At 6 pm at the Vitrifrigo Arena in Pesaro the biancoblù face Olimpia Milano. For Devecchi and his companions it is the first game after the long stop for Covid-19
SASSARI. Without fear against the number one favorite, because the Final Eight works like this: forty minutes without appeal, whoever has more goes on, whoever doesn’t have any or runs into a bad evening goes home.
Without fear, of course, but with realism and respect. Dinamo Sassari against Olimpia Milano, for the umpteenth re-edition of a challenge that for over ten years has given emotions, thrills and often even surprises.
At 18 o’clock (live on RaiSport and Eurosport2) at the Vitrifrigo Arena in Pesaro the curtain rises on the mini-tournament that will award the Italian Cup on Sunday evening. Before reaching the top step of the podium, however, there are three obstacles to overcome and for Piero Bucchi’s Sassari the first is represented by the Milanese battleship, which excels in the Italian championship and also travels among the first in the Euroleague. To add further spice to the comparison, there is also the presence on the Milanese side of the great ex Gianmarco Pozzecco, in the role of first assistant, and of the Olbian star Gigi Datome.
With Covid putting the jaws on the wheels of the Banco di Sardegna in recent weeks and in light of the recent performance of Ettore Messina’s Red Shoes, there would be enough to spare yourself the trouble of a very complicated journey to the ill-connected city of the Marche ( yesterday morning a flight from Alghero to Malpensa, then over 5 hours by bus). Instead the history of the Final Eight has shown that the predictions are worth very little and that the only referee is the field.
Dinamo will show up with all the players (Chessa has a foot problem), Milan has left some injured players on the street but the list of top-level players available is to shake the veins in the wrists. Not only that: the new formula of the event, which will give the team that will win today two full days of rest awaiting the semifinal on Saturday, allows Milan to aim immediately on the most competitive roster, giving up any turnover temptation.
Gerald Robinson and his teammates will have to attack the match immediately, as coach Bucchi pointed out this week, trying to move the ball so as not to get entangled in the fabulous defense that Milan has managed to field in the last period. Concentration, determination and the absence of pressure are the ingredients that, if expressed in the best way and mixed continuously for all forty minutes, could give the 2022 edition of the Final Eight by Frecciarossa a first sensational “upset”.
In the 50 direct clashes staged from 2010 to today, Dinamo and Olimpia met on three occasions in the final phase of the Italian Cup: in 2014 Banco di Meo Sacchetti made the coup in a situation identical to the current one (quarter final against eighth against first on the grid), in 2015 the Sassari made an encore in the final in Desio and two seasons later, still in the final, they were defeated in a sprint on the Rimini parquet. The story of today’s challenge, number 51 of the saga, is still to be written.
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