Punches, ‘Pressing Catch’ and 21 expelled: the fight between Madrid and Partizan that shames basketball

2023-04-28 09:14:57

Punches, shoves, ‘Pressing Catch’ keys and up to 21 expulsions. The second game of the Euroleague quarterfinals between Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade will go down in history for the embarrassing spectacle that the players gave less than two minutes from the end and that forced the suspension of the match with the 80-95 that It was on the scoreboard then. The competition will communicate the sanctions this Friday, which can be exemplary.

The pitched battle broke out with 1.40 minutes to go in the game at the Wizink Center, with Real Madrid clearly behind on the scoreboard in that second game of the quarterfinals, which made it very uphill for them to be in the four-way final again. of the competition. An unsportsmanlike foul by Sergio Llull on Kevin Punter sparked the scuffle, with the Whites warming to their inferiority on the scoreboard and the provocation of the Serbs’ American players. But there was nothing to expect the fight to break out in a crowd.

Llull and Punter began to hit each other and then the rest of the players began to fight. Local Dzanan Musa could be seen punching and Real Madrid’s French Yerson Yabusele grabbing Dante Exum by the waist and doing a ‘Pressing Catch’ hold to hit him to the ground.

The coaches and even fans from the stands had to jump onto the pitch to make peace, including former Real Madrid soccer player Raúl González, but the referees were forced to expel 21 players and end the match. Now the Euroleague, which regretted the show yesterday, will take the appropriate disciplinary measures.

Obradovic, with an exemplary speech

Before the Euroleague was announced, the Partizan coach, the legendary Zeljko Obradovic, left an exemplary speech in the press area after the game. “It is in the hands of the referees and it is in the hands of the Euroleague. I think that what has happened is not good for basketball, neither for Real Madrid nor for Partizan. This can’t happen anymore. It is my opinion, because we talk about emotions. The players have emotions, but after the game they have greeted each other and practically nothing has happened. This has happened in the game, it’s over, they have talked to each other and nothing happens, “explained the Serbian coach.

Obradovic also announced that he will try to calm things down for the qualifying matches that are going to be played, if they are played, in Belgrade. “I have friends and great respect for everyone. And when we go to Belgrade tomorrow I’m not going to talk about this. I am going to try because we are going to have, for sure, a full pavilion. I am going to try to calm everyone down, that they receive Real Madrid as they should receive it, as they receive the other teams. They are going to help our team but they are not going to do anything against Real Madrid.”

Rudy asks “forgiveness” to all basketball

“We have to apologize to our fans and to all of basketball,” Real Madrid player Rudy Fernández also said in the press room. The escort justified the fight by the “high intensity” of the match and trusted that both clubs that “we are friendly teams” can turn the page on the embarrassing spectacle. “In this situation, with high heart rate, mistakes are sometimes made,” he added.