Another two-round EuroLeague week—the second in 2026—starts with the toughest trip of them all, in Madrid. Real Madrid is 9-1 at home—the only loss coming at the hands of Panathinaikos—and has won eight of its last ten games, a first-place pace. The good news is that one of those two losses came against Olimpia, who left Milan today after practice and left Leandro Bolmaro behind. After the injury and the return, he was left at home for precautionary reasons, looking forward to the ensuing games. Real Madrid just buried Barcelona by 19 points, but more importantly, they held them to 61. The numbers reveal a team that allows the lowest rating to the opponents, allows the fewest rebounds, and is first in rebounds conquered and third in two-point field goal percentage allowed. The only weakness appears to be their three-point shooting defense, 37.6 percent, where Olimpia is potentially stronger at 39.4 percent, second overall. Real Madrid is 14-4 when scoring more than 80 points, so they are unbeatable without a top-notch defense like the one Olimpia displayed in the Milan game about a month ago. Olimpia responded to the loss to Red Star Belgrade with a league win in Tortona (Real Madrid defeated Valencia), a significant win because it was achieved without special demands to anyone and saving completely Shavon Shields and Devin Booker. After the Madrid game, Olimpia will have four of its next five EuroLeague games at home (Zalgiris; Partizan; Baskonia; Dubai after going to Villeurbanne), a crucial sequence for the future.

NOTES– Real Madrid- Olimpia Milano is scheduled to be played in Movistar Arena, Madrid, on Tuesday, January 20th, at 20:45.

THE REFEREES – Sreten Radovic (Serbia), Arturas Sukys (Lithuania), Vasiliki Tsaroucha (Greece).

COACH PEPPE POETA – “We are aware to face a very hot team which is especially tough at home where Real Madrid is showing why they deserve to be considered a top-notch contender. They have talented players and depth at every position and are well coached by Sergio Scariolo, who is somebody I certainly admire. We know it is a tough game we will play with courage, pace and intensity.”

REAL MADRID OUTLOOK – Facundo Campazzo, an incredibly experienced Argentine point guard, is the starting playmaker, playing nearly 25 minutes per game averaging 11.9 points (14.9 points in his last ten games) and 4.0 assists per game. He scored 25 points in the Milan game, then 28 in Monaco, but Real Madrid lost both games. The remaining playmaking minutes are handled by the great Sergio Llull (2.4 points per game in 10.4 minutes at 39 years old) and the Dominican Andres Feliz, who averages 5.6 points per game in nearly 15 minutes on the court and is shooting 37.9 percent from three. Frenchman Theo Maledon, who has played 177 NBA games, has started only three times, he is averaging 19.0 minutes on the court and 11.4 points and 3.1 assists per game on 58.2 percent two-point shooting. Alberto Abalde, one of the most reliable defenders with 19 starts, plays 16.5 minutes per game, averaging 5.2 points per game, and shoots excellently from three, 44.7 percent. German David Kramer, in his first year in Madrid, and Gabriele Procida can also get minutes at the perimeter positions. Among the forwards, Gabriel Deck, in his eighth year in Madrid, plays nearly 21 minutes per game averaging 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 67.3 percent from two and 40.6 percent from three, a weapon he uses occasionally. Mario Hezonja, a Croatian with 330 NBA appearances, averages 12.5 points per game in under 21 minutes per game, pairing it with 3.6 rebounds. He is a player with a great physical presence and versatility. At power forward, Scariolo’s choice for the starting five is Trey Lyles, who stays 21.3 minutes on the court, averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He is a two-dimensional offensive player (55.5 percent from two, 37.9 percent from three), with ten NBA seasons under his belt and 650 appearances. Usman Garuba, who developed his career at Real Madrid and returned to home-base after a brief NBA stint, is one of the competition’s most solid defenders (averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds, shooting 66.7 percent from two). Another former NBA player is Chuma Okeke (198 appearances), in his European rookie season. A physical defender, he currently averages 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds, shooting 60.0 percent from two and 43.3 percent from three. The center is the great Walter Tavares, the leading shot-blocker of all time in the EuroLeague, a legendary defender and irreplaceable starter, who is spending 23.1 minutes on the court with 9.4 points (66.7 percent from the field) and 6.6 rebounds per game, in addition to 1.9 blocks per outing. His back-up is Alex Len, a thirty-two-year-old Ukrainian, who spent his entire career in America, 690 appearances over 12 NBA seasons, that came in Madrid early in the season, who is currently averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.

THE REAL MADRID CONNECTION – Sergio Scariolo coached Olimpia between 2011 and 2013 with an Italian league championship series lost to Siena in 2012. Current Real Madrid sporting director, Sergio Rodriguez, is an Olimpia Hall of Famer.