Chus Mateo: “Hopefully we can secure a place in the top four as soon as possible”

Chus Mateo and Yabusele spoke ahead of the Virtus Bologna-Real Madrid clash, in round 30 of the EuroLeague (Friday, 7pm CET). The coach had the following to say on the game against the Italians: "Reaching the target of being in the top eight with five games to go is nice, but we have to keep improving. We're focused on the game that lies ahead of us. We have home-court advantage. The important thing is to finish in the top four by the last matchday".

"We’ve never had a better crossing before. In the EuroLeague you can't write off any opponents, but even more so this year. The level of the competition doesn't allow you to be complacent. We have to be sharp to do a good job in the remaining games of the regular season".

Squad
"13 players are travelling to Bologna. Llull and Williams-Goss are still out".

Opposition
"Virtus Bologna work hard and they're capable of stopping your scoring. It's not an easy court and they have great players. Hopefully we can secure a place in the top four as soon as possible".

"We've been turning over more balls than we should and that's creating insecurity. We're distributing the ball well, but we're not scoring consistently from distance. We need to choose our shots well and find a good defensive balance. We need to be a bit more consistent in order to approach the important games, to be solid and to understand how we want to play. We're doing a good job. But we need to be more solid and consistent”.

Yabusele: “It’ll be a tough game”
"Now that we've qualified for the playoffs, we can set our next goal: to finish in the top four in the standings to gain home-court advantage in the play-offs. Against Bologna we have a chance to get closer to this next goal".

“I expect a very tough game in a great arena and in front of a great crowd. Virtus defeated us in Madrid and showed what they can do and we have to be ready to play for forty minutes with full intensity and concentration. We're highly motivated, we're doing well and, even if we have some ups and downs, what's most important is that we're together as a team. I think that's the formula to perform well in Bologna”.