With five wins and six losses, Real is currently in eighth place. Six of the last seven games ended in losses, and it has now lost three games in a row. The nine-time European champion, which ended last year’s regular season in the number one position, began this season in top form and was the leading team after the first four rounds. Now, it has found itself in a minor crisis. The team from Madrid is feeling the effects of several injuries.

The weakened lineup is still winning in the Spanish championship, where it is in the number position with ten wins and a single loss, but it is struggling in the EuroLeague. It began the season without last year’s top scorer Sergio Llull, who had been selected as last years’ regular season EuroLeague MVP. Later, three big players were also injured, including Anthony Randolph and Gustavo Ayon. The American -- who has become a naturalized Slovenian – and the Mexican were Real’s second and third best scorers respectively. (Dončić is number one.)

All season long, the young Slovenian player has been Real’s best performer. He is the leading individual on the team, number one both in points scored and passes, as well as the second-ranked player in the number of jumps. The 18-year-old Ljubljana native, who was selected as the best young player in the EuroLeague last season, is now the best overall player of the elite competition. By a wide margin, he is statistically the most effective player. His index is 27.8, while the index of the second most effective player Nando de Colo of CSKA, is seven points lower. Along with Khimki’s Alexi Shved, Dončić is also the top scorer of the competition with 20.9 points.

In the most recent round, the European teen sensation, as he has been dubbed by the media, reached another milestone, when his 33 points set a personal EuroLeague record. But during Real’s series of losses, Dončić has been left without several “MVP of the round” titles. He managed the feat twice this year, in the third and in the fourth round, while in October, he was named the overall MVP. Real is now in a losing streak despite effective performances by Dončić, who managed to retain the highest index in the most recent two rounds. In the last, 11th round, his index was 36, while Shved, with an index of 35, was named the MVP.

Last week, when Real was defeated by Crvena Zvezda, Dončić had an index of 32, while the MVP title was shared by de Colo, with an index of 30, and Panathinaikos’ James Gist. Had Real won, Dončić would have received have received the MVP title in the sixth round, where Real had to concede Maccabi’s supremacy. The Slovenian national team member’s index was at 30, while the MVP title went to Efes’ Vladimir Štimac with an index of 29.

So far, eleven rounds have been played, and Dončić was the MVP in five of them. Only wins by his team are needed to confirm his candidacy for the regular season MVP title. Last year’s MVP Llull had an index of 16.7, while Unics’ Keith Langford had the best statistics with an index of 21.8. Two years ago, the MVP title went to de Colo, who also had the highest index at 24.3.