AEK’s head coach, Dragan Šakota, spoke ahead of tomorrow’s crucial matchup against Patrioti Levice in Bratislava, for the third round of Basketball Champions League Group F.

“We know that everyone consider us favorites the favorites. We’re not saying we’re not. Obviously, we’re aware of our quality, but that’s something you have to prove on the court. We must stay focused throughout the entire game against Levice. Our opponent will play in front of its home crowd, in a packed arena. They’ ve turned this game into a celebration, which means they’ll play with great energy.

They started their BCL group with a ‘bad’ home loss, but in their second game, they beat Riga away – and by a larger margin than we did. They are a dangerous team. They have some strong qualities that we need to pay attention to. They run the floor well and shoot with excellent percentages from all ranges. If they’re in rhythm, we could have problems…”