With less than a minute to go, with everything already practically lost against Barcelona, when the epic was no longer in reserve for the Real Madrid players, Chus Mateo called a timeout. Then, the WiZink, who had pushed to the limit, who for a moment believed in the umpteenth impossible comeback, broke, on his feet, in an overwhelming ovation.. A long minute of applause and recognition of the European champions that well sums up the end of the white season: he ended up so sated with success after the Final Four in Kaunas that he had no physical or mental energy left to tackle an opponent who, it is true It didn't show any loophole either.

Competitive laziness, full belly, exhaustion…? Anything that is not winning cannot be described as success in a club designed for that and a 3-0 against is difficult to assimilate. The double (not counting the Super Cup) would have been the perfect climax to the year I after Pablo Laso, the one that so many predicted as the end of so many things. But neither is it false to ensure that Madrid's 2022/2023 season will go down in history: no one will ever forget the heroic series against Partizan or the comebacks in the Final Four. The loot from the Euroleague is too big for the resounding final defeat against Barça to cast doubt on the project. Which obviously needs tweaking. But that it will also have a driver without discussion.

Chus Mateo has earned the right to be respected and not only for his magical month of May. For beating Obradovic, for inventing Ndiaye, for his area…. Few coaches landed on a bench in the middle of such a shootout. His wisdom to deal with difficult moments -mainly the cup elimination in Badalona and the start of the playoff against Partizan- and his elegance to weather criticism elevate his permanently low-profile figure.

Mateo's main virtue, in addition to his tactical successes in the rotation, was winning over the locker room. You only have to see the gesture and words of Tavares after winning the Euroleague. After losing to Barça, he did not look for excuses or point to third parties. He praised his players “for the effort, work, dedication and unity”. And he recognized that both his intention and that of the club that did not hesitate to probe other coaches in the middle of the season is to continue. Anyone throws out the guy who has put his name next to that of Ferrandiz, Lolo Sainz, Obradovic and Laso himself.

Hanga, Causeur, Goss…

With the X of the bench cleared, now Real Madrid will have to address the changes that will keep it in the continental elite. That goes through the renovations of Tavares and Deck (they end in 2024), the true core of the collective along with Musa, Yabusele, Poirier and Hezonja. All guys in their prime who will be joined by Facundo Campazzo after his failure in the NBA and his troubled return to Europe via Red Star.

The next episode goes through the veterans. If anyone had any doubts a few months ago, Rudy Fernández, Sergio Llull and Sergio Rodríguez have earned the right to do whatever they want with their future at the end of the season. They have responded like nobody else in the moment of truth and they deserve the sunset they want.

And then there's the rest. There has not been a hint of an intention to renew Nigel Williams-Goss, who during the lost ACB final saw his role and importance reduced, for example, in the outcome of the Euroleague. One of the great asterisks of the squad has been that of Alberto Abalde, for whom the club paid a very high clause to Valencia but who is no longer even among the 12 called up and has a contract until 2025. Anthony Randolph seems to have finished his time in white after seven seasons at the club. Like a Petr Cornelie, who has been the great fiasco. And Alocén, about whom Madrid have the option of signing him for another year but who has not played since he was injured a year and a half ago, is likely to leave on loan. The only unknowns, therefore, are those of Adam Hanga and Fabien Causeur, two other veterans who never fail. It would not be strange if next year they no longer wore white and it would not be strange that they would be missed soon: a good role for their substitutes.