By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
Eight months after his injury, Real Madrid‘s star will be back on the court for Game 3 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague against Panathinaikos.
As coach Pablo Laso said: “Llull is going to play tomorrow. If we did not believe he could help the team, we would not have put him on the team, Sergi has been training with the team for fifteen or twenty days in an absolutely normal way”.
It has been 258 days since Llull tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in an exhibition game with the Spanish national team last summer. Prior to that, the 2015 EuroLeague champion had led Real Madrid back to the Final Four with his best season to date and was voted by fans and media as the MVP of the competition. Llull last season ranked third in assists (5.9 apg.), fifth in scoring (16.5 ppg.) and seventh in PIR (16.9) among all EuroLeague players.
There will be no limitations on the minutes he will stay on the court, as Laso explained with a joke: “Before the injury, if he played 30 minutes and sat him, he was not happy. I do not know how much he is going to play, it will depend on match situations and many things, but I am happy that he is back. I’ll just tell Llull to have a good time out there, to enjoy playing basketball. It’s what he likes since he was a kid. Enjoy and play as well as possible. It’s what I’ve asked for in the seven years I’ve been with him. What I want is for Sergi to enjoy what he likes best, which is basketball. ”