With one game ahead in the Top16, there will be a tough race for several teams to qualify for the Quarterfinals of the Euroleague this week. I checked the different groups and will explain who has to do what in order to qualify.
Group D
Here the situation is pretty easy to explain. Montepaschi Siena is already qualified for the Playoffs as they have the direct advantage over Partizan and Panathinaikos, so even a loss in the last game against Efes would not harm them. However, they want to go for a win in order to secure their first place. The game to follow will be played in Belgrade between Partizan and Panathinaikos. The winner will qualify for the playoffs and it is hard to predict what will happen. And additionally, the winner will even go for the first place in case of a Siena defeat.
Group E
Tau Ceramica is through and even secured for reaching the top of the standings in the group for sure. The three other teams have still chances to qualify with the least possibilities of course for Aris Salonica. Fenerbahce has the "easiest" task as they have the direct advantage over Rytas and they play at home against TAU. A win and they are qualified. When they lose at home and Rytas wins in the Alexandrion, the Lithuanians are qualified. Those are the easiest cases. The calculations will come along if Aris beats Lietuvos Rytas and Fenerbahce loses against TAU. Then, we have three teams with 2 wins, and there will be some kind of mini-league between those three and the direct results will count. (Aris wins by 1-5: Rytas qualifies, Aris wins by 6-30: Fenerbahce qualifies, Aris win by 31 or more: Aris qualifies)
Group F
In group F, an improving and improving Maccabi Tel Aviv team has already their Playoff berth clinched with a huge win in Madrid this week. Zalgiris is out and there will be a final between Real Madrid and Olympiacos. The winner takes it all and advances to the next round. We have a similar situation than in Group D with Maccabi playing at home against Zalgiris and the best chances to go for the top spot. In cases of a defeat, the winner of the Olympiacos – Real game will be at the top of the standings.
Group G
In Group G, CSKA is already sure to finish at the first place while the three other teams have all chances to qualify for the playoffs. The toughest matchup will probably be for Barcelona who have to at home against CSKA. However, a win simply is enough as they have the direct advantage over Roma and Unicaja. So these two teams have to hope on a Moscow win in order to come into the position of a potential qualification. And the winner of their matchup in Spain will take the Playoff spot.
So it is up to you to make your choices. My bets would be on Siena and Partizan in D, Tau and Rytas in E, Maccabi and Real in E, and CSKA and Roma in G. Which means that we would have the following Playoff setups: Siena – Lietuvos Rytas, Tau – Partizan, Maccabi – Roma and Cska – Real.
