Real Madrid, to redeem themselves against the champion
Chus Mateo’s men are looking for a reinforcement and stability win against Anadolu Efes
MADRID, 9 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid has an important test this Thursday against Anadolu Efes on matchday seven of the Euroleague, the repeat of the last final of the top continental competition that comes at an irregular time for both teams, with the Whites needing a boost from the project that began this course Chus Mateo.
The last performance in the Endesa League this weekend, a blushing defeat at the home of the bottom team Casademont Zaragoza (94-89), uncovered doubts and even rumors about the position of Mateo, who succeeded Pablo Laso in the middle of a important controversy after the heart attack suffered by the Basque last June.
The adaptation has led the League champions to a two-sided start, with the title, yes, in the Spanish Super Cup but with the shirt obligation to play well and win. Any false step is looked at with a magnifying glass in a Madrid that conceded its second domestic defeat on Sunday (5-2) and that in Europe is 3-3, tied with six other teams but out of the ‘playoffs’.
Mateo acknowledged in the preview that, although it is a continuous project, there are changes and therefore time is needed. “The players train very well and are committed, but the new ones have to understand that in Madrid when the moment is good it is very good and when it is bad, very bad”, pointed out the white coach.
Similarly, Ergin Ataman may not like his team’s erratic start, but it was even worse last year and they ended up winning their second EuroLeague in a row. The Turks won a final at the Stark Arena in Belgrade on May 21 that had Madrid on track at the start of the second half.
The eleventh disappeared for the white team in a last minute in which they did not even have possession to seek victory (57-58). After winning the Endesa League against Barça, the season was more than good, especially after the final reaction, and then came the departure of Laso and the reinforcements of Dzanan Musa, Mario Hezonja, Sergio Rodríguez and Petr Cornelié.
Musa, MVP of the last Endesa League, comes from being the best player in the Euroleague on matchday six in Milan, his first big night in the top continental competition, in which he debuts this year. The Bosnian pulls the Madrid car at this time when, in addition to the set-up, the casualties are noticeable.
Mateo still cannot count on the injured Rudy Fernández, Williams-Goss, Carlos Alocén, Anthony Randolph and, as a serious doubt, neither Fabien Causeur. The interior role of Edy Tavares is once again fundamental, although he is still looking for an idyll with the new point guards, while Gaby Deck has also left great performances.
For their part, Efes arrives at the Madrid Palace with one victory in their last four games, two defeats in the Euroleague –Bayern and Fenerbahce–, and their first in the Turkish Super League. “Efes have players of brutal quality, with a lot of capacity in one on one. Clyburn and Micic are playing at a high level. On the perimeter they lack a player, but they have always been a team that knows how to play very well”, Chus Mateo warned in the preview.
Those of Ataman will seek, like the whites, that the memory of the last final be a turning point in the season to begin to function at the level that is presupposed to them. All in all, the year is very long and it’s in April, both showed it last year, when he has to be at the best level. Shane Larkin will not be on Goya Street and Rodrigue Beaubois is in doubt.
DATASHEET:
–EQUIPMENT:
REAL MADRID: Abalde, Deck, Musa, Yabusele and Tavares — possible starting quintet — Sergio Rodriguez, Llull, Hezonja, Poirier, Cornelie, Hanga and Ndiaye.
Micic, Clyburn, Polonara, M’Baye and Zizic — possible starting quintet — Bryant, Dunston, Pleiss, Balbay, Arna and Tuncer.
–REFEREES: Jovcic, Vilius and Nedovic.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center.
–TIME: 19.45/DAZN.