He Real Madrid has embraced irregularity this campaign. After a terrible start, the whites recovered with four consecutive victories but, against Olympiacos in Athens, they returned to their old ways. After a very even first half, Hezonja y Campazzo They propelled the visitors to a nine-point lead. However, in an inappropriate error, they began to concede rebounds and the Hellenes, led by McKissic y Walkupthey took advantage of the opportunity to reverse the situation and achieve an unexpected victory. Madrid, after a month of competition, still doesn’t know what it’s like to win away from home.
There are few antidotes to Tavares in Europe, but perhaps it is Moustapha Fall one of those that bothers the African beast the most. That’s why Mateo jumped to Piraeus with Ibaka as a starter, weak at the start of the season but much more lethal from long distance than his teammate. And the Congolese responded forcefully, with two consecutive hits from the triple. Points very well received, since Olympiacos, with only two victories in five continental duels, had marked the confrontation against Madrid in red, aware that a victory against the king could change their bad dynamics.
Problems did not take long to arise after Campazzo added his second personal foul. With the Argentine on the bench, the whites diluted their attack and the Greeks did not hesitate to pounce on them. Although the Hellenes were not at all fine, committed to attacking an erratic Fournier and not very skilled at stopping rival counterattacks. They forgave when they shouldn’t have and Madrid began to grow, partly thanks to Llullvery aggressive and serious from the base position.
Abalde and I’m going They scored from the triple, Tavares canceled Milutinov and the visiting defense left one of the most volcanic stadiums in Europe cold. However, the advantage was slim and Madrid was far from excellence, it was too conformist. That is why a triple Peters and a good hook from Fall tied the score. By surprise, Olympiacos had fully returned to the game. Two free throws McKissic They allowed the Greeks to be two points ahead at halftime. The whites had to react.
After the restart, Musa scored four points and Campazzo He gave Deck one of the assists of the season, from behind and from a ridiculous distance. The Greek reaction was top notch, with triples of Walkup and Fournier. Neither side had enough consistency to build a good advantage and it would be the small details that would decide the final result. A subject in which Madrid has no parallel.
Was Hezonja the most skillful of Mateo’s pupils, the Croatian specialist in causing damage with his virtuosity. A triple and a dunk from the Balkan player raised the white lead to nine points while Bartzokassoaked in sweat, despaired at the apathy of his players. They were saved by the visitors’ lack of strength in defensive rebounding and the Greeks had up to three consecutive chances to score. Incomprehensible failure that resulted in Madrid wasting its juicy advantage before the last period.
Olympiacos was grown, great in defense, supported by its fervent stands and by the genius of McKissic. Madrid’s legs were shaking and only a sporadic triple allowed them to stay in the slipstream, but their game was not fluid, too simple and not very determined. The giant Fall distributed the ball like a point guard and a triple Embroidery confirmed the poor performance of the whites and their return to the path of defeat.
