Nikola Mirotic was almost a shadow of the player he is at the Zalgirio Arena. Against Real Madrid, the Montenegrin Hispanic signed a simply horrendous game. The player himself, in fact, did not hesitate to admit it to DAZN’s microphones right after the game. “First of all, congratulations to Real Madrid for the great game they played. Especially in the second half. It has a lot of merit. For my part, it’s difficult to draw conclusions, but I assume my responsibility. It wasn’t a good game, I couldn’t help the team and I feel very bad. The only thing I can say to the fans is that I’m sorry and thank you very much for coming here to support us,” said the big azulgrana star with a visibly upset look on his face.
Once again, Madrid defeated Barça in the Euroleague semifinals. This time, much more convincingly than last year.. For Mirotic, however, the bad feelings are exactly the same as those he had in 2022. “Every defeat hurts the same. It is another opportunity that could not have been and one thinks that there will not be many more, we know how difficult it is to reach a Final Four and it is a very hard day, the truth “, confessed Mirotic himself. In front of the RAC1 microphones, in fact, it was even more forceful. «It is the hardest day of my career. I have failed the team and the fans. I apologize for the disaster of the game that I have made. I don't know what will happen in the future,” the Montenegrin Hispanic reeled off.
His feelings, of course, were very different from those of the game's MVP, a Walter Tavares with record numbers: 20 points and a PIR of 39. “We knew that Barça is one of the best teams in the third quarters, that it breaks the game a lot at those moments, but we knew how to handle the key moments and be consistent,” said the most prominent figure of the madridistas. «The key was to continue in the game. They have scored a lot of triples, but we knew that when they started to miss we had to control the rebounds so they didn't hurt us,” he analyzed.. An aspect in which his coach, Chus Mateo, supported him. «In the first part they have been very successful in the triples, with nine hits in
14 attempts, it gave them results, but it was their merit. At the break we said that we had to say that it was not easy for them to continue hitting the mark throughout the game, that we could find a window to get in and that we had to take advantage of our opportunity. In the second half we defended very well and we had some great players,” he said on DAZN.
Mario Hezonja, another of the standouts on the Real Madrid side, conclusively summed up what finally pushed Real Madrid towards another Final Four. “We have had mental toughness. We already knew that Barça is a great team, luckily no one is here, they are all great and we have to be prepared for war. Our toughness, in the end, is what has helped us win this game”, he assured, knowing that the road has been very complicated. Above all, with everything that happened in the quarterfinal series and a Partizan capable of putting them on the brink of elimination. “Partizan was an incredible team, with a manager that everyone knows who he is.. We went 0-2 at home, but we managed to come back and got through with the fifth game at the Wizink. All this has cost us a lot of energy, but we are professionals and we will go for it,”
.