Fenerbahce - Bayern Munich

Fenerbahce opened up by beating Virtus Bologna 78-68, which is a solid marker given how well Bologna have recruited, and they get to do it again at home here. Bayern arrive with a genuinely thin rotation. Niels Giffey, Kamar Baldwin and Duane Washington were all ruled out for the start of the season, and losing three rotation players at once is the kind of thing that shows up late in games rather than early, when legs run out and the bench has nothing left to give. Bayern themselves are not pretending otherwise, having spent the build-up to this one describing their hosts as a Final Four side and a title contender. Istanbul is a rough trip at the best of times and this is a second road assignment inside a week for the visitors. The handicap asks Fenerbahce to win by nine, which is what a deeper team at home usually does to a short-handed one once the fourth quarter arrives.