In any survival manual in the face of adversity, this

Real Madrid of 2021

should appear

, which is quite likely not to win any title, but which will be remembered for the total maximization of its resources.

At the moment, despite a plague of casualties and injuries that borders on the absurd, he is one game away from the ACB final after his defensive deployment against a Valencia that could not read the semifinal duel, perhaps still exhausted after his third game against Baskonia Friday.

[81-70: Narration and statistics]

When the match ended,

the first with spectators (1,000) at the WiZink 15 months later

, Pablo Laso did not have much choice on the bench. Eight healthy guys (without going into details), two of them homegrown. On Tuesday he has another appointment against Valencia (9:15 p.m.), this time at La Fonteta, in these express playoffs. And yet, if Madrid prevailed for something this Sunday, it was out of pure self-love: he caught 52 rebounds, 19 more than his rival, proof of his desire.

It is difficult to imagine a more Machiavellian script, but the fact is that Madrid appeared in all the ACB semifinals without eight players with whom Pablo Laso started the season.

Eight!

Campazzo, Deck, Randolph, Thompkins, Abalde, Felipe Reyes, Laprovittola and Llull

.

And, midway through the third act, Rudy Fernández limped away (bad looking) and even Garuba could not finish after a memorable display.

An unsustainable part of war.

A boy made his debut who turned 17 the day before yesterday (Juan Núñez, one of the great pearls of Spanish basketball) and who had to come running from Valencia, from the junior Euroleague final - which the whites won, with Sediq Garuba, brothers from Usman, as the protagonist-, to deal with the responsibility of facing a whole Valencia.

Domain of Tavares and Garuba

And, as with such a panorama it is difficult to think much further, the whites left as if there were no tomorrow, stepping on the accelerator, without complexes and with a lot of pace. Those times when those who are are who there are. With

Alocén grabbing the game by the horns

, a brutal dominance of the rebound and the irruption of Causeur, who when Valencia wanted to realize it accumulated 13 points and, they, those of Ponsarnau, were down 16 (30-14).

But Valencia is not just anyone. It is a team with Euroleague roots, with experience and a lot of competitiveness. He was not intimidated and little by little he was imposing his virtues. Those pivots that hammer from afar, that

omnipresent and competitive Kalinic

. Such was its rebirth that Madrid finished the first half asking for the time (4-14 of the final set).

However, the taronjas were going to continue to carry a deadly problem.

White's ability to steal second chances from him, with Garuba and Tavares dominating the painting, was a huge drag.

That fang not only kept White's advantage: every offensive rebound was a motivational bonus.

Usman did not need to score points to completely dominate the game

: his third quarter was a defensive display of height.

Such exuberance that it ended with the twin raised.

Like a famous boxer, Valencia no longer had a reaction.

Causeur was a cyclone (24 points)

and Jeff Taylor accompanied with points, energy and defense.

Valencia was left dry offensively in the second half, a symptom.

He only reacted with suicidal pressure, but it was too late.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Valencia

  • Madrid

  • Real Madrid

  • Pablo Laso Biurrún

  • Sergio Llull

  • sports

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See links of interest

  • 2021 business calendar

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  • Real Madrid - Valencia Basket