Villeurbanne (AFP)

Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne lost to Real Madrid 74 to 71 on Thursday in their room at Astroballe de Villeurbanne in the match of the 31st day of the Euroleague after leading by five points at halftime ( 37-32).

It was Asvel's last home game for this season in the European competition for which the Rhone club, which already had no hope of qualifying for the play-offs before kick-off, has ten - eight defeats for twelve victories.

To complete their journey in the Euroleague, the Villeurbanne, now 14th in the standings, will play four away matches in Tel Aviv against Maccabi but also in Russia against Khimki Moscow, Zenit Saint-Petersburg and CSKA Moscow.

For its part, Real (7th, 18 wins, 13 losses), leader of the Spanish championship, who played a big part of his European season, can still believe in his qualification for the Top 8 with this success in Villeurbanne.

TJ Parker's team can have regrets after having delivered a good first half at the end of which it led by five points (37-32) with in particular a very good success on outside shots during the first quarter (5 / 7 against 1/4 for Real).

However, faced with a Madrid team which regained the necessary defensive virtues after the break, it completely failed in the third quarter lost 24-14 to find itself behind in turn by five points (56-51).

Villeurbanne nevertheless managed to recover at the start of the fourth quarter won 20-18.

The Rhone residents even regained the advantage thanks to three free throws made by Antoine Diot (61-58, 37th).

Two points scored by Trey Thompkins gave Real a one-point lead (62-61) who then stayed ahead until the end despite two free throws from Norris Cole (18 points) which brought Asvel back to a length (72-71) at 13 seconds from the siren.

© 2021 AFP