The history of Real Madrid’s eleventh European Cup could not be written in any other way than in an epic way. The one that the white team exhibited to defeat Olympiacos in the Greek Kaunas by one point in a heart-stopping finish in which Sloukas missed the last shot. The Madrid team resisted an exuberant Vezenkov (29 points and nine rebounds) to touch the sky and crown themselves in Europe with a hit from Llull, his only basket of the night, with three seconds remaining. Glory to Madrid, to Tavares (MVP of the Final Four), to the old rockers and to Chus Mateo, exalted in his first year as head coach at the White House.
It was a museum final. At first, a rarity. Tavares had someone to look him in the eye. Moustapha Fall, 2.18m, before his 2.20m. Tower against tower. Although the game began to shake on the outside: the first four attempts were three, with a beard bingo. They repeated the Canaan and Papanikolaou dish, but Madrid already tried to break stone inside. For once Tavares was running into another mountain, and Fall paid the toll with two early fouls. Vezenkov demanded the junior Ndiaye and Canaan was still connected to the triple to open a gap (19-10). Chus Mateo made use of the ingenuity of Sergio Rodríguez and the claw of Rudy, and Bartzokas of the feverish Sloukas. Bolomboy, Fall’s replacement, followed his same path: two fouls and the bank. It is what it means to run into Tavares. The colossus did not rest for a second in a duel without a white flag (24-17 to close the first quarter).
Madrid had gained clairvoyance with Chacho at the wheel and a successful Hezonja of four striking from the perimeter. In defence, the area began to pay off and the Whites recovered from a 12-point deficit to take command with a 5-19 run, from 24-12 to 29-31. At Olympiacos there was no truce for Vezenkov either, the man for everything, a gunner from any corner who barely lost 25 seconds in the entire first half. The players in red tried to make the most of Tavares’ break (minute 15, by Randolph) but Madrid kept their heads high with that rearguard of many assists and the three-pointers from their two inside men and Musa. The 45-45 halftime was the best description of a match played from power to power, very fast in each basket. Nobody had saved a gram of basketball in a magnificent final.
The return of the Tavares-Fall duel was silenced by Musa from a distance. Also Canaan from one edge of the perimeter, with the wrist as hot as at the start of the evening (five triples of six). And of course, the omnipresent Vezenkov, capable of fabricating a foul in his favor where there was barely a slight contact (57-52). The Bulgarian accelerated on each tile, hoarding the ball. The Zalgirio Arena was a roaring cauldron cheering on Olympiacos. In the stands there was no color. Madrid was clearly moving into enemy territory.
Sergio Rodríguez’s wand broke a scoring drought of three and a half minutes in Chus Mateo’s team. Williams-Goss finished a billiard play from a distance, from pass to pass, and a counterattack from Hanga restored the balance of power. Neither team was capable of hitting the table. Tension and nerves were skyrocketing. A hit by Sloukas and a missed three-pointer by Rudy after a carom on the rim sent Olympiacos one finger ahead (63-59) with the final quarter remaining. The Euroleague marathon was decided in a chapter worthy of a Hitchcock movie.
The Madrid bench paid with a technique their protest for a slap to Tavares, the sack of all blows. The Madrid pillar displayed nerves of steel to forget about the underground game and focus on the Olympiacos board. It was time to attack with everything. The imperial Vezenkov thanked Sloukas for the assistance to serve a tray and then signed a couple of distant hits. McKissic had legs to punish the whites with his penetrations and the Spanish team resisted with the aim of Causeur (74-70).
Madrid clung to those final moments of Sergio Rodríguez’s magic to score and feed the connection with Tavares. The canary caused an earthquake with his three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining (78-77), Fall clouded under the rim and Llull stretched the delirium with a basket with 3.2 seconds remaining. He had not scored until then in the entire duel. Sloukas missed the last shot, the one that decides glory. With his eternal epic on his back, Madrid was European champion.
OLYMPIACOS, 78; REAL MADRID, 79
Olympiakos: Walkup (0), Canaan (21), Papanikolaou (6), Vezenkov (29) and Fall (0) —the starting quintet—; Larentzakis (0), Sloukas (6), Bolomboy (2), Black (0) and Mckissic (14).
Real Madrid: Williams-Goss (9), Hanga (2), Musa (6), Ndiaye (3) and Tavares (13)—the starting quintet—; Causeur (11), Randolph (3), Rudy Fernandez (3), Hezonja (12), Sergio Rodriguez (15) and Llull (2).
Partial: 24-17, 21-28, 18-14 y 15-20.
Referees: Sasa Pukl, Gytis Vilius and Mehdi Difallah. Sin expulsions.
Zalgirio Arena. About 13,000 spectators. Barcelona fell in the duel for third place against Monaco 78-66.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
