CSKA Moscow strengthened their position at the top of Group F in the Euroleague's Top 16 with an impressive 96-87 victory at Real Madrid on Wednesday.

The opening match of round nine brought together two of the competition's heavyweights, with Real unable to gain revenge for a 95-81 loss in January's reverse fixture.

Milos Teodosic and Nando de Colo shone in that encounter and combined for 27 points and eight rebounds on this occasion as CSKA improved to 7-2.

CSKA outscored their opponents by five points in the second quarter to open up a 42-37 half-time lead.

Although Real closed the gap to two heading into the final 10 minutes, a string of three-pointers saw the Russian team regain control and secure a valuable win.

Kyle Hines was the top scorer for the visitors with 16 points, while Gustavo Ayon's 20-point haul proved in vain for Real, who now hold a 5-4 record.

Real's Andres Nocioni was quoted by Euroleague's official website as saying: "CSKA were more solid than us tonight. They were calmer in the final minutes, hit the shots that they needed to hit and played great defense.

"It is still a long Top 16. We have to carry on. There are a lot of games left and we have to bounce back."