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'Super Classico' tonight will crown this season's European champion By Vered Cohen MADRID - Maccabi Tel Aviv will attempt to win its sixth European basketball title tonight when it faces another five-time champion and longtime rival, CSKA Moscow, in the Euroleague championship game. In the semifinals on Friday, Maccabi had to come back from an 18-point, first-half deficit to defeat Montepaschi Siena 92-85 and claim a spot in the title game, while CSKA edged Tau Vitoria - led by former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija - 93-89. Advertisement CSKA coach Ettore Messina broke the ice at Thursday's press conference by mentioning that he missed Pini Gershon at this Final Four because of that former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach's jokes. That comment was not coincidental. In Gershon's absence, the Italian coach has taken on the role of clown himself, if in this case we are talking about more subtle humor, with hints and elegance, as opposed to Gershon's friendly chutzpah. If it appears that Messina has dropped his dull, relaxing style on a personal level, he will continue to use it against Maccabi's current coach, Zvika Sherf. The Italian knows that both are experienced, and neither one of them will descend into cheap psychological games, and all that is left is to act calm, as if he is having the time of his life. In this light, Messina found the perfect timing to exude a sense of "everything here comes from me and let's move on." It was when Maccabi finished its evening practice yesterday, and CSKA took the court for its own practice. Tel Aviv's players answered all of the journalists' questions next to their bench, Sherf sat in the opposite stands and spoke with his assistants, while a few rows below him sat team chairman Shimon Mizrahi and part-owner David Federman. CSKA's players warmed up on the half of the court farthest away from Sherf, Mizrahi and Federman, and then - nonchalantly - Messina took the ball and began taking shots at the basket. For about two minutes, the Italian practiced his shot (not bad, by the way), right in front of Maccabi's top brass, including of course Sherf. If it was Gershon, he would certainly have worked in a loud joke at his expense, but not Messina. The shots to the basket were made in total seriousness, and after the journalists were gone and Maccabi's people were swallowed up by the locker room, that same seriousness carried over into the intense instructions he gave on the court. A few hours before then, yesterday afternoon, the two coaches met for a joint press conference. As opposed to the pre-Final Four formality, which included dressing in their finest suits, Sherf and Messina went casual this time - each one wearing his team's training suit. "We are still very excited about what happened against Siena," said Sherf, "but we need to come back to Earth, and quickly. Everyone is saying that Maccabi vs. CSKA is a European Super Classico, and I'm just happy to be here." Messina, as it is customary when a coach wants to show respect to his colleague, was quick to agree. "It truly is one of the most interesting matchups in Europe," he said. "It's not a coincidence that the teams that advanced to the final were the ones who managed to come back in the semifinals." The CSKA coach was also quick to add a little humor, since he is the event's joker: "I don't know about the players, but Zvika and I will have both stomachaches and headaches until the final." Stomach or head, with a record of zero wins and four losses to Messina, Sherf will be hoping that tonight will be his first victory over the person considered the senior coach in Europe right now. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Shimon goes green Peres says to fight terror Israel should reduce its dependence on oil. Voices of heroism IDF releases audio recordings from famed 1976 Entebbe raid.

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