his son) he spoke to the Partizan television camera and explained: “I waited to see how and how I would see her again. We talk on the phone a lot and it’s nice to see her in person again. It will be exciting to share the floor with them again, even if I am on the opposite side. But it will also be fun. Mixed feelings, I’m still trying to figure out how to approach the game. Try to think of it as a normal regular season game, even though I know it won’t be. I have special feelings for the club, my team, but I came here with my team to win the game“.

Monaco hosts Olympiakos in the Principality (November 30, 8:00 p.m., Novasports 4 and Sportish’s Match Center) on matchday 11 of the EuroLeague and the memories of the battle between them in the Final Four in Kaunas are still fresh. The individual 27-2 victory of Giorgos Bartzokas’ players in the third period of the semi-final will not be easily forgotten, as both Sasha Obradovic and Eli Okombo admitted.

“I have never experienced 27:2, neither as a player nor as a coach. Now it’s a thing of the past. We have learned from this mistake and I hope we don’t repeat it tomorrow. We saw a VIDEO of this third period. Now it’s up to us to get the job done tomorrow. In the EuroLeague the record doesn’t count, all teams are tough opponents.

After the two defeats against Real and Efes, it is important to get this win and show what we did against Armani and Red Star, for example. We come from three interesting games. We must not repeat the same mistakes. As for Jordan (Lloyd), we’ll see at that point depending on how he feels.” said Monaco’s Serbian coach.

For his part, Eli Okobo said: “There have been duels between Monaco and Olympiakos for two years. The last time we played was in the Final Four. We still have the bitter taste of defeat, but we will see them again tomorrow at home.

I think it will be a great fight. We were still 20 minutes away from the final so 27-2 was disappointing but we carried on. It’s a new season. We are fighting to get into the top four. They are still a good team, we have to stop them from derailing their game. We were all defensive against Baskonia. It will be a crucial point against Olympiakos, we have to be focused.”

The Stark Arena will be full and hot on Thursday evening (November 30th, 9:45 p.m., Novasports Prime, Sportish’s Match Center) as Partizan announced ticket sales for the EuroLeague Matchday 11 game with Panathinaikos AKTOR has made wings.

Of course, that doesn’t make an impression, as the Serbs are used to filling the field and giving Zelimir Obradovic’s team a huge boost. Especially in such a crucial game, against one of the most established teams in the competition, such as Ergin Ataman.