He played a key role as Real Madrid downed EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 88-71 at WiZink Center on Thursday night.
Ageless Llull turned back the clock to defeat Milan
We’ve seen it so many times before and on Thursday night we saw it all over again, as Sergio Llull turned on the style to keep Real Madrid perfect with an impressive 88-71 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 4 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.
If you’ve been watching the EuroLeague for any period of time, you already know exactly how one of his main contributions to the action went down. Yep, that old classic. The final seconds of the first half, Real with possession, give the ball to Llull, dribble, stepback, high-arching shot as the buzzer sounds and bingo, the mandarina, executed to perfection once again.
And on this occasion Llull's speciality was also a key momentum changer, taking the air out of a Milan team which had played well to lead for most of the first half, including a 30-39 advantage 3 minutes before the interval. Suddenly, the visitors found the game tied at 42-42 following the latest intervention from Llull.
Llull later took over in the fourth
And the veteran playmaker was by no means finished. After sitting on the bench during the third quarter to watch teammate Facu Campazzo classily advance towards a double-double, Llull decided that the opening moments of the fourth quarter was his time to take over.
He started the quarter with a driving layup, then added his fourth three-pointer of the night before draining his fifth not long after, completing a personal 8-0 run in 90 seconds to take his team’s lead from a slender 67-61 to a commanding 75-61, ensuring there would be no Milan comeback.
A EuroLeague legend
Llull, of course, has nothing to prove. A veteran of 378 EuroLeague appearances over 17 seasons, his place in European basketball’s history books is already assured – particularly after his heroic title-winning basket in last season’s EuroLeague Championship Game against Olympiacos.
But the 35-year-old remains a ferocious competitor who is hungry for more. And by downing Milan with 19 points in 21 minutes on Thursday, he showed that he is also still capable of delivering much more.
He’s also enjoying it. “It’s fun when you play like this, running fastbreaks and shooting threes,” he told EuroLeague TV after the game. "The crowd comes to enjoy the game and we won, so we’re happy.”
After a performance like that, so he should be.