By Stefanos Tatsios / info@eurohoops.net
In the second semifinal of the Final Four in Belgrade (18/5), Real Madrid goes up against CSKA Moscow and this battle will set the two friends, former teammates, and counterparts along Spain’s perimeter against each other.
Sergio Llull, who is back in action after his eight-month injury, and Sergio Rodriguez, who has been playing in Dimitris Itoudis’ team this season, were Real’s two main guards for six years and made history in the team’s colors.
Eurohoops presents Llull and Sergio’s accomplishments in the six years they played in Real Madrid together, but also in the national team of Spain, and puts you in combat mode ahead of the Final Four.
ACB: Real’s amazing 3-out-of-4 streak
For six years, Sergio Rodriguez and Sergio Llull were teammates in Real Madrid and were the core of the team’s backcourt.
They may have experienced some difficult seasons, but they also had many successes, especially in the Spanish league, where they won 3 Championships together, all of them in 4 years, building a small dynasty in Madrid.
The four years between 2013 and 2016 were “supersonic” for the Whites, as they won the Spanish Championship 3 times (2013, 2015, 2016), in fact, two of those in back-to-back seasons, and made history in the ACB. The only Championship that Real team didn’t win was the one of 2014, which they lost to Xavi Pascual’s Barcelona (3-1).
The two Sergios were Madrid’s backbone in their achievements in the domestic league and even though they had a multitude of stars beside them, they were the ones who always bailed their team out when things got tough.
Copa del Rey: 3 consecutive Cups with Rodriguez and Llull
If the 3 championships in 6 years that Llull and Rodriguez won together in Real are something more than a successful yield, then the Madrilenos – with the presence of the two charismatic guards – were unstoppable in the Copa del Rey.
As everyone knows, sometimes winning the Spanish Cup, considering its format (Final Eight), is harder than winning the Championship. But Pablo Laso’s team was the absolute boss in the Copa del Rey from 2012 until last year.
Real won every Spanish Cup from 2012 to 2017, except for 2013, and Sergio Llull and Sergio Rodriguez lifted the Cup together in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016, while Llull also won the 2017 Cup without his teammate and good friend as he had left for the NBA.
The only thing that is certain is that in the six years they spent together in Madrid, the two Spanish internationals “swept” everything and made Real’s myth at home even greater.