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The Journey, Episode 7: Last step to glory!

The playoff battles to reach the 2019 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Vitoria-Gasteiz are at the forefront in the seventh episode of The Journey, a behind-the-scenes broadcast series tracking five teams in the competition from the opening tip until this season's champion is crowned.

The newest episode starts in the Spanish capital, where the defending continental champions from Real Madrid prepare for their best-of-five series against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. "Pressure is always there," Real head coach Pablo Laso says. "I mean, we are Real Madrid. We know that everybody wants to beat Real Madrid, and this is something we have to accept and this is something that is in our blood."

CSKA Moscow center Kyle Hines, a three-time EuroLeague champion, discusses his role on the team and, along with head coach Dimitris Itoudis and teammate Cory Higgins, explains how to deal with the heavy weight of expectations that wearing the CSKA jersey carries.

And Maurizio Gherardini, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul general manager, gives a tour of club's offices and reveals the spot from where he watches every single Fenerbahce game at the Ulker Sports and Event Hall.

Euroleague Basketball launched The Journey this season as part of its commitment to bringing fans as close as possible to their heroes. The Journey joins The Insider EuroLeague Documentary Series, now in its fourth season, to expand Euroleague Basketball's tradition of long-form story-telling that puts fans not only on the bench for games but also on the team bus, in the locker room, in club offices and many other places.

The Journey allows Euroleague Basketball broadcast partners to give viewers world-wide an intimate look at five teams – CSKA, Fenerbahce, Bayern, Olympiacos and Madrid – whose adventures unfold over eight monthly installments in a 26-minute format.

Euroleague Basketball (EB) is a global leader in the sports and entertainment business, devoted to running the top European competitions of professional basketball clubs under a unique and innovative organizational model. Owned and administered by some of the most successful and historic clubs in the world, EB manages and organizes the continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the sport’s premier under-18 showcase, the EB Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

The EB competitions bring the elite of European basketball to all five continents and to the entire sports community through the OTT platform EuroLeague TV. EB also organizes a series of community and educational programs. Its ground-breaking corporate social responsibility program One Team features 40 clubs that have already made a difference in the lives of over 16,000 participants. Its Sports Business MBA trains future professionals in sports management.

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