Mario Bruno Fernández, Juan Carlos Navarro's right-hand man in the sports direction of Barça, screamed for the guts of Martín Carpena at the end of the final. «This can't be endured! “It cannot be that the referee refereed for the microphone and not for the game.”. He addressed communication members of the Endesa League, towards whom he made accusations about the appointments of the referees or, even, about Amaya Valdemoro, a regular commentator for Movistar who was not present at the Cup.

The defeat, precipitated in a final quarter in which Real Madrid evidently raised the bar, hurt the Barça expedition too much.. The fire was breaking out. Alex Abrines or Nico Laprovittola criticized in the mixed zone. «You also deserve to be respected. There was no criterion about the fight and our wanting to be in the game,” said the point guard.. And Roger Grimau raised the rant in the press room, always so calm, extremely angry with the referees – among them, a Madrid native, Rafael Serrano and a Catalan, Arnau Padrós – guilty of all the evils, of a defeat that stung and will bring a tail.. «In three minutes they expel one of our best players (Vesely). Then I'm sure they look at the fouls, frame by frame, but I don't know if the criteria is the same, there are players on the other team who play 34 minutes and make three fouls (in reference to Campazzo). “I love the way he plays, the intensity he has and how he presses, but…” he protested, admitting that during the technical session with Willy Hernángomez he heard one of the referees tell him: “This is not the NBA, kid.”

“They have squeezed us, to the level that they have allowed them. Chapeau to them, I'm not messing with Real Madrid. Maybe we have to learn or play differently, starting with me,” continued the Barça coach after his first cup final.. “I already know what is going to come out of this press conference. It's a straw that breaks the camel's back. We are already noticing it from within. There have been moments in which we have been able to get into the game and we have not been able to (because of the referees)”, he continued with the complaints.

Meanwhile, the Real Madrid locker room was a party. Children on the parquet and joy in the locker room, where Florentino Pérez distributed hugs and harangues. Campazzo did not want to respond to his colleague Laprovittola, nor did Chus Mateo to Grimau. Yes, there was praise for his boys, for that “shared MVP” that Facu even recognized, four years later, once again king in Carpena. The most repeated proper name was, without a doubt, that of Vincent Poirier.

“They love each other a lot”

The Frenchman, full of the entire Cup, signed perfection. «He has been working and fighting for many years behind a giant who is absolutely decisive, a differentiating factor (Tavares) that we want to have with us for a long time.. In the shadows, with patience, with a partner he adores…. they love each other very much. “His moment has been this,” proclaimed Mateo proudly, who acknowledged that he joked with his staff (all present in the press room) about which of his pupils they were going to give the MVP to: “I feel proud.”

Poirier, previously fierce, was playing with his daughter on the court after. He was fundamental in the white reconquest, scoring 17 points without a mistake (32 rating). One mark, seven shots without a miss, unprecedented in a cup final. To date, the closest thing was Juanma López Iturriaga's six out of six in 1985 and Edy Tavares in 2020. Furthermore, the Frenchman, formerly of Baskonia, did not miss a free throw (3/3), did not lose any ball, grabbed eight rebounds (several key offensive ones in the moment of truth), recovered three balls and put up two of his usual blocks . In the three Cup games, even better: 12 out of 12, including a triple in the semifinals.