Narrow defeat in Milan

Real Madrid were unable to get a win on the home court of EA7 Emporio Armani in the 26th round of the Euroleague. Chus Mateo's team had to swim against the tide from the second quarter onwards, when the home side built up a 21-point lead. Even so, our team gave everything to get back into the game and they did so in the last quarter, but their effort was not rewarded with a comeback. The best news was the return of Tavares and Llull after eight games. On Sunday, the last test in Lugo before the Copa del Rey (12:30pm CET).

With Tavares in the starting five, Real Madrid entered the game aggressively and with a high tempo in attack. In less than three minutes all five players had scored their first points and the leader was already leading by 7 points. After a time-out forced by Messina, Milan raised their level at the back, took advantage of the offensive rebound and with the contribution of Shields and Mirotic (20 points between them) managed to take the lead in the final stretch of a first quarter in which Llull also reappeared (23-19).

Madrid stalls
Despite a good start, Madrid's good scoring start was not sustained and they remained with 19 points for more than six minutes. They found shooting situations but were unable to convert them into baskets. By then, their opponents were playing on the edge in defence, with a lot of contact in the zone that unsettled Tavares and Poirier, and with great success from three-point range. That allowed them to open up a gap on the scoreboard and clearly dominate the second quarter (48-29, min.20).

Madrid came out with a different attitude in offence after the restart. They regained their offensive fluency and brought more pace to their play. Outside shooting also started to become more frequent. Campazzo, Hezonja and Deck put up points to bring us within 12 at the midway point of the third quarter. But it was difficult to find consistency at the back because Milan continued to be very effective in attack, now with McGruder, and that penalised us too much. Messina's team reached a +19 lead again. However, the leader did not give up and with a good effort and a good few minutes from Sergio Rodríguez at the helm, they added a 2-9 run that left the scoreboard at 66-54 after 30 minutes. 

In with a chance until the end
The game was open. The leader had grown in confidence thanks to an improvement in defensive intensity, which began to really bother an increasingly rigid home side. A technical foul against Chus Mateo and a Mirotic three-pointer did not dampen Madrid's morale. What's more, it served to light the fuse for our team. Sergio Rodríguez took over the reins. A steal and two consecutive three-pointers put us right back in the fight for victory. Madrid had got their second wind. Yabusele and Llull made it 71-69 at the 37' mark. Milan withstood the onslaught as best they could to go 6 up in the last two minutes. It was a tug of war. Chus Mateo's men wanted the comeback and they looked for it at all costs. Musa brought us within three points and we had three possessions to equalise, but we lacked accuracy and the Italians took the win 81-76.

EMPORIO ARMANI MILÁN-REAL MADRID STATISTICS