Red Star vs. Barcelona Prediction, Tips & Odds – Dec. 30, 2022 19:00 CET
In one of the most interesting games of the Euroleague round 16, Red Star will host Barcelona in the sold-out “Aleksandar Nikolic hall”.
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Red Star Team News
When Vladimir Jovanovic was fired in November, Red Star were at 1-6. New head coach Dusko Ivanovic did something unimaginable. Under his command, the red and whites won seven of eight games and they are now 8-7 in the Euroleague.
In the last 40 days, Red Star has been playing fantastically in defense, while all players know their roles in offense. That is something that was missing in the period when Jovanovic was a head coach. Luca Vildoza and Nemanja Nedovic are the most important players in the offensive system, while Ognjen Dobric and Filip Petrusev have been making a huge contribution lately. The most important thing is that Ivanovic restored the faith of all players. The victory in Piraeus is just an indication that they can overcome any opponent in the Euroleague.
With such mental approach, Red Star will run onto the floor against Barcelona. They are confident that they can beat one of the most powerful European teams. A sold-out “Aleksandar Nikolic hall” means that they will have huge support from the stands and that’s never a negligible factor in Belgrade.
Barcelona Team News
Barcelona doesn’t look as dominant as expected. They are at 10-5 and that record could have been worse if they lost some games that were won in close endings. Last week they were defeated by Valencia in a clash in which they were the weaker opponent.
Head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius persistently insists on patience in offense and quality defense. The fact is that Barcelona is defensively the best team in the Euroleague, but without a much better game on the other side of the floor, they can hardly achieve their goals. Nikola Mirotic return didn’t improve Barcelona’s offensive game. The impression is that players lack more freedom in making decisions, so improvisation is reduced to a minimum.
In the important games this season, Barcelona has shown that they can outplay any opponent in the Euroleague with a quality defense. This was perhaps best seen in Monaco two weeks ago when they reduced one of the most powerful European offense to only 63 points.
H2H
In total, these two teams played against each other in the Euroleague 12 times. Barcelona leads 10-2 in H2H. At the same time, the Catalans have seven consecutive victories against Red Star.
Injuries
Nikola Ivanovic, Hassan Martin and Facundo Campazzo won’t play for Red Star. Sergi Martinez is out of action at Barcelona, while Sertac Sanli is questionable.
Red Star vs. Barcelona Prediction
Barcelona has shown this season how good they are when they are focused. There is no doubt that they will be focused after the defeat to Valencia last week. They will certainly be able to limit the opponent’s offense and thus gain an advantage in this clash. Campazzo still isn’t registered and without him Red Star certainly won’t play as well as they could if he was available.
Kick-off time: Friday, 30.12.2022. 19:00 CET
Prediction: Barcelona -2.5
Odds: 1.75
Sportsbook: Ivibet
