Itoudis to Sportal.bg: We Must React After Two Poor Games

Pulse Sports Team 18:42 - 01 April 2026

Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitris Itoudis spoke to Sportal.bg during the team's official practice at "Arena Sofia" ahead of the highly anticipated EuroLeague clash against Panathinaikos on April 2nd at 8 PM.

"First and foremost, I want to wish happy holidays to all families," Itoudis said, acknowledging the start of Passover.

"Secondly, we are preparing for a crucial game. As you mentioned, we're coming off away games against Real Madrid and Baskonia where we didn't perform well. Now, we need to show a strong reaction, to fight, because we're playing against a very good team, but we are also a good team. Both squads are chasing the same goal – to reach the playoff spots. To achieve that, however, we need to confront our opponent, play at our level – aggressively with the ball on both ends of the court."

I expect there will be Panathinaikos fans. I hope there will be Bulgarian supporters as well. I believe many people will come to support Panathinaikos, which is expected given our current circumstances. We know it's not easy for our fans to travel. That's the situation.

Pressure is a constant companion in our work. It's part of the reality. You don't get involved if you can't handle the pressure," Itoudis told Sportal.bg.