By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ — CSKA Moscow’s Sergio Rodriguez has made it six times to the EuroLeague Final Four throughout his career and will clash with his former team Real Madrid at this stage for the second time in a row: “Yes, another Final Four. It’s my sixth. The truth is that you have to enjoy it. Those are important things, special moments during the season that you have been working very well. And yes, against Real Madrid in the semifinals. Last year we lost, this season we have won both games and, whenever you face a team with so much potential, so many players and so much talent you have to be focused and energetic to beat them.”
Although they beat them twice in the regular season, Rodriguez believes it doesn’t change anything, you have to leave everything on the floor as if it’s a ‘life or death’ situation: “It doesn’t really matter how you arrive. This is a game of life and death, a Final. It gives exactly the same. We know each other very well, we know our strengths and weaknesses. We have to try to be very energetic and get the game into a high rhythm.”
He admitted the injury he suffered in the VTB playoffs scared him a bit but he managed to fully recover: “Fine, I’m fine. It scared me a little during the VTB League game, in the last playoff game we played. I feel very well, I trained normally the last four days, so perfect.”