It was like he had never left. Pablo Laso was quick-pacing the sidelines, barking out mistakes, applauding the action loudly, arguing with referees, and letting fly an expletive or two.
Only this time, he paced in front of FC Bayern Munich's bench. The other one, belonging to Real Madrid, was just a few meters away.
As fate would have it, the team he had served for 11 years was Laso's first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague opponent in 15 months, since he and Real came within a whisker of winning the 2022 championship game.
Now, in a small village gym in Spain, Laso was coaching up a storm, just like he always did for the team on the other side of the scorer's table.
"It's funny because when I signed with Bayern and spoke to the sports director, he said, 'Pablo, we're playing in the south of Spain, we have the chance to play a tournament. We'll play in Malaga, and we're playing Real Madrid.' And I said, 'So?' I think he was even more worried to tell me, like 'Maybe you don't want to play Real Madrid.' And I said 'No, preseason is preseason.'
"Pablo Laso's first time playing against Real Madrid? Great story for Real Madrid, great story for Pablo Laso. We've been together for 11 years, so great. But when the game starts, I think everyone is doing his job."