A formidable Madrid overcome Partizan in their Euroleague home opener

Real Madrid opened their Euroleague winning streak with a victory over Partizan Belgrade in the return leg of the top European competition at the WiZink Center. It was a very offensive game in the first half (50-47), which our side won with a great last quarter, especially in defence and in the first five minutes, where they achieved a spectacular 15-0 run. Campazzo, masterful in leadership (11 assists and 22 PIR) and Ibaka (15 points, 7 rebounds -five offensive- and 20 PIR), led our team in another scoreline with six players reaching double digits: Rathan-Mayes, with 4/4 in three-pointers (12), Musa (12), Deck (10), Ndiaye (10) and Hezonja (10).

The game started quickly, with few interruptions, and was played at a very high tempo. Madrid had to cope with a 6/10 three-pointer deficit from Partizan in the first quarter. They did so thanks to their superiority in the paint with Tavares and points from Hezonja and Ndiaye. The former scored 8 in 9 minutes and the latter, 6. They controlled the rebounding with 11 rebounds but were guilty of 4 turnovers, well exploited by the Serbians, especially in the first few minutes with Lundberg and the former youth player Nakic (24-24, min. 10).

Madrid grew from defence
The Whites' start to the second quarter was spectacular. Five minutes in which they combined a more aggressive defence in the passing lanes, with Rathan-Mayes and Abalde stifling their outside players, and an electric attack led by a masterful Campazzo. The point guard added one assist after another (8), feeding balls to Deck (7 points) and a distinctive Ibaka in the zone (11 points and 4 rebounds). Rathan-Mayes also provided support, showing his quality in front of the rim (6). That team strength (Feliz retired injured) led Madrid to lead by as many as 7 points on several occasions in this period, but a Partizan surge in the final stretch of the first half, led by the muscle of their centre Jones, left the score at 50-47 at the break.

The half-time break seemed to cool the game down a little. There was less fluidity in the offensive play but Madrid came in better and thanks to a great job on the defensive rebound and a Campazzo who continued to generate play, we reached an 8 point lead at 57-49 in the 23rd minute. However, Partizan quickly found the answer in Marinkovic and Brown to restore parity. It was again the Argentinian point guard, with a triple and a marvellous assist from behind to Deck, who kept the lead in the third quarter (68-64).

On the road to victory
Madrid broke the game open in five minutes, the first five minutes of the final quarter. They upped their defensive level and left Partizan scoreless. In attack, Rathan-Mayes joined in, with the third and fourth three-pointers without a miss, Llull, Musa and Ndiaye (all finished with 10 points or more). Another triple from the Bosnian made it 83-66, culminating in a 15-0 run. Obradovic's team tried to get back on track, this time with the emergence of Carlik Jones, only for them to come up against Ibaka, who played the whole period due to Tavares' fourth foul, and his offensive rebounds (5), and Campazzo. Madrid's two best players of the day sealed a clear victory in front of our fans, who packed the WiZink Center (93-86, min. 40).

REAL MADRID-PARTIZAN BELGRADE STATISTICS