The hosts stayed in the game for most of the contest but folded when the chips were down.
Gulf in class obvious as Real Madrid steamrolled Bayern
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3 Lesezeit
Regular Season
Round 20 of 34
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
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Real MadridRMB
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Real Madrid made light work of its 71-92 whitewash of FC Bayern Munich in Round 20, tightening its grip on the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s top spot as the reigning champion improved its record to 18-2.
Bayern dropped to 8-12 after putting up a brave fight but the German side eventually succumbed in the home stretch, as Real came up with a 6-22 streak to race clear against the hosts, who ran out of steam against their more resourceful rival.
Los Blancos showed their quality when needed
Real was in cruise control throughout the contest, fending off every Bayern attempt at a comeback. The visitors hit a three-pointer every time they needed to, vanquishing the hopes of Bayern’s head coach Pablo Laso of pulling off an upset against his former club.
Laso conceded the outcome was never in Bayern’s hands as Real thoroughly dominated at both ends of the court. “We didn’t execute well in the crucial moments,” Laso said in a flash post-game interview. “They were better in all departments and when a team plays like that, there isn’t much you can do. They showed why they are top of the standings.”
Indeed, Real outshot Bayern, dominated the boards, had more assists and fewer turnovers, yet the hosts gave their vocal fans hope that a miracle was possible when they cut the deficit to 65-70 with 5 minutes left.
They got a rude awakening as Real galloped away into the sunset, leaving Laso and his men in a pile of dust.
Keeping their feet on the ground
Yet, Real’s head coach Chus Mateo, who succeeded Laso at the helm, once again proved he is a hard man to please as he refrained from praising his seemingly impregnable unit, having instead struck a note of caution.
“We need to keep going,” he stated. “We turned the ball over too many times tonight and allowed some easy points. We have to share the ball more and further improve the balance between our offense and defense.”
Vincent Poirier, the game’s top performer with 18 points, suggested it was business as usual for Real, having echoed Mateo’s view that there is no such thing as a perfect team. “We played a serious game for the full 40 minutes,” said the towering Frenchman.
“We controlled the rebound, we ran and we fixed whatever turnovers we committed. A pretty steady game. We keep working on our weaknesses as we try to improve in every game.”
Croatian forward Mario Hezonja offered his own realistic view, depicting Real as a team packed with top quality and well-equipped to deal with any opposition. “We have a lot of good players and we are ready for whatever may happen on the court,” he pointed out.
“Today we faced another extremely well-coached team and I am happy we got the away win. We go again on Thursday against Valencia.”