Los Blancos had gone 0-5 on the road prior to Round 12
Real Madrid changed its fortunes and piled pressure on Barcelona with Clásico win
Article
3 Mins read
Sometimes, seeing is believing. It was unfathomable that a team of Real Madrid's caliber, with all of the stars it has on the team, could lose five straight Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games away from WiZink Center. Yet, that is pricesely what happened. On Thursday night, Real Madrid managed to change its fortunes – and at the one place it wants to win most.
Any sports fan knows about the significance of El Clásico. For fans of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, this game means everything. And heading into Round 12's Rivalry Series clash, on the eve of Barcelona's 125th anniversary, both teams were in desperate need of a win. Barcelona had lost two straight games and given up 100+ points in each, something it had never done before in the EuroLeague, while Los Blancos – as mentioned – were masquerading as Jekyll and Hyde: a pretty dominant team at home and one that was incapable of winning on their travels.
Since 2019, Barcelona had enjoyed a 7-3 record against its archrival in regular-season games, but Real Madrid had twice come out on top at the Final Four in that time (2022, 2023). In fact, you have to go all the way back to February 23, 2018, to find the last time that Barcelona lost at Palau Blaugrana to Los Blancos. Even if the form guide made the 37th edition of El Clásico this century incredibly hard to call, the Azulgrana's 38-34 halftime lead – and the dominant play of Jan Vesely, who had 12 first-half points – made it look like the hosts' impressive home run in this fixture would continue.
After the interval, Mario Hezonja – a former Barcelona player who reportedly came close to rejoining the team this past summer before opting to renew with Real Madrid instead – erupted for 15 third-quarter points to give the visitors a 52-54 lead entering the fourth. Then, Facundo Campazzo and Walter Tavares displayed their quality in the final quarter of regulation and both of the extra sessions as Los Blancos secured a 90-97 double-overtime victory.
"This is the Clásico. We gave everything, we defended," Tavares told EuroLeague TV. "We knew it was going to be hard, but we've got to fight. This year, we've got to sweat blood to win every game."
It would not be a surprise to see Real Madrid use this win over Barcelona as a springboard to surge up the standings, with the team now 6-6 and in the play-in spots, but the competition in the EuroLeague means that is not an easy task, as coach Chus Mateo admits.
"We never surrendered," Coach Mateo stated. "We were always there fighting, rebounding. Probably we are going to win more games on the road and we are going to lose some games at home. This is so tough. The EuroLeague is so tough. We need to keep fighting and believe until the end. Believe during the regular season and don't give up."
Tavares spoke of sweating blood, Coach Mateo wants his team to fight… Real Madrid showed that it is ready to display both of those qualities, having changed its fortunes and piled more pressure on Barcelona with a famous Clásico win.