Mirotic charges Real Madrid another 'blackout' at home
The Madrid team falls again as a visitor (81-76) due to a horrible first half and a Spanish-Montenegrin tone
MADRID, 8 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid stumbled again as a visitor after falling this Thursday at the Mediolanum Forum against the Italian EA7 Emporio Armani Milan by a tight 81-76, after a match in which they paid dearly for a 'blackout' they suffered between the end of the first quarter and the break and that left his reaction to nothing, cut off by a toned Nikola Mirotic.
The current European champion once again showed his current weakness away from the heat of the WiZink Center, where so far he seems almost unbeatable. In the Lombard capital he suffered his fifth defeat in 2024, all of them on the road, the fourth in a row and which at times seemed like it would be the third after those of Monaco and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria without putting up much resistance.
However, the Euroleague leader improved to overcome a 21-point deficit and arrived with the options intact at the time, but Mirotic (23 points, with 6/7 in triples), the best with Shavon Shields (27), assumed The honors for which he arrived in Milan and the return of errors ended up depriving him of victory.
And Armani Milan's greatest need ended up being imposed on a Madrid team, which seems to be going through a slump, something that can almost be 'allowed' due to the advantage it has amassed after its great start to the season. Not even the return of Walter Tavares and Sergio Llull to finally have the entire squad seemed to give them the necessary energy despite the reaction after the break.
Shields, with 11 of the first 15 points of his team, resisted the best initial minutes of the visitors who came to dominate 10-17 after a triple by Musa, but from there they would begin their 'nightmare', largely caused by an excellent Mirotic.
The Spanish-Montenegrin power forward, the Italian team's big bet to once again be a protagonist in Europe, has barely been able to play due to an Achilles tendon injury, but against Real Madrid he found a way to regain his sensations. Three consecutive triples fired Ettore Messina's men who, suddenly, found themselves with the match on track.
Real Madrid stopped scoring and did not find defensive answers to contain the locals, who also overwhelmed the rebound, with eleven offensive captures, another way in which Chus Mateo's team was bled again. A devastating partial of 21-0 broke the clash (36-19) and practically with the resistance of the current champion, 'swept away' after a disastrous second quarter (25-10) and the success of Armani's triple, which he surpassed the twenty points (48-27) before the break (48-29).
The second half looked like a formality, but Real Madrid decided to try a little harder, especially on a defensive level. The three-pointers began to go in, but the local team knew how to hold on to that first rush, which, in any case, began to notice the drop in accuracy and more problems finding offensive rebounds.
Real Madrid suddenly found itself with more options than expected, although it still had a lot to overcome heading into the final ten minutes (66-54). Mirotic's fifth triple warned him that he had to push even harder if he wanted to dream of another epic comeback (69-54).
But there Sergio Rodríguez took the reins. 'Chacho', much loved by the stands, scored from outside, directed more successfully and led a 0-8 run that put some fear into Armani Milan (69-62). Despite some unnecessary losses, the locals saw that all their work had come to nothing with the threatening 71-69. Then, Mirotic appeared again to give oxygen with his sixth triple and another quality basket, enough to end the resistance of a rival, more erratic in the decisive moments.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN, 81 – REAL MADRID, 76 (48-29, at half-time).
–EQUIPMENT.
EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN: Napier (8), Shields (27), Ricci (-), Melli (2) and Voigtmann (-) –starting quintet– Mirotic (23), Hines (2), Lo (8) and McGruder (7).
REAL MADRID: Campazzo (8), Musa (12), Deck (10), Hezonja (11) and Tavares (8) –starting quintet– Poirier (6), Llull (4), Yabusele (5), S. Rodríguez (9), R.Fernández (3) and Causeur (-).
–PARTIALS: 23-19, 25-10, 18-25 and 17-22.
–REFEREES: Boltauzer, Mogulkoc and Trawicki.
–PABELLÓN: Milan Forum.