Short but intense

Under time pressure

"Games against UNICS are always special," says CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "It will bring great competition. Both teams are loaded but in this type of games nobody cares about it. So I think it will be a great game in means of basketball."

When the coach spoke about a difficult schedule, he meant the current short period. After a difficult meeting with MBA-MAI in Krylatskoye, the players had practically no time to catch their breath. On Thursday afternoon, the team was already actively practicing tactic nuances and shots, on Friday they had a full pre-game session and went to Sheremetyevo, from where they flew to the capital of Tatarstan on Aeroflot's regular flight. The trip will be one of the shortest this season. Tomorrow after the game the red-blues will have dinner in Kazan, and later at night they will be home.

No need to compare

The Muscovites met UNICS twice in September – in the Super Cup final and in the opening game of the season – and won both times. However, one should not draw far-reaching conclusions from these successes. Firstly, a month and a half has passed since then, and secondly, the teams' lineups have changed significantly. The CSKA coaching staff then had all the players at their disposal, while Velimir Perasovic could not count on Marcos Knight and Louis Labeyrie. Now both key Kazan legionnaires are in action, although Ismael Bako did not participate in the previous game against Pari NN due to injury. But CSKA suffered an important loss – a fracture of the finger of his left hand left Ivan Ukhov out of action.

The White-Greens are not only close to the optimal lineup, but have also significantly improved the quality of their game, having won four times in a row. The best scorer of UNICS right now is Knight, who was absent in Moscow - 15.1 points with 42.4% of three-pointers. As usual, the leading roles are played by six foreign players. The statistical leaders are Devon Acoon-Purcell (14.1 points), Jalen Reynolds (13.0 points, 6.2 rebounds), Tony Taylor (11.6 points, 5.2 assists), Labeyrie (9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds) and Bako (8.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocked shots).

Past matchups

Wins-losses: 90-27

CSKA biggest margin of victory: 102-54 (+48) (1997-98 Russian Championship. Quarterfinal)
UNICS biggest margin of victory: 113-77 (-36) (2000-01 Russian Superleague. Regular season. 2nd stage)

Game of 2024-25 VTB League Season:

21-Oct-2024. CSKA – UNICS: 71-55 (+16)

Brief dossier

UNICS Kazan

Founded: 1991
Color: green, black, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President: Evgeny Bogachev
Head coach: Velimir Perasovic
Website: www.unics.ru
Trophy case:
- EuroCup winner (2011);
- FIBA Europe League winner (2004);
- VTB League and Russian champion (2023);
- 9-time Russian League runner-up (2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2024),
- 7-time Russian League bronze winner (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2022),
- NEBL champion (2003),
- 3-time Russian Cup winner (2003, 2009, 2014),
- 3-Russian Cup runner-up (2005, 2007, 2010),
- 5-time VTB United League runner-up (2010, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2024)