2023-05-20 23:47:15
It is Real Madrid it is much more than shield, epic and winning DNA. It is special, now it is embraced with enthusiasm, because the project of Chus Mateo, who was stillborn last summer after the tricky march of Pablo Laso, has managed to revive, learn and mature while going through all kinds of adversities. Like life itself. And from enduring so much punches in the stomach, the group became as impenetrable as a bunker, presented an offering to the gods and started the coven, a pact with the devil that has led them to be one victory away from winning the Euroleague.
The whites face Olympiacos for the title (8:00 p.m., DAZN), with the Greeks being the big favorites after the historic shipwreck of Barcelona. However, after their exploits in Belgrade and against the Catalans, the whites are terror personified, since they have tried to knock them down in every possible way and nobody has managed to find the key to do so.
The veterans, the step forward of men like Hezonja and Williams-Gossthe dictatorial basketball of tavares… there are several keys that explain the success of Real Madrid in this Euroleague but, above all, it is the profile of Chus Mateo who shines the most these days in Kaunas, a calm and very positive basketball man who never strayed from the path despite the mountain of criticism that haunted the man from Madrid for a good part of the season, some justified and others not so much.
Mateo proudly walks through the bowels of the Zalgiris Arena, but without rancor, without passing bills, throwing flowers at his pupils and with the serious face of one who knows that he is just one game away from fully entering the history of Real Madrid. «When we started the series against Partizan we were five wins away from the title and with 0-2 we were still five wins away. We focus on that. When things were very bad we kept thinking that we could come back and we did. It has been a very difficult road, in which there have been injuries, problems and bad moments during the season, but we are in the final. It has been the toughest season in recent Euroleague history and we have to dream. It is a pride to have come this far and we are not going to stop, “acknowledged the coach at the press conference prior to the grand final this Sunday.
He even had time to remember his mentor and predecessor in office. “Pablo Laso showed us the way.” Tavares, who seemed to be his bodyguard, also wanted to value the work of his teacher. «Be in the euroleague final It is a very important objective and it has been difficult to get here, with a new coach who has helped us a lot and a team that has endured, that has all fought as one”, commented the Cape Verdean, who will face Moustapha Fall today, a center of his size (the Frenchman is only three centimeters less than the African).
the greek ogre
He won’t have it easy Real Madrid In any case, as the coach stated before the microphones, he will face “a basketball machine.” Olympiacos, since he took his reins Georgios Bartzokas two seasons ago, it has become a most ambitious project, reborn after playing two seasons in the Greek second division due to administrative relegation (2019-2021). Year after year, they added players of unquestionable quality (Papanikolaou, Walkup, Canaan, Sloukas, Fall) and after being left with honey on their lips in the Final Four in Belgrade a year ago (a triple by Micic sent them home in the last play of the semifinals), this Sunday they will play their first final in five years. To make matters worse, the Hellenes will feel at home because, for yet another year, the mobilization of the fans of Piraeus has been massive, the streets of Kaunas packed for more than 5,000 Olympiacos fans.
A scenario that does not sound particularly appetizing for Madrid, but after surviving so many storms, it seems that there is no wave that can sink the ship captained by Chus Mateo, a calm, resistant ship that wants to finish off its spectacular odyssey with a historic victory. the eleventh European Cup.
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