Chus Mateo: “We're coming into the closing stretch of the season and want to give it our all"
“It's always tough to play away from home, especially in the Endesa League,” added the Real Madrid coach.
Chus Mateo spoke to Realmadrid TV to assess the clash between Casademont Zaragoza and Real Madrid on matchday 30 in the League (Sunday, 12:30 pm CEST). Our team's coach reflected: “We've had time to train this week and we've been able to recharge our batteries. It's always tough to play away from home, especially in the Endesa League where any team can make it tough and beat you. We'll have to be careful, we slipped up in Zaragoza last year and we don't want a repeat of that."
“The team's in good shape, we're motivated. We're coming into the closing stretch of the season and want to give it our all. We're achieving the goals we set so far, competing for top spot in the League and into the EuroLeague playoffs. Of course, we're going to fight to win the league and we'll do our best every single day, but we do have one eye on Tuesday's match as well."
Casademont Zaragoza
“Zaragoza is a very energetic team who love running. They switch their defense often and play well as a unit. We have to be solid, block well and not lose the ball. We can't be too eager with how we approach the game, we have to be patient and fight to the end. It's another game on the road and we have to perform well."
EuroLeague playoff opponent
“Baskonia have real character and play a very determined and offensive game. They've got Howard who is playing incredibly well and other guys who work very hard in the background. They have other impressive shooters too and talented guys like Moneke, if he's fit. Their point guard really gets them playing as well. He might not stand out as much in the point scoring but he brings an awful lot in every aspect of the game. It will be a tough playoff, as it always is at this stage of the competition."