Panathinaikos and Olympiakos have been left out of the Euroleague final and will fight it out on Sunday for the third place on the podium, after their semifinal losses on Friday at the Abu Dhabi Final 4.

Both Greek teams underperformed and deservedly missed out on the final, letting down their fans who made the long trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Panathinaikos went down to Fenerbahce 82-76, to relinquish its crown from last season.

Despite the much anticipated return to action after five months of center Mathias Lessort, the Greens were chasing the Turkish team throughout the game, with several of their key players not rising to the occasion and regular season MVP Kendrick Nunn (19 points) getting fouled out six minutes from the end.

Cedi Osman made 22 points and Jerian Grant 15, but the holders paid for their poor defense.

Olympiakos extended the so-called curse, according to which the team that tops the regular season fails to win the trophy, as it lost 78-68 to Monaco in the second semifinal.

The Monegasques of coach Vassilis Spanoulis made the most of the below-par showing by the Reds and extended their lead as the game went on to ease to a victorious finish, while Olympiakos stars such as Sasha Vezenkov (2/10 field goals) were disappointing. Evan Fournier’s 31 points were not enough for the team of coach Giorgos Bartzokas.

The final between Fenerbahce and Monaco will take place on Sunday at 8 p.m. Greek time at the Etihad Arena, three hours after the Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos consolation game tips off.

Source: Ekathimerini.com