Chacho, Llull and Rudy and the most amazing of the 'old school' comebacks: "They are the ones who transmit how this works"

It could well have been a picture from a decade ago, of those conquests in full, in white or red, of a trio that, who would have said it, still had another epic night up their sleeves.. The photo of the tweet with which Luka Doncic surrendered to his teachers. The penultimate dance of Rudy, Llull and El Chacho, showcases full of hits but the hunger of those who are never satisfied. They believed when all was lost and to their wisdom the Wizink climbed to be where Real Madrid is supposed to be, in the ninth Final Four of the last 12: at the Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Sabonis' land, they will look for the Eleventh.

Florentino Pérez smiled in the bowels of the Palace after visiting a euphoric changing room. Chus Mateo, who has suffered the suffering of someone who begins his work with everything against it, was accompanied in the press room by his three assistants. “Here, here, in the front row,” he ordered Lolo Calin, Paco Redondo and Guillermo Frutos. The white technician's face was one of pure relief, his eloquence that of someone who finally achieves happiness.. He began his speech with three devastating sentences: “Sports sometimes do not have logical explanations. The heart makes impossible things possible. The players give us lessons every day.”

'Chacho' Rodríguez and Llul after the epic victory: “It's a magical night”

A while before, the WiZink shouted “Chacho, Chacho!”. As in those 2012 semifinals against Baskonia in which the Canarian base took off to never be earthly again. In Belgrade he had starred in the resurrection of Madrid, the leader in the mood with that harangue in the third when everything was as lost as last night, as on the track in the fourth. What perhaps he himself did not expect was that burst of basketball, the triples, the penetrations, the assists…. He hadn't scored 19 points all season. When he entered the court in the third quarter, with 13:22 to go, Madrid was reeling 16 down (56-72). Quick an assist, a triple…. A handle for the final act, the one that followed with one of the greatest recitals of his career. “The comeback is something we had in mind since we returned from Belgrade. We didn't want to be the first team to lose a fifth game at home. At first the desire was able to us, but in the third quarter the emotions have changed, “he confessed.

But in that ecstasy nothing would have been possible for Real Madrid if Chacho hadn't found accomplices. And, with Tavares weighed down by fouls (he still finished with 12 points and seven rebounds), who better than his old cronies?. In addition to Dzanan Musa, who finished with 20 points, Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernández put their laurels to green again for one of those rock and roll nights they love so much. “They are the ones who guide and transmit to young people how this works. Chacho has been brutal in attack, Llull has defended Punter like nobody else, he has ended up eating him. And Rudy has been superb in the defensive readings”, Chus Mateo praised them.

Because if El Chacho was the hero, the triples in Llull's outcome were as decisive as his defense against a Punter who, as Obradovic acknowledged, “missed the key shots”. These are not easy times for the Menorcan. Back after the umpteenth injury, he did not participate in the first game of the series and in the second he was the protagonist for bad, wick with his harsh foul of the subsequent fight. He was not sanctioned, but he did not shine in the white triumphs in Belgrade either. He had not scored a basket until the last quarter, there where the balls never burn: he finished with eight points.

JUANJO MARTIN EFE

Nor did Rudy need to score, again the residue of wisdom, playing four when necessary, glue from the area with which Mateo tortured Obradovic again. And, as always, leaving the physical: Exum fell badly on him in the last seconds of the third quarter.

All this, this paralysis that Real Madrid causes in the rival, was summed up by an Obradovic who was at the gates of his 19th Final Four: only in 2006 (with Panathinaikos against Baskonia) had he lost a tie. “Madrid is a great team and has a lot of character”, he acknowledged and spoke about the permanent notice to his pupils, even when they won by 18: “I never take the game for granted. In each timeout I have told him: “You have to play until the end”. We defended badly in the second half and the team is sunk in the dressing room”.

It was an impossible night at WiZink. Madrid raised, for the first time in the history of the Euroleague, a 0-2. He did it conceding 94 points (55 at halftime) and breaking the trend that said that, at more than 80, he did not beat Partizan. And he left the Serbs without their first Final Four in 13 years to meet Barça in Kaunas. He will do it without Deck or Yabusele, but that will be another story…