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Munich (dpa) - After their historic success in the Euroleague, FC Bayern's basketball players dare to make further coups in the knockout phase.

Munich was the first German team to reach the playoffs in the most important continental club competition on Thursday with a 71:70 over Zalgiris Kaunas.

"It's huge, the best eight in Europe, an incredible result," said coach Andrea Trinchieri.

"But why should we stop dreaming now?"

In the playoffs, the Bundesliga team is even more of an outsider against the European basketball heavyweights.

Nevertheless, "everything is now open", as sports director Marko Pesic said.

The Munich team earned their ticket for the top eight with a surprisingly strong main round and several comeback successes.

A mirror image was the match against Kaunas, which was hard to beat in terms of drama.

"Thousands of deaths," said Pesic.

Bayern gave up a seven-point lead in the last quarter, but top scorer Vladimir Lucic (13 points) took the lead again with two free throws 2.3 seconds before the end.

With the final siren, Zalgiris had the chance to win - but match winner Lucic blocked the attempt.

"It would have broken my heart if it hadn't worked out," said Pesic, referring to the team, coach and the many supervisors around the team this Corona season.

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Coach Trinchieri is proud that his protégés have withstood the immense pressure.

«That was our 16th game in 34 days.

It's inhuman, ”said the extroverted Italian.

Maybe his team doesn't shine like other, more prominent rivals in the Euroleague.

«We always catch up on backlogs.

We always have to dig ourselves out of a hole.

But we don't die, that's our fate.

So are we.

And I don't want to change any of my players. "

In the last main round match of the Euroleague next Friday (9 p.m.), Bayern have to play against front-runner FC Barcelona.

The outcome of the game decides who it is against in the knockout round.

With will and fighting spirit, the Munich can take on any opponent.

"We fought for this goal and now want to continue to compete," emphasized leader Lucic at Magentasport.

"We are ready."

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210402-99-63411 / 3

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Game on Euroleague homepage

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Bayern on the Euroleague homepage

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Schedules Bavaria

Bayern squad