«Sergi, do you want it?». The question had an obvious answer, but in that frenzy of pounding heartbeats, Chus Mateo did not hesitate to say it in the time-out prior to one of the great heroics in the history of the Euroleague.. But before Sergi Llull took, as it could not be otherwise, the responsibility of the final play, it is advisable to rewind. Real Madrid's Eleventh Euroleague was perhaps the most amazing of all. A few weeks before the feat at the Zalgirio Arena, no one would have risked a fortune for a team that had to come back from an impossible tie against Zeljko Obradovic's Partizan and that had just starred in one of the most regrettable and violent tanganes in memory.
Let shame not confuse. “Without the fight, we would have also come back against Partizan,” Vincent Poirier said these days what no one can know. The truth is that the whites traveled to Belgrade with a 0-2 against that had never been raised before and with a string of sanctions from both teams that ended up hurting the inexperienced Serbians even more.. The comeback of comebacks, Partizan up 18 in the WiZink in the fifth against a Madrid that had tied the tie but seemed to die on the shore. And there emerged Sergio Rodríguez, veterans at the vanguard of the brave, as Rudy Fernández had been and as Llull was going to be: “those who transmit how this works.”
Madrid went into the Kaunas basketball game without the injured Gaby Deck and without the suspended Yabusele – the most violent in the fight at the Palace, with his brutal hold on Dante Exum -, with Barça waiting in the semi-finals and with nothing left to lose. He surpassed those of Jasikevicius and Mirotic and against Olympiacos he had even more epic to add, since no winner of a classic in the Final Four had subsequently won the European title. But, after all, there were 12 seconds left, a couple of minutes ago they had fallen by six, and Bartzokas' team was determined to tremble and give opportunities to Chus Mateo's insatiable wild group.
“The basket of my life”
12 seconds and in the time-out huddle, Mateo was trying to paint some order on his blackboard. But Llull, who had accepted the challenge, was no longer listening.. Causeur played from the wing and the ball went to the Balearic Islander, who stopped time. He went without thinking too much for the giant Fall (218 centimeters) and executed a parabolic, unforgettable, eternal, very high shot, which entered with 3.2 seconds left to put Madrid ahead and grant them an astonishing title. «It is the basket of my life, of my career. This one passes Málaga on the right (2014 Cup final). That one was closer to the end, but this one is about winning a Euroleague, something incredible,” the hero Llull commented later, in the bowels of the Zalgirio Arena, between hugs and jubilations.
In the year one after Pablo Laso, in the year of the signings of Dzanan Musa and Mario Hezonja, in the year of the cup winner in the Badalona Cup against Unicaja, in the year of the WiZink fight and the defensive zone against Partizan to come back, Chus Mateo raised an unexpected Euroleague, pure vindication of a low-profile coach who endured the downpour of criticism and who had the most moving tribute from one of his pupils, to the point of bringing tears to his eyes. The MVP, without a prior question, began his speech in English with a plea in favor of his coach. And his words were neither brief nor pretentious.. Without a prior question at the press conference, Edy Tavares spoke: «My congratulations to Chus, who has suffered more than everyone so that we could achieve everything we have achieved.. We are here because of him, because he has believed in us and has had a lot of confidence. Many had to apologize, because there has been a lot of criticism. He is the boss, when you talk about Madrid, you have to talk about him. “He deserves it more than anyone because he is one of the best people I have ever met and he has known how to manage everything.”. Giant's word.
The hangover from that Euroleague, from that Jordanian basket by Llull, was hard. Madrid, exhausted of strength and motivation, lost the ACB final against Barça. And yet, the summer and the return of Facundo Campazzo after his failed NBA adventure and the brief intermediate step at Red Star was a shot of energy. An overwhelming start to the season, champion of the Super Cup, undeniable leader in Spain and Europe…. A 2023 that surpassed its record of victories (72 at this point still with matches to be resolved) and that raises the bar for the challenge of 2024: lifting, 56 years later, two consecutive European Cups.