A modern era record. A legendary stadium. Panathinaikos wanted something spectacular for its sixth Pavlos Giannakopoulos tournament, a friendly warm-up for the Euroleague with Partizan Belgrade, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Anadolu Efes invited to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens in front of… 42,000 people in the open air!
Enough to give Mathias Lessort ants in his pants, who, even though he was injured, wanted to enjoy the atmosphere.
“I really wanted to play, but the doctors didn't want me to” explained the interior of the Bluesslowed down by a sprain. “So I made a deal with Coach Ataman that he would let me play a few minutes, and I could experience those moments on the court. I wanted to feel that. The atmosphere was incredible.”
Without Lorenzo Brown and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, and with Kostas Sloukas, Matias Lessort and Kostas Antetokounmpo hampered by injuries, Panathinaikos nevertheless lost to Partizan Belgrade (75-64).
The 42,000 people present in the legendary Panathenaic Stadium, inaugurated in 330 BC and renovated for the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896, constitute in any case a record for the Euroleague, in its current form.
Although it should be remembered that in 1968, the stadium welcomed 80,000 spectators for the Cup Winners' Cup final!
