ANKARA
Turkish team Galatasaray Liv Hospital lost to Catalan giants Barcelona 88-61 in the first game of Turkish Airlines Euroleague playoff series played in Barcelona's home court Palau Blaugrana on Tuesday night.
However, Galatasaray Liv Hospital who were in the lead in the first and second quarters, saw Barcelona make a comeback in the last two quarters and win the game by 27 points, resulting in a 1-0 result in favor of Barcelona.
Barcelona's Slovenian forward Bostjan Nachbar was the top scorer of the match with 19 points. In Galatasaray Liv Hospital, Puerto Rican playmaker Carlos Arroyo stood out with his 14-point-performance against Barca.
The second playoff game between the two sides will be played in Barcelona again. The showdown at Palau Blaugrana will tip off on April 17 at 22:00 local time in Turkey.
In the other game of the day, Spanish giants Real Madrid toppled the last two years' champions of Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Olympiacos from Greece by 17 points. Home team Real Madrid were victorious by defeating their Greek opponents 88-71 to take the 1-0 lead in the series.
There will be two games to be played in the playoffs on Wednesday. While Russia's CSKA Moscow will be hosting Greek team Panathinaikos, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan will meet Israeli team Maccabi Electra in Milan.
Fixtures of the remaining games in the first round of the playoffs is as follows:
April 16
CSKA Moscow vs Panathinaikos at 18:00 CET
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs Maccabi Electra at 20:45 CET
The second games in Turkish Airlines Euroleague playoff stage will be played on 17-18 April.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
