Real Madrid redeemed itself with a convincing victory against the European champion, a team that aspires, according to its leaders, to win five consecutive Euroleagues. They are wishes, of course, but they speak of a powerful team that the whites stood up to first, ignored them at times and resisted in the end, playing with great intelligence to preserve the result. The only problem for the team led by Chus Mateo, and it is not trivial, is that the drop in play is evident when the first swords do not appear on the court.
Madrid started as it had not done in the previous games, with determination, overwhelming a confused Panathinaikos, with a lot of rhythm and absolute success in the triple shots, five attempts, five successes in comfortable shots that were converted by Musa (2), Abalde, Ndiaye and Campazzo to reach five minutes with a clarifying score of 19-5. Only Juancho maintained his style on the Greek team.
Madrid was clairvoyant in attack during the first quarter and applied in defense. However, the Athenians tightened the screws during the second, and although they continued to get stuck in the shot, they managed to stop the Whites’ attack. Suddenly, Mateo’s players found themselves without space to score so comfortably, so the partial score tilted towards Panathinaikos, who got within five points at halftime. Tavares had dried up Lessort for many minutes, and the Frenchman only managed to score with five left in the first half, but each of his appearances punished Madrid.
After returning from the locker room, the Greek team accelerated in what seemed like it could be a return to the game; They came within two points (47-45) with a minute and a half of the third quarter gone, but Madrid reacted with a 9-0 run that stretched the scoreline again, with seven points from Abalde, who took control of the game. A triple from the player from Ferrol raised the difference to 17 points with one minute left in the third quarter, after a counterattack by Campazzo. An almost abysmal difference against the European champion, which deteriorated in the final moments with a 0-5 partial in the most inspired moments of Nunn, who led his team.
The 15 triples that Madrid scored were the ticket to a calm end to the game in which the team led by Ataman pushed hard, but only with their last basket did they manage to cross the barrier of the six-point difference that the white team had established as red line. The coach of the Greek team surely regrets, among other things, the seven free throws that Panathinaikos missed, because against a high-level rival, every detail counts.
