By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Chus Mateo and the Real Madrid players spoke to the media before traveling to Kaunas, where the white team will seek to win another Euroleague title.
For the Real Madrid coach, it will be his first Final Four as head coach, which is why the word “illusion” was heard several times throughout the press conference. But it not only illustrates Mateo’s feelings but that of the entire team.
“We are excited to still have the option of being champions. There are teams that no longer have the option of being one. Whenever you have an opportunity you are excited to be able to take it. We will try to do our best to make it so. We know the difficulty, we are not stupid. We have been here for a long time to know that it will not be easy at all. A Final Four never is. You are with the three teams that have fought from the beginning to be there and that have deserved to be there. But we are very excited, with strength, energy and with our minds set on starting off with a good game against Barcelona“, said coach Mateo.
Real is traveling to Lituanina without some notable players.
“We will try to replace it as we can. We are a team that is trying to recover from those casualties. The loss of Poirier , the loss of Edy Tavares in the 2nd game against Partizan. Losses are part of the game and you have to try to recover from those absences. There are several in Mirotic’s post and we will try to solve it in another way. We’ll see what happens to us. It will not be easy to defend Mirotic, who is a superclass, because he is not with Gaby Deck or with Yabusele. Without them, we will have more difficulties. We will try to replace it with the energy of the team and other players“.
Real Madrid did something that was never seen before in the playoffs. They came back from being down 0-2 against Partizan.
“We have been able to do something very nice, which has been to overcome an adverse 0-2 against an opponent that made things very difficult for us and this situation has given us a boost of morale that has made us look stronger, why not, we are going to dream of going to the final. Barcelona is going to be an incredible rival, they are very good, they are very well trained and worked, with players of an extraordinary level, they have been working with the same mechanisms for some time with their coach and they play very well. We are not fooled and we know how difficult the game will be, but we are very excited“.
Coach Mateo was asked how he feels at a personal level.
“I am happy, very happy on a personal level. But I don’t stop downplaying all these things. You have to de-dramatize. I really like being in this situation, but who doesn’t like being here? But I try to play down everything that a Final Four is , the attention that there is from the media, the number of people who will be able to watch this event… I am excited and happy, just like the team, to be able to contribute my little bit of sand to lift the title. Talking about this now is a chimera, we have a very difficult game against Barcelona and to think that you can go to the final is already very nice, but you have to play a very tough game“