Real Madrid grows in Milan and achieves its third victory in the Euroleague

Chus Mateo’s men completed a good second half thanks to Musa’s effectiveness and defensive solidity

MADRID, 3 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Real Madrid added its third victory in the 2022-2023 Euroleague Regular Phase by winning this Thursday at the Mediolanum Forum by 77-83 against the Italian EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, and thus achieved the third victory of the season in a good game in attack that at times was brilliant.

The ten-time European champion returned to the path of victory in the highest continental competition, where, until now, he was leaving more shadows than lights. Dzaán Musa (24 points) was the best after leading an overwhelming second half in which they barely gave their rival options, despite the good work of Pangos (21).

The defensive solidity of the third and last quarter were key for Chus Mateo’s men to put an end to the irregularity shown so far and dispel the doubts offered, in a match that this time did not let them escape in the final moments.

The match began very evenly in Milan, with the Italians very successful from the outside, but with Musa and Tavares carrying the weight in Madrid’s attack, in a first quarter that Chus Mateo’s men came to dominate on the scoreboard thanks to their inside game .

From then on, the Whites had some brilliant moments, led in large part by Hezonja (12), but they were unable to stop the scorer’s bleeding from the Italians who did not fail from the three-point line. The 14 points from Kevin Pangos, with 4/5 triples at the break, were enough for Milan’s men to go to the locker room with an advantage on the scoreboard (50-47) and a great partial from the line of 6.75 (12 /16).

The improvement in the Whites’ defense began to be noticed after the restart, translated into a lower scoring rate that favored Chus Mateo’s men. Gabriel Deck’s entry gave the visitors air, slowed down in their inside game by the dominance of the defenses, but Musa found the way from the three-point line midway through the third quarter.

Good minutes from Real Madrid, who found in the Bosnian the opportunity to go on the scoreboard (56-62) and thus begin the Whites’ take-off from mastering the physical part and slowing down the locals’ outside play. Sergio Rodríguez was once again decisive in managing the team and, above all, in his scoring role (8), to reach the last quarter with an advantage (61-67).

Thus, the white team knew how to take advantage of the multitude of errors and inaccuracies in the first minutes of the last set, lowering the heart rate of the locals. Musa reconfirmed his MVP holding his team from his scoring facet (19).

A three-pointer from Hezonja and another from the Bosnian with five minutes to go, put the maximum advantage so far (63-75) and laid the foundations for victory. Chus Mateo’s men then managed the pace of the match and, although their victory was threatened at the end with a triple by Deshun Thomas (75-80), they ended up dispelling all doubts after a very good basket by Deck that sentenced the match.

–RESULT: ARMANI MILAN, 77 – REAL MADRID, 83 (50-47, at halftime).

EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN: Pangos (21), Hall (5), Thomas (7), Melli (12) and Davies (5) –initial quintet– Datome (8), Hines (-), Baron (6), Ricci (-), Voigtmann (2), Mitrou-Long (11), Devon (5) and Tonut (-).

Real Madrid: Hanga, Cornelie, Deck (7), Musa (25) and Tavares (11) – starting quintet – Llull (-), Sergio Rodriguez (9), Yabusele (6), Abalde (7), Hezonja (11). 15), Poirier (-), Cornelius (-), Hanga (3) and Ndiaye (-).

–PARTIALS: 20-23, 30-24, 11-20 and 16-16.

–REFEREES: Radovic, Latisevs and Trawicki. Without eliminated.

–PABELLÓN: Milan Forum.