Real Madrid meets Red Star and opens at home

Real Madrid meets Red Star and opens at home

The good defense of Chus Mateo's team decided the duel for the whites who remain 2-2 in the table

MADRID, 21 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Real Madrid settled their game against Estrella Roja this Friday (72-56) and got their first win at home of the season in the Euroleague, equaling their standings in European competition with two wins and two losses.

The Madrid team, which lost to Olympiacos on Tuesday (87-89) and last Friday to Barcelona (75-73), gave its fans the first joy in Europe and compensated with better basketball for the image offered up to now, although he had his moment of downturn and fattened the scoreboard in the last moments.

A necessary victory for a Madrid that, with ups and downs, dominated the scoreboard from start to finish, but Red Star rearmed itself to stand up in the second and third quarters. The Whites came out successful from the start with Poirier and Cornelie doing damage to the Serbian defense and with the clear objective of putting balls inside on Tavares, who wore down Red Star's inside game.

The bravery of Abalde and the good team defense of the Whites did not allow the Belgrade team to penetrate close to the rim, the locals being far superior inside in a partial 8-0. With the clock in the second quarter underway, Madrid tried to take off even more on the scoreboard without success against the resistance of the Belgrade team with the game entering a lower scoring rhythm and more to the liking of the visitors. Even so, the white team continued to take free throws over and over again, maintaining their lead.

The script was written until the former Baskonia player, Luca Vildoza, made his debut against the rival with two triples and opened Pandora's box in the form of self-confidence to get closer to the scoreboard (35-28) against a Madrid that failed to recover the game from the first minutes and that accumulated 9 losses so far.

Yabusele and Cornelie kept the Whites on the scoreboard who, without finding fluidity in their game, began to look for a break. The good defense of Vladimir Jovanovic's men allowed them to reduce the deficit to 9 before going to the locker room (39-30).

The script did not change after the break and the poor dynamic in defense continued to take its toll on the Whites. Bentil's hand from the line of three and Vildoza's good work did not scare the Madrid team, who began to play their cards and won the physical battle with a balance of 26 rebounds compared to 19 for the rojiblancos. Good minutes from the locals, who with few actions took advantage on the scoreboard before going to the last quarter.

There the emotion remained despite the fact that the visitors were the ones who took the lead thanks to a Bentil that shone with all its points (17, with three triples), well helped by the actions of Martin. Those from Belgrade had their chances by putting themselves five on the scoreboard with four minutes to go, but Tavares's effectiveness under the rim neutralized the Serbs' comeback.

Real Madrid struck the final blow when Yabusele put the 15th on the scoreboard with a lateral three-pointer that ended the game and put an end to the Serbian hopes (72-56). With this victory, Real Madrid takes a breather in the Euroleague and balances its European locker with its second victory against a Red Star that plummets in the European standings to last place (0-4).

--RESULT: REAL MADRID, 72 - RED STAR, 56. (39-30, at halftime).

REAL MADRID: Abalde (6), Musa (13), Deck (12), Cornelie (7) and Tavares (10) -- the starting quintet -- Sergio Rodriguez (6), Causeur (2), Hezonja (0), Llull (0), Poirier (5), Yabusele (11) and Ndiaye (0).

ESTRELLA ROJA: Dobric (8), Markovic (2), Lazarevic (2), Bentil (17) and Raduljica (0) --quinteto inicial--; Adams (, Lazic (0), Vildoza (10), Ivanovic (0), Martin (8), Petrusev (0) and Holland (7).

--REFEREES: Pukl, Panther and Vyklicky. Fouled out Lazarevic.

--PAVILLION: WiZink Center.