ANKARA
Real Madrid won 89-74 at Virtus Segafredo Bologna to book their place Friday in the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs.
The Spanish basketball powerhouse is the first club to secure a top-six finish with five games to spare in the EuroLeague regular season.
Real Madrid’s French forward Guerschon Yabusele had 15 points as the game’s top scorer at Virtus Segafredo Arena in Bologna, Italy.
Vincent Poirier added 14 points for Real Madrid.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna’s French guard Isaia Cordinier led the Italian club with 12 points at home.
Real Madrid, the defending champions, bagged 23 wins in 29 games to carry on their lead in the standings. Real will next visit 18th-place ALBA Berlin on March 19.
Bitter rivals Barcelona are second as they have a 20 – 9 record after beating Serbia’s Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 94 – 76 on Thursday in Spain.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna are now in the seventh spot as the Italians dropped to 17-12.
The best six clubs in the EuroLeague standings will qualify for the playoffs.
The clubs ranked seventh through 10th will advance to the play-in — a knockout phase before the playoffs, after the 34-game regular season.
Round 29 results:
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens: 71-65
Fenerbahce Beko – Valencia Basket: 118-88
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade – Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv: 80-84
ALBA Berlin – Monaco: 82-90
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz – EA7 Emporio Armani Milan: 88-73
Barcelona – Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade: 94-76
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne – Anadolu Efes: 84-80
Bayern Munich – Zalgiris Kaunas: 64-58
Virtus Segafredo Bologna – Real Madrid: 74-89
