It’s time for a new EuroLeague season. New faces, new hopes for a championship, and the chance to get this season started on the right foot. Real Madrid and Virtus Bologna are two such teams looking to make the right first impression on Tuesday.
Real Madrid are 5.5-point favorites and hold -218 odds on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. Virtus Bologna is the underdog at +180 on the moneyline. The total is set at 164.5 points. Let’s look at the best bets and predictions for this contest.
Real Madrid vs. Virtus Bologna prediction, pick
Real Madrid has done a great job adding NBA talent over the years. Facundo Campazzo, Mario Hezonja, Usman Garuba, and Bruno Fernando are some of their holdovers from last season. Madrid made more big moves by adding Trey Lyles, Chuma Okeke and Theo Maledon to shore up the rotation. With franchise legend Sergio Llull still in the fold to captain this deep squad, they have the potential to make noise this season.
Virtus Bologna made some moves as well in an attempt to turn things around from last year. Virtus only won nine of 34 games last year, finishing with the second-worst record in the league. Though they’re one of the top Italian teams, they had a tough time against EuroLeague competition. That led to huge roster turnover, including the addition of a new lead guard in Carsen Edwards. He’s already making his presence felt.
If they want to get anywhere near EuroLeague playoffs this year, they need Edwards to be a scoring machine.
Madrid definitely has to adjust to new names in the fold, but they retain a lot of roster continuity. Virtus has a steeper battle uphill to gel as a team. I’ll trust the established superior roster in this opening day showdown.
