MADRID, 16 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The point guard and captain of Real Madrid, Sergio Llull, stated on Tuesday that with this club “reaching a ‘Final Four’ and fighting to win it is the objective that they have year after year” and celebrated playing once again this final phase of a Euroleague that “is becoming more demanding” after once again demonstrating in the ‘Playoff’ against Serbian Partizan that “this team grows when it plays without a net”.
“I think that when you wear this shirt it’s the objective that you have year after year, to reach an ‘F4’ and fight to win it. We’ve had a good Euroleague, we’ve met this mini-objective and now we have to try to win it. “It’s not easy. We’ll have to play a good match against Barcelona to get through and have a chance of lifting the title,” Llull said at a press conference.
The madridista made it clear that there are no “doubts in the dressing room”. “We defend the Real Madrid shirt and try to always be on top in both competitions. ‘F4’ was very difficult for us, we changed our minds and once again showed that this team grows when it plays without a net and they are finals, and it is what we are going to do in Kaunas,” he said.
“The more experienced players can give some advice or explain a bit about the sensations that an ‘F4’ produces in you, but above all you have to try to lead by example. Rudy Fernández threw himself against Partizán three times for a ball and if You see it and you are 20 years old, you have no choice but to give your hundred percent to help”, remarked the Spaniard about the role of the veterans, key to the comeback against Partizán.
On Friday he will play a semifinal against Barça and for the man from Mahón, facing a Clásico, “the precedents are very little use”. “It doesn’t matter how a team arrives, it’s still a Euroleague semifinal and you have to try to play 100 percent to have a chance of winning,” he warned.
On a personal level, despite his age and the fact that he is not participating too much at times, he looks “always prepared”. “The passing of the years is there and you have to adapt to a different way of understanding and playing basketball. I am prepared for when the coach needs it, even when he is not playing, to encourage and lend a hand from the bench”, confessed.
Finally, Llull, who believes that the so-called Real Madrid ‘DNA’ “is the character of never giving up”, considered that each ‘F4’ that has lived “is special”. “Arriving is an achievement because the Euroleague is increasingly demanding. I still have a few defeats that still sting and also the two that we won because of the feeling of having done a good job and that it creates addiction,” he said.