The Euroleague Final Four draw has been completed with Greece’s representative Panathinaikos set to face Italian outfit Montepaschi Siena on Friday May 6, 2011 at Barcelona’s state-of-the-art Palau Sant Jordi Stadium, hosting the Final Four for the third time.
Panathinaikos advanced to the Final Four and in the process dethroned Regal FC Barcelona with a 78-67 victory in Game 4 of their Quarterfinal Playoffs series in front of a sea of 19,000 green fans at OAKA in Athens. Panathinaikos won the best-of-five series 3-1 and reached the Final Four for the 10th time in club history. PAO were unable to successfully defend their 2009 Euroleague title, unexpectedly going out in the Top 16 in 2010.
With five Euroleague titles – four of them since 2000 – PAO can add to this incredible tally in 2011. Standing in their way will be their semi-final opponent, Italian side Montepaschi Siena, who completed a historic series win over Olympiakos with an 88-76 victory at the Palaestra to win their Playoffs series 3-1 and clinch their spot in the Final Four. Siena, who last made the Final Four in 2008, will head to Barcelona after an impressive come-from-behind performance in the series. Maccabi Electra stormed back to the Final Four for the first time since 2008 by pounding Caja Laboral 99-77 in front of a packed house at Nokia Arena. Maccabi won the teams’ Playoffs series 3-1, despite losing Game 1.
The feat was even more impressive given that Maccabi was without star Doron Perkins, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in Game 3. The Israeli side will face Real Madrid, who stormed back from a double-digit first half deficit to beat Power Electronics Valencia 66-58 on Thursday at Caja Magica in the Spanish capital to win their Quarterfinal Playoffs series 3-2 and earn the club’s first Euroleague Final Four berth in 15 years. The final will be played that same weekend on Sunday May 8, 2011.