[Sport] Real Madrid survives the pride of Armani

[#Wittels-]

The Whites, who were leading by 11 points with three minutes to go, achieved a hurried victory in Milan (73-75) after Delaney missed a triple on the horn

Real Madrid, which last season lost both Euroleague games against Milan without a fuss in the stands, this time beat Messina's team in a fiery Mediolanum Forum (73-75) with another exercise of defensive firmness and a 13 of 27 in triples. The power of Yabusele (15 points and six rebounds) and the success from the perimeter, led by Causeur (17 points, 4 of 6 from 6.75), confirm the Armani seams. But the Whites, who were winning by 11 points with three minutes to go (62-73), did not know how to close the match and suffered before the proud final charge of the Italian team. About to concede the comeback, but they grabbed the 13th win in 16 rounds. The sequence of failures from the free kick, five in the final moments (6 of 13 in total), gave hope to the Italian team until the last gasp, until Delaney's 3-pointer left the Madridista ring. Milan won three of the four quarters, but 8-17 of the second set was decisive.

 

Only Olympiacos had won in Milan and Shields, Melli, Datome and Sergio Rodríguez sold the defeat of the continental semifinalist dearly. Madrid, without Laso or Hurtel after Monday's positive (and with the losses of Alocén, Abalde, Thompkins) executed an effervescent staging, based on the success from the perimeter and on the defensive application, with various zonal adjustments. His great virtues in the meeting. But the whites quickly got stuck and Milan reacted, driven by Melli. From 8-11, with three triples from Madrid in no time, to 17-13 after the local arreón. The two blocks of Tavares at that point served the Cape Verdean to climb to the historic podium of the Euroleague (251 caps in 142 games), and only behind Bryant Dunston and Kyle Hines, but did not intimidate the Messina team. It was the appearances of Randolp and, above all, of Yabusele (10 points in eight minutes, with two of two in triples) that definitively strengthened the Madrid plan.

 

In a gusty, low-point match, Yabusele's intensity had a revitalizing effect for Madrid and a thunderous effect for Armani. After the loss against Alba, the French power forward landed voracious in Milan. In his wake, the couple formed by Llull and Rudy completed the rearmament of the whites before the intermission (25-35, m. 19). In the second quarter, the Madrid defense only conceded four baskets to their rival: one from Datome, another from Bentil and two from Shields, who scored on the horn to shake off his team's glanders a bit. The quarter ended with 8-17 and the team led by Chus Mateo came to rest dominating all facets of the game and also shooting percentages, with a meritorious 7 of 16 in triples. Twenty minutes in the Mediolanum are "molto longos", Mateo, paraphrasing Juanito, to sustain the tension of his troops in the second half. The night proved him right. "We have attacked in a mediocre way and Madrid has enough experience to stop that way of playing," summarized Messina.

 

While the Italian coach was reviewing the lesson or reading the primer to his family, the 7,500 spectators of the Mediolanum Forum (barely 800 there were last year) paid tribute to the legendary Sandro Gamba, under the soundtrack of Chariots of Fire. Olimpia Milan player between 1950 and 1963 (with the conquest of 10 Legas) and historical coach for 11 years, in two different stages (with the 1983 European gold in Nantes against the Spanish team as a great milestone), Gamba received the hug of his hobby, with Dino Meneghin, Giorgio Armani (team owner) and Pantaleo Dell'Orco (general manager) as hosts. And Messina's team collected the energy of the event and projected it on the track to re-engage in the game. Madrid remained firm rescuing the adjustment defense and maintaining the offensive production with the episodic role of Hanga and Williams-Goss.

 

However, Tavares received two fouls and a technique in just one minute and a hole was opened for the visitors. A savage Melli managed to take the Cape Verdean out of the game with a pointless struggle under the rim and, for a few moments, the whites lost their oremus in the heat of battle. In that section, Poirier received a blow from Hines in the face and Madrid went on to play with Randolph and Yabusele as an inner couple. A triple by Ricci adjusted the scores (43-47, m. 28), but Milan missed the two subsequent attacks, Sergio Rodríguez received another technique (frustrated by Taylor's marking), and the whites held the local onslaught. There would still be another.

A triple from Rudy (519 in the Euroleague, with which he entered the historic podium after Navarro, 623, and Chacho, 521) and another from Llull filled the Madrid entry into the home straight with optimism. Adding records, the captain equaled Felipe Reyes as the white player with the most wins in the competition (226 in 324 games). And his third triple ended up unstitching the Armani. A partial of 0-10, from 53-57 to 55-67 that seemed to leave the duel seen for sentence five minutes from time. However, the pride of the Italian team squeezed the epic until the end (from 62-73 to 73-75), until Delaney's last pitch. Madrid only scored two free throws in that stretch and missed five. His 13th victory in 16 rounds of the Euroleague came between his own chills and the heat of the Mediolanum.

 

Link: https://elpais.com/deportes/2021-12-16/el-real-madrid-sobrevive-al-orgullo-del-olimpia-milan.html