Efe
Updated Friday, March 15, 2024-22:46
Real Madrid, thanks to a good performance by
Guerschon Yabusele
and the inspiration in the last quarter of
Facundo Campazzo
and
Vincent Poirier
, sealed their place in the playoffs with an away win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna (74-89). the Euroleague, thus achieving a goal that he had almost in hand for several weeks but that he had not finished achieving.
The white team faced an opponent against whom they had a negative record in the Euroleague before the clash, in a difficult fiefdom where only two visitors had won this year in the top European competition and at a delicate moment after stringing together three defeats in a row in the tournament.
The white intensity
However, he was able to put those negative psychological factors aside to come out with confidence thanks to the power of Guerschon Yabusele.
The Frenchman, in one of his outbursts of fury, scored seven of his team's first eleven points to pave the way for the ten favorable results.
A timid local reaction halved that distance but
Gabriel Deck
, with a final triple, ended up keeping them at bay at the end of the first quarter (15-23, min.10).
Far from relaxing, Chus Mateo
's team continued to hit hard
.
Intense when it comes to rebounding in both rings, generous in distributing the ball and less prone to losing than in recent games;
He wore down a denied host in the triple (1 of 11 at halftime) that went to intermission with the obligation to reflect (31-44, min.20).
The conclusions he drew were not of much use against a visitor with few cracks and who also dynamited possible changes in trend with decisive three-pointers.
Two were converted by the unstoppable Yabusele at the possession horn and another by
Dzanan Musa
.
Even so, they could not prevent a great basket from
Isaia Cordinier
from putting the home team within ten to finish the third act (52-61, min.30).
The Campazzo moment
In this context of threat, Real Madrid was able to remain calm while the imbalance in successes from a distance persisted.
However, that changed with two consecutive triples from
Jordan Mickey
and
Ognjen Dobric
.
The first, a former Madrid fan, also began to lose his hair.
And an 8-0 run put Virtus within just five points with five minutes remaining.
Then Facundo Campazzo appeared.
The Argentine point guard, not very bright in recent matches after long trips to play with his national team against Chile, took the lead to score six consecutive points and give another six to Vincent Poirier.
There was the finishing touch for Real Madrid, who with their qualification for the playoffs close another chapter in their search for excellence this season.