Ioannis Sfairopoulos

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos produced two very convincing performances and secured important wins at the start of a double week in the Euroleague, as the Reds edged out host Maccabi in Tel Aviv and the Greens dismissed Villeurbanne in Athens.

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos lost some ground this week in the Euroleague, as their road defeats pulled them further away from the top-eight of the table that leads to the playoffs.

On Tuesday Panathinaikos went down 89-81 at Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite putting up a strong resistance to the hosts, threatening the Giannis Sfairopoulos-coached team with an upset.

Both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos surrendered handsome first-half leads to lose on the road in their Euroleague games, as their hosts, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Red Star Belgrade respectively, proved more resilient and resolute.

Maccabi beat Panathinaikos 88-79 on Thursday despite the Greens leading by up to 18 points early in the second period in Israel (31-13).

Another week of twin bad losses for Greek teams in the Euroleague saw them slip further at the standings, as Olympiakos lost at Maccabi and Panathinaikos suffered at the hands of Fenerbahce in Turkey.

Olympiakos will face Fenerbahce in Sunday's Euroleague final, after the Turks beat Real Madrid in the second semi on Friday, and the Reds' coach Yiannis Sfairopoulos said on Saturday his team is the underdog, against a quality side that is in great form and plays at home.