Chus Mateo: “The players gave a lesson in self-belief and endeavour'
“Sometimes sport cannot be explained logically and the heart drives you to do the impossible,' added the coach following the win over Partizan.
Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo spoke following the team's win over Partizan in Game 5 of the playoff to seal their place in the EuroLeague Final Four. The coach assessed the performance: 'Sometimes sport cannot be explained logically and the heart drives you to do the impossible. Today we managed to turn around a game in which we were really up against it. We have come back from 0-2 down when lots of people had already written us off, there weren't many more nails left to go in the coffin.'
'We knew we had to take this opportunity, we had a lot of injuries and the numbers were against us but the players have given us another lesson, in self-belief and endeavour. We should be incredibly proud of this team. I'm more than proud of them. The victory today underlines the good work we've done all year to clinch home-court advantage. We have written a very small part into this club's history books.'
'We knew we had to take this opportunity, we had a lot of injuries and the numbers were against us but the players have given us another lesson, in self-belief and endeavour. We should be incredibly proud of this team. I'm more than proud of them. The victory today underlines the good work we've done all year to clinch home-court advantage. We have written a very small part into this club's history books.'
Series
“It's been very tough. We started out with some very bad luck in the opening game then we never got to grips with the second, we were too anxious about going to Belgrade 0-2 down. Then in Belgrade we gave a lesson in maturity, of how to play a good game. We didn't start well today but we had incredible faith, real pride and we have seen the heart that this team has.'
Defense
“We managed to make things less comfortable for them. We had some problems with the fouls and on the inside and that helped us to protect each other. It was a nice surprise to be able to put all of this into play because the players do such a great job. If it weren't for them, none of this would be possible.'
“It's been very tough. We started out with some very bad luck in the opening game then we never got to grips with the second, we were too anxious about going to Belgrade 0-2 down. Then in Belgrade we gave a lesson in maturity, of how to play a good game. We didn't start well today but we had incredible faith, real pride and we have seen the heart that this team has.'
Defense
“We managed to make things less comfortable for them. We had some problems with the fouls and on the inside and that helped us to protect each other. It was a nice surprise to be able to put all of this into play because the players do such a great job. If it weren't for them, none of this would be possible.'