Real Madrid lost their first game in a month and ended their best streak of wins so far this season (8). Chus Mateo's men had chances to win a very demanding game in standard time but Monaco forced extra time and ended up taking the victory in a photo finish. Tavares, with 17 points and 18 rebounds (a personal best) and 28 index rating points, and Musa, with 24 and 26, were Madrid’s standout performers. Yabusele returned after a month out through injury. Causeur overtook Bullock as the fourth foreigner with the most Real Madrid appearances (364).
The start was a good indication of how difficult the match would be. The opening minutes belonged to Monaco, who punished us in one-on-one situations with Mike James and Lloyd (13-15, 7th minute). But Madrid was able to adjust their defence quickly and the introduction of Llull gave them more rhythm in the game. Between the captain (5 points), Musa (5), Tavares (4 and 5 rebounds) and Abalde (9 points as a starter for Deck, who was eventually sidelined due to muscular problems), they countered Monaco’s scoring and achieved a 10-2 lead at the close of the opening act with a 6 point advantage (23-17).
Rollercoaster
With the amount of quality on the court for both sides, the game could have gone either way. Madrid played nine almost perfect minutes in the second quarter, where they dominated the rebounds, made no concessions and shared the ball well. Sergio Rodríguez assisted to become the second best player in that facet in Euroleague history, exceeding Spanoulis (1,608), while Poirier took over from Tavares in the danger zone (8 points in 4 minutes). Chus Mateo's team built up a 10-point lead, which could have been even greater had they capitalised on a couple of open shots. However, at 45-35, James popped up again and with two three-pointers led the visitors' reaction to level the game at 48 no sooner had the second half started.
Video.94-95 Extra time defeat against Monaco
Monaco increased their intensity and toughness to take the game to more of a one-on-one dynamic. Their individual efforts and some Madrid lapses in defensive rebounds and turnovers allowed their opponents to win the third quarter by six points and go into the final quarter with a three-point lead (62-65, 30th minute). Madrid had to change the situation and they had to do it with their hallmarks, which meant calling on team work. They managed to close down their opponents’ rebounding with an immense Tavares, kept James at bay and in attack one player after another stepped up for the cause. Yabusele appeared at a very important point in the game with seven points. Musa and the Cape Verdean joined him to go in front by 8 points with just four minutes left on the clock.
Crazy last few minutes
Monaco held on with options thanks to Lloyd but Madrid seemed to have the game under control at 88-84 with just 14 seconds left. However, it was not to be. Mike James worked a miracle for his team with a 3+1 to force overtime. Equality then reigned during extra time but the visitors were more accurate and Madrid could not take advantage of their chances to win it (94-95, 40th minute) Llull matched Felipe Reyes as the fifth player with the most Euroleague games (357) and also overtook Printezis as the fourth-highest scorer in history (3,599 points).
STATISTICS REAL MADRID-MÓNACO
