MADRID, 27 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid managed to qualify this Tuesday for the ‘Final Four’ of the Euroleague 2021-2022 to be held in Belgrade between May 19 and 21 after putting the 3-0 in their ‘Playoff’ against the Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv, which means his seventh appearance in this final round since Pablo Laso landed on his bench, with whom he has won two titles and has played a total of four times in the final. We review the Madrid presences in the ‘F4’ with the man from Vitoria on his bench.
1. First classification and first final. After not being able to classify the team even for the ‘playoffs’ in his first season as coach of Real Madrid, Laso was able to play his first ‘Final Four’ in the 2012-2013 season.
At the O2 in London, the Madrid team got rid of their great rival, FC Barcelona, by 67-74, thanks to a great final quarter (16-26). In the fight for the title he had to deal with the Greek Olympiacos, who had given the surprise by beating CSKA. The madridistas had a great start to the game (10-27), but the Piraeus team, with great intensity and with Spanoulis at the controlsrecovered and ended up winning with ‘comfort’ by 100-88.
2. Repeat presence. Real Madrid once again qualified for the ‘F4’ in the 2013-2014 campaign and he would suffer another disappointment. At the Mediolanum Forum in Milan (Italy) he would leave an exhibition in the semifinals against FC Barcelona, fully wound by the merengue offensive gale (62-100).
in the end I expected the Israeli Maccabi, his great rival, due to the number of clashes, of continental basketball and Real Madrid repeated the story of the previous year. He returned to command over ten points, but could not contain the Maccabean reaction, led by Tyrese Rice (26 points). Laso’s team clung to an extension, but there the American point guard destroyed them to fall 98-86.
3. Third time lucky. The eight-time European champion did not fail in 2014-2015 either, a ‘special’ season because the ‘Final Four’ It was held at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid. Opposite, Zeljko Obradovic’s Fenerbahce, who was Laso’s coach during his Real Madrid stage. The ‘host’ did not fail and between Gustavo Ayón (18 points), triples and a sensational second quarter (35-14), qualified for their third consecutive final (96-87).
And there I waited Olympiacos again, who had once again shown extreme competitiveness to block CSKA’s path again. The Piraeus team was once again a headache, able to overcome another disadvantage of more than ten points and lead the game to extreme equality until they appeared Carroll’s aim and Nocioni’s heart to leave the ‘Novena’ at home (78-59).
4. Return after one year of absence. Pablo Laso could not classify the team for the ‘F4’ from 2015-2016 and the title defense ended in the quarterfinals against Fenerbahce. But in the following campaign he slipped back into the top four in Europe, although could not get the pass to a new final. At the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, the Madrid team was the victim of Madrid’s revenge against Obradovic’s men, who always dominated the match and ended up winning 74-65. The Spanish team finished fourth.
5. The ‘Tenth’ in Belgrade at Doncic’s farewell. Once again, the ‘king’ of Europe was in the fight for the title, right in the same scenario in which next May he will try to increase his palmares, the Stark Arena in Belgrade.
In the semifinals, duel with the powerful Russian CSKA of a former like Sergio ‘Chacho’ Rodríguez. A match where Laso’s bounced back from a bad start to then dominate and take a wide enough lead that this time they did not let it escape (83-92). The current champion, Fenerbahce, awaited in the final, with whom they fought a beautiful battle, where they stood out Luka Doncic, Fabien Talker and Trey Thompkins who scored two vital points after grabbing an offensive rebound on a free kick missed by the French forward. The Slovenian was the ‘MVP’ and weeks later he headed for the NBA.
6. The last one so far. The last time that Real Madrid had played the ‘F4’ was in the 2018-2019 season, where he couldn’t defend his title. At the Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, the Madrid team fell short of a new final after failing on this occasion against CSKA, who won the semifinals 95-90 thanks to a devastating final quarter of 30-17 with which he erased the merengue advantage and with ‘Chacho’ (22 points) as one of his executioners. The ten-time champion finished third.