MADRID, 13 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Real Madrid coach, Chus Mateo, said on Monday that the match against Anadolu Efes, corresponding to matchday 24 of the Euroleague regular phase, is a “good” duel “on a difficult pitch” to come out “strengthened”. and qualify for the ‘playoffs’ and “achieve the home field advantage.”
“It’s an important match, on a difficult pitch and against the defending champion. We’re looking forward to continuing to add to get, first, qualify for the playoffs and, then, gain home field advantage. It’s a good match for us to come out strengthened, but not to eliminate people from the equation of the ‘playoffs'”, said Mateo in statements published by the club media.
The Madrid coach did not want to give too much importance to the absences of the current champion for the duel postponed by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. “We think that they will all be there. It is a champion team and we do not have to think about their casualties. We do not assess whether they are touched or not. We know how this works and more with Anadolu Efes”, he reflected.
While Real Madrid will travel to Istanbul only with Sergio Rodríguez as a pure point guard, after Mateo confirmed that Nigel Williams-Goss is out. “He has an abductor tear and for a couple of days we won’t know if he’s grade 1 or 2,” he recounted. The loss of the American is added to that of Sergio Llull, injured in his left knee, and that of Carlos Alocén, who has not played for more than a year after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“He has been working for more than a year but has had to stop at some point. The mentality of the medical and technical staff is for him to recover well. You have to be patient and not set dates. We hope that Alocén and Randolph recover as soon as possible “Matthew said.
The good news is that Guerschon Yabusele will be part of the white expedition, although the coach confessed that he does not know “if he will be able to play.” “Injuries alter plans, but the coming and going of players complicate things,” he lamented.
“It is what it is, we cannot stop to think that the load of games is great and that some players have been injured by this load. Against Bilbao we had the possibility that some players became important. We tried not to go crazy with this schedule and focus on the next game. We have little time to train and we try to take advantage of the games to improve things”, he concluded about what will be the sixth game for the Whites in twelve days.