Khimki

The Khimki team from the Moscow region had high goals for this season and assembled a really solid roster: G. Monroe, A. Shved, S. Jovic, J. Mickey, J. Timma, E. McColum, all these players have already made a name for themselves in Europe and are rightly considered among the best in their positions. However, everything turned out in a way that was hard to expect – only 2 wins in 21 games played. This is one of the worst performances in Khimki's team history, not to mention that the team will undoubtedly finish the regular season and, despite investing huge amounts of money in this season, will not make it to the playoffs.

With the game not coming together and poor results, Khimki made changes and dismissed Lithuanian Rimas Kurtinaitis from the head coach position. Also, G. Monroe is no longer in the team, injuries continue to plague E. McColum, S. Jovic, and D. Booker, so in each game, Khimki's rotations keep changing, and it's unclear who will be able to play and who won't. With the season not going well, more time is also given to the youth, although the minutes are symbolic.

Khimki's situation is not one where games are lost at the end or by small margins. In the last 5 games, the Khimki team lost by an average margin of 24 points, which shows that the team today does not even remotely resemble a EuroLeague-level team, and without making more serious changes that would positively impact the team's game, Khimki could finish the season with 2 wins.

Bayern

Before the start of the season, Bayern was not considered one of the strongest EuroLeague teams, but despite the initial predictions, this team started the season excellently: 9 wins in the first 14 rounds. Bayern will enter the match against Khimki after 2 consecutive losses: 76-81 after overtime at home to Real Madrid, and in the last round, a 51-75 away loss to Olimpia Milano. The match against the struggling Khimki team could be a breath of fresh air for Bayern, who will undoubtedly aim to get back on the winning track and not lose their position guaranteeing a place in the playoffs.

This season, Bayern shows a very versatile game – they have J. Reynolds who can play with his back to the basket, good and reliable shooters, playmaking guards, so it can be confidently said that Bayern's roster is very well balanced. It is also necessary to highlight V. Lucic, who has made great progress this season. In recent seasons, he was praised for his defense, but this season he not only defends well but is also one of the main players who take the initiative at the end of the match.

Probably the biggest problem Bayern will face is that they played a match against the Milano team away on Thursday, and already on Tuesday, they will have to play against Khimki in Moscow. It may take some time for the team to adjust, and at the beginning of the match, Bayern may not look as energetic as we are used to seeing.

Prediction

Currently, the odds for the teams' victories in this match are 2.85 x 1.38 with Bayern being the favorite, and a -5.5 point advantage with a 1.9 coefficient is also offered. If this match were held in Germany, there would be no doubt that the offered advantage would be at least -10 points, but here we have a slightly different situation. Although Khimki plays at home, their game is completely unconvincing, and it is practically impossible to fix such huge problems that plague the team in a few days. Bayern is the clear favorite of the match, and although they will play away, they should win the match by a double-digit margin.