Madrid repeated the feat in Belgrade and will play it at home (78-85)

He Real Madrid completed his feat and also won the Belgrade the second match of the quarter-finals Euroleague who faces him partisan (78-85), so they return the home field factor and advance to the Final four, playing in front of their fans next Wednesday.

In the moments before, all the sports tension was in the background, camouflaged by mourning and tributes from the stands and teams to the victims of the shooting in the Belgrade school that shocked Serbia. Then he asked for basketball, with the white team ready for the first shot. In one of the corners he found an orchard, ideal for raising triplets. Two Hanga and one Musa, all comfortable and from the same place, for the presentation from 7-17.

The staging of the madridistas and the subsequent seriousness, a good selection of shots to successfully end many of their attacks, blocked the possible ignition of the Serbian team during the first quarter and ended it with twelve juicy points.

But there was still a lot to row, and the host made him return it to the floor. The power of Lessorto, who returned from a one-game suspension for a brawl in Madrid, and Leday, who moved the defense with dancing steps and currently punished with surprising solvency in shooting from two (7 of 8 at the break), showed a way out of the maze.

A run in the opening stretch, which included two 3-pointers by Papapetrou, brought them to just two points when, in addition, Randolph, a resource in the game for the visitors, made a third of his own. Mateo called a timeout, patched up the tears, and his team weathered the storm until halftime.

After passing through the dressing rooms, the Madrid players were awaited by unpleasant news. Fans began to be noticed who, in the first half, gave up chanting in memory of those who died in the tragedy. It was a highlight during several bars where the hoops seemed to shrink, so much so that in three minutes they only scored 4 points between the two competitors. Not enough in the case of the home team to pass.

Local advantage and deck injury

However, it would eventually happen. A 6-0 run, with four points from Leday, gave them their first lead of the game midway through the third act. The new reality woke up Tavares, a nightmare in the last match, who scored 7 points, a steal and an assist in a series that brought his team together again. All that, as well as the triple from Deck, allowed the Spanish team to breathe before the last ten minutes.

The lead could have been short because the Belgraders voluntarily went into the last quarter, but Sergi Rodríguez’s three-pointer extinguished the first fire and instilled confidence in his teammates.

Everything got complicated again. First Leday’s wrist, to bring those in black closer, and Deck’s knee injury drew an uncertain horizon. Despite this, the whites did not break, which added extra intensity in the battle for the rebound that allowed them to meet the last seconds with 5 lease points. They were enough to win.

In this way, the tie will face the last episode in Madrid. There, Partizán will travel with Punter, their big star, at his disposal after serving his sentence for the incidents of the second clash. It smells like an epic battle.