Real Madrid fell to Olympiacos on a floor full of mud (73-60).

It was one of those games where possessions that end without a shot to the basket cheer.

Where the rings seem to be bolted to blood and the points in the paint are paid for in bruises.

A match where rhythm, space and oxygen were lacking.

A match where the leadership of the Euroleague was at stake and Real Madrid did not know how to compete.



It was a bad night to perform without its two main directors,

Sergio Rodríguez and Nigel Williams-Goss.

, who were finally settling down at the controls.

And a bad night to have the wrong point of view.

Against such a thick defense, Real Madrid would have appreciated anything that would have clarified the picture.

And instead, the lack of success (3/25 in triples) and the turnovers (14) condemned the white team.



That bleeding of balls, easy points for Olympiacos, caused

Mateo's first serious anger on the bench.

But it was not so much a question of attention or intensity, usual intangibles in these cases, as of good defense of the Greek team and available manpower.

Madrid was tied to Tavares, the fastest shortcut in these cases, but even that source would run out (8 points in the first quarter, 12 in the game).



There was such an accumulation in the painting that even the Cape Verdean giant had a hard time imposing his law.

About the easiest way to score near the rim was to hit for an offensive rebound.

The blow was not spared to anyone in the two baskets, but the second chance at least caught the defense out of place.

A match made to measure for

Felipe Reyes, present in the stands

and perhaps with restless hands for getting into such mud.



Those points in transition and after loss allowed Olympiacos to advance faster.

Easy points on a night with an anemic score (36-28 for the Greeks at halftime).

So much so that a triple by

Isaiah Canaan

which made it 52-40 with three minutes left in the third quarter and the entire last quarter to play, left a taste of a definitive advantage.

It was not

Llull

's day .

Nor from

Rudy Fernández

or

Gaby Deck

.

It was hardly that of Tavares beyond the first quarter, or of

Dzanan Musa

until the last.



Nobody's night in a game to forget and that leaves Real Madrid and Olympiacos tied with Barcelona and Fenerbahçe for the lead in the most even Euroleague of all time.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Sergio Llull