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Luca Banchi, the head coach of Virtus, spoke before the first Italian derby of the year, which is part of the eighth round of the EuroLeague.
The Italian coach did not hide his excitement about this derby. He also emphasized that they would try to compensate for the absence of two players in an interesting way.
“The first Italian derby in the EuroLeague, and we are playing against a team that may have had a start below expectations but managed to achieve a great victory against Valencia in the last round, one of the surprises of the early season.
We will respond to the absences of Polonara and Mickey with unconventional lineups, although we are facing a team like Milan. Their game goes through players like Shields, Mirotic, Melli, Poythress, capable of exploiting the physical advantage over their direct rivals.
The task will be to manage this series of very tough games with a strong sense of urgency. We want to show pride and fight to compensate for the absences with the effort of each individual, starting with our fans who will, I am sure, try to support us continuously to achieve another huge success despite such a difficult situation,” Luca Banchi extensively commented.
“Milan is always a dangerous opponent, regardless of defeat or victory. It is a well-prepared and very strong team. They didn’t start as they wanted, but we know they will come here to play their game. We have to try to take advantage of the support of our audience to bring energy to the court,” said Virtus’ Alessandro Pajola.