After the outward demonstration, there was hardly any suspense. Wednesday evening, in Istanbul, the Asvel basketball players largely dominated Galatasaray (85-57) to offer themselves the first European title in their history and succeed Bourges, winner last year of the second European club competition. behind the Euroleague.
From the start of the match, the back of the Bleues Marine Johannès showed all his talent against the Stambouliotes. “MJ” was untenable, allowing Asvel and its solid defense to finish the first quarter with a clear lead (23-13). Not enough to warm up the atmosphere of the Sinan Erden Arena, where only 2,000 supporters (out of a capacity of 16,000 seats) had made the trip.
Untenable, the girls of David Gauthier continued to impose their game in the second quarter, and “MJ” concluded his festival with an award-winning shot at the buzzer (55-27). Better on the rebound (45 catches against 29 for Galatasaray), they continued their match without a hitch in the second period, strong in their collective: the five starting players thus scored ten points or more during this match. Enough to make a lot of tears of spite and frustration flow among the Turks…
“We didn’t stress too much. They repeated last week’s performance. We are going to celebrate this title even if the season is not over, ”explains the deputy president of Asvel, Marie-Sophie Obama. Its players are indeed in first place in the French Championship, while there are two regular season days left to play before the playoffs and will play in the final of the Coupe de France against Basket Landes.
“It’s huge, I’m so happy for the girls, blows in L’Équipe Tony Parker, the Villeurbanne president, all smiles on the Turkish floor. If we want to remember this team, we will have to lift other trophies. I believe in our chances of achieving the treble this year. »