The Real Madrid wants to appease the doubts in his other ‘clásico’
MADRID, 5 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid will try to close the first round of the 2022-2023 Euroleague Regular Phase this Friday with a necessary victory at the Wizink Center (8:45 p.m.) against a direct rival like Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv, which will keep them up in the standings and prevent emergencies from appearing.
The Madrid team did not end 2022 well nor did it start 2023 with joy. The defeats in Vitoria against the launched Cazoo Baskonia, in the maximum continental competition, and at home, in the Endesa League, against Barça, have once again raised some doubts that must be appeased in front of a visitor with whom he maintains a maximum historical rivalry.
And it is that after the Endesa League Classic, now comes the European Cup against Maccabi, with whom they will face each other for the 68th time in their history, with a favorable balance of 42-25 and with the good memories of the 3-0 in the ‘playoff’ last season. Then, he also arrived doubtful and solved with solvency a tie that seemed tough.
Real Madrid has not lost three consecutive games this season and avoiding it involves making the Maccabean team bitter again, one of which has strengthened well, despite losing two key players such as scorer Scottie Wilbekin and center Ante Zizic. In return, players have arrived like the nationalized Spanish Lorenzo Brown, another proven point guard like Wade Baldwin IV, who returns after a month out due to injury, or Darriun Hilliard.
Brown, his team’s top scorer and assistant, is being the engine of a Maccabi that is with a balance of 9-7, just one win away from Chus Mateo’s team, whom he wants to reach, for which he will have to put an end to his losing streak in the capital, where he has lost in his last nine visits.
The ten-time European champion wants to extend the bad statistics of the Israeli team in a Wizink Center where he is being less reliable than in other seasons and to be able to aspire to finish in the top four of the Regular Phase in the first half of the season and settled in the playoff zone.
For this it will be key that his defense returns to work at its best level, after two defeats where he has conceded too much, and also in defensive rebounding. Stopping what Lorenzo Brown generates seems key to deactivating a Maccabi, who away from the heat of ‘La Mano de Elías’ lowers his performance somewhat, with six of his seven home defeats.
Chus Mateo recovers the Hungarian point guard Adam Hanga for this duel, but he has the bad news of Gabriel Deck’s muscular problems. Rudy Fernández will not be part of the game either and Mario Hezonja is also a serious doubt due to a personal matter for a duel that is expected as usual with a lot of physical demands and that center Alex Poythress, out since the beginning of December, will be lost on the visiting side. for a hand injury.
“We are up against a very physical, athletic team that is playing very well. In addition, it rebounds very well in attack and recovers a lot of balls. It is a dangerous team that tricks you defensively and for which you have to keep a hundred eyes They have very good perimeter players and they do very well one-on-one and in blocking and continuation,” Mateo warned in statements collected by the club’s website.
DATASHEET.
–TEAMS.
REAL MADRID: Williams-Goss, Causeur, Musa, Yabusele and Tavares — possible starting quintet — Llull, Poirier, Cornelie, Abalde, Hanga, Sergio Rodriguez, Hezonja and Ndiaye.
MACCABI TEL AVIV: Brown, Baldwin IV, Colson, Cohen and Nebo –possible starting five– Adams, Dibartolomeo, Hilliard, Hollins, Sorkin, Menco and Ziv.
–REFEREES: Ryzhyk, Hordov and Thepenier.
–PAVILION: Wizink Center.