Real Madrid hides behind an undefeated Palace in Europe
The whites want to recover the path of victory after the braking of the Clásico against the dangerous UNICS
MADRID, 24 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid hosts UNICS Kazán this Tuesday (8:45 p.m.) in the match corresponding to matchday 19 of the Euroleague that was postponed due to COVID-19, a duel in which the Whites will defend the leadership they achieved on the last matchday against a Russian team that is one of the revelations of the Regular Phase and that was already able to prevail in its pavilion by 65-58.
The madridista team arrives at this match with their morale hurt after falling (75-85) in the Endesa League Clasico against Barça, a defeat that put an end to their good run so far. Pablo Laso’s men have only lost two games of their last 23 official commitments, both against Sarunas Jasikevicius’s men, and now they want to return to the path of victory, at a WiZink Center where they have not yet lost in European competition this season.
With a balance of 16-3, the Whites have chained five consecutive wins in the Euroleague which, with Barça’s puncture (16-5) on the last day, precisely against UNICS, elevate them to the leadership of the competition, with two games less that the blaugranas, immediate persecutors.
Real Madrid continues like this in its particular marathon in the months of January and February. And it is that, the white team has 10 games ahead of them and the Copa del Rey de Granada in the next 30 days, some of them highly demanding against rivals such as Monaco, Olympiacos, Zenit, Fenerbahce or Barça. And the great ally to face this intense month will be the depth of its squad.
Laso has already warned of the difficulty of Velimir Perasovic’s men, a rival that will force them to give their best physical version at a time when they already have their entire squad, although with the casualties of Gaby Deck, who was not registered on the initial date of the duel, and Fabien Causeur, who has had to stop due to medical recommendation after passing the coronavirus.
Despite their defeat on Sunday, Real Madrid have shown a great defensive level this year, another of the strengths of the Russian team, which left them with 58 points in Kazan and an average of almost 72 points per game. The ten-time European champion hopes to impose his strength on the inside with Tavares, Poirier, Yabusele, Randolph and Thompkins, rested after not playing the Clásico.
Opposite will be UNICS Kazan, one of the revelation teams of the competition. The Russians are fifth in the table (12-7), boosted by their latest win against Barça (70-64), the fifth in the last six games played.
In addition, along with the Blaugrana and Olympiacos, they are the only team that has managed to beat the Whites in the Euroleague and now they will try to put an end to the great European streak of their rival at WiZink, relying on their physical strength and players like the two Brown, Lorenzo and John, one of the best defenders in the competition, Isaiah Canaan, its best scorer, or other men like Andrey Vorontsevich and Mario Hezonja.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
REAL MADRID: Williams-Goss, Abalde, Taylor, Yabusele and Poirier –possible initial quintet– Randolph, Heurtel, Llull, Hanga, Thompkins, Alocén and Rudy Fernández.
UNICS KAZAN: L.Brown, Uzinskii, Hezonja, J.Brown and Vorontsevich –possible initial quintet–; Often, Canaan, Brantley, Zaitcev, Jekiri, Klimenko and Komolov.
–REFEREES: Boltauzer, Paternico and Vyklicky.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center.
