Victory in first pre-season clash

Real Madrid claimed a convincing victory in their pre-season opener against Benfica, who they beat emphatically (83-67). Chus Mateo’s men looked sharp in this first pre-season warm-up for the Endesa Super Cup, which will be played in two weeks. Ibaka was back as a Madridista almost 13 years on and he did it in style with a wonderful performance. We should also mention the contribution of Rathan-Mayes, who made his debut in our jersey, as did Andrés Feliz.

Chus Mateo put out a quintet that featured newcomers Ibaka and Rathan-Mayes. They were the stars of the first four minutes with a 9-0 run in the first half. The Portuguese sought to make a breakthrough in an attempt to make sure they did not fall behind on the scoreboard, but defensive solidity along with the three-point accuracy of Abalde, Ibaka (10 points and 11 in PIR) and Llull allowed Madrid to keep their opponents at bay (23-15).
 
Whites manage their lead
The Whites picked up the pace in the second quarter after a fine 10-5 run (31-18). Chus Mateo constantly rotated the team to balance the fatigue with the introduction of Hugo Gonzalez, Sidi and Gildas, who displayed some nice touches.  Benfica attempted to break the 10-point gap, but came up against the duo of Abalde and Rathan-Mayes. Ibaka rallied with both to steer Madrid to a 50-point half-time lead and a 12-point cushion (50-38).

The pattern of play continued to be the same after the interval. Real Madrid continued to display their dominance in all aspects of the game. They produced another solid run (8-2) and passed the 20-point mark (66-43) thanks to the contributions of Hugo González and Ndiaye.
The rotations, including Declan's introduction, continued to produce results and gave a physical boost. This allowed Madrid to sustain the pace and intensity on the court to take the score to 73-50 at the end of the third quarter.

Madrid secure first victory
The hard work we had done in the previous three quarters allowed the Madridistas to settle down against a Benfica side who were trying to close the gap. Nonetheless, it was a false hope. Real Madrid’s competitive spirit emerged and the gap remained at around 20 points to clinch the win in this clash between the reigning league champions of Spain and Portugal.