Real Madrid enters a state of alert
The madridista team reacted late and scored another close defeat at the WiZink Center against Virtus de Scariolo (92-95)
MADRID, 27 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid added its third defeat in the 2022-2023 Euroleague Regular Phase by losing this Thursday at the WiZink Center by 92-95 against the Italian Virtus Bologna, a rival that also took advantage of their irregularity in the game and their problems in defense .
Chus Mateo’s team has entered a state of alert. The positive feelings from the start of the season have been diluted and they conceded their third setback in the last four games, almost all marked by the same script. Sergio Scariolo’s team arrived after losing by 28 in Belgrade and averaging just 65 points per game, but did not forgive Madrid’s concessions.
The ten-time European champion did not find continuity in his game, except at the end of the clash, when it was already too late because the visitors had escaped after a second half where they scored 54 points. Not even Gaby Deck’s 28 points and 34 PIR saved a team where its four point guards (Llull, Sergio Rodríguez, Hanga and Abalde) did not add a single point and were widely surpassed by Lundberg (18), Teodosic (14) and Hackett (7).
Despite the final result, the start was erratic on both sides. Real Madrid did not find success from the outside and although Tavares managed to do damage inside and set up Jaiteh and Mickey with two fouls very soon, the score had not moved much in the middle of the first quarter (5-5). Chus Mateo was also not free from the problem of fouls, concentrated on the base line (Llull, Hanga and Sergio Rodríguez).
However, things were improving from there, especially on the local side. Deck and Musa made aggressive penetrations towards the rim and the first three-pointers, by Cornelie and Hezonja, gave the first pull (21-14) for the Spanish champion.
The Croatian and the French entered the game with success and their triples at the beginning of the second quarter propelled the ten-time European champion (30-20), but, true to what was offered this season, they were not able to give it continuity and the visitors were able to recover, thanks to the work of Bako and Teodosic.
Two consecutive losses for the Madrid team also ‘helped’ Virtus to sign a 0-6 run and get very close again. The match was even and a new surge from Hezonja (13 points at half-time) left Real Madrid ahead (45-41) with the march to the locker room.
Real Madrid did not go well in the third quarter. Losses weighed down again and Virtus was ahead after many minutes after a triple by Hackett (49-50). Chus Mateo’s men couldn’t be tough at the back and they also got tangled up in attack and the game was complicated for them (53-59).
The Madrid coach tried to stop the bleeding of his team, which did not stop receiving points from an Italian team that had not scored more than 66 in their four previous tournament games. Thanks to the 27 signed in this quarter, he surpassed them and with ten minutes to go, despite the efforts of Deck and Cornelie, he dominated and gave better sensations on the court (64-68).
And the picture darkened even more. Two ‘2 1’s from Lundberg and Bako, the latter’s spectacular after a mate, and local errors put Virtus closer to victory (66-80). The Spanish champion, somewhat nervous, needed more than ever to tighten his hoop to have options to change the design of the match.
Real Madrid, with a lot of effort, managed to enter the final stretch with options. He was adding three by three and his best moment behind allowed him to get close with just over two minutes (83-87). He had two balls, a lost counterattack and a three-pointer from Llull, to narrow it down, but he didn’t do it and Teodosic gave his team enough air to withstand his rival’s final rush.
–RESULT: REAL MADRID, 92 – VIRTUS BOLONIA, 95 (45-41, at halftime).
REAL MADRID: Llull (0), Deck (28), Musa (13), Yabusele (7) and Tavares (13) — the starting quintet — Sergio Rodriguez (0), Abalde (0), Hezonja (18), Poirier (4), Cornelius (9), Hanga (0) and Ndiaye (0).
VIRTUS BOLOGNA: Hackett (7), Lundberg (18), Ojeleye (5), Mickey (6) and Jaiteh (12) –initial quintet– Teodosic (14), Bako (16), Pajola (2), Cordinier ( 12) and Weems (3).
–PARTIALS: 24-18, 21-23, 19-27 and 28-27.
–REFEREES: Boltauzer, Racys and Kowalski. They eliminated Deck for fouls, for Real Madrid, and Mickey, for Virtus.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center.
