The Spaniard had an impressive performance in Real Madrid's 90-86 win over Panathinaikos
Alberto Abalde back in the bigtime with decisive contribution
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Regular Season
Round 4 of 34
Group Regular Season
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The rematch of last season’s championship game between deposed champion Real Madrid and new titleholder Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens was always going to provide a compelling storyline, and in the end a key protagonist was a man who did not even play in Berlin last May.
Real forward Alberto Abalde has suffered a tough few years with injury problems. After joining Los Blancos from Valencia Basket as one of Spanish basketball’s brightest young talents in 2020, Abalde initially showed signs of fulfilling his promise as he made 39 EuroLeague appearances in his first season, starting 23 of those.
His numbers in that 2020-21 campaign were more than solid: he averaged 7.2 points on 43.5% three-point shooting, along with 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists for a PIR of 8.3 in more than 19 minutes on the floor – not bad at all for a young player in his first season in the pressure-cooker environment of Real Madrid.
But the following campaign started with Abalde missing the Spanish Super Cup through injury, which proved to be the first in a long line of physical issues that seriously set back the forward’s progress. His contribution across all areas gradually dipped, and by the time of May’s Final Four he had become little more than an occasionally used role player.
Abalde played in only one of Real’s three-game playoff series with Baskonia, had just 11 seconds on the floor in the semifinal against Olympiacos, and was the only member of the 12-man roster not to play at all in the title decider against Panathinaikos.
His latest setback came in the summer when Abalde was forced to miss the Paris Olympics through another injury and he was clearly still searching for his best form at the start of the new campaign – averaging just 3.0 points during the opening three EuroLeague games.
But he retained the trust of coach Chus Mateo to start in Thursday’s crunch clash with the Greens and quickly repaid that confidence – and boosted his own – by draining a three-pointer to complete an 8-0 start for his team.
Abalde returned to make his biggest contribution during a key phase in the middle of the third quarter, as a pair of triples book-ended a personal run of 10 points in 4 minutes, helping turn a tight 50-48 scoreline into a game-high 66-49 margin, which set Real on its way to take the victory.
He finished with 13 points – the first time he had mustered double digits in the EuroLeague since December 2022, in a game far better remembered for Mike James making a miraculous four-point play near the final buzzer to give AS Monaco a dramatic road win.
But more than his scoring, Abalde’s most telling statistic on Thursday came in the plus/minus column, where his stellar defensive work was reflected in his tally of +19 – the joint-best in the game alongside another unsung hero, Eli Ndiaye.
And his coach was very appreciative, as Mateo noted in the post-game press conference: “I cannot be here without mentioning a player who defended the way Abalde did. He gave us huge energy. There was a moment when the substitution had already been asked for but he hit a three-pointer so we let him keep on fighting and fighting. He’s a warrior and he’s always there.”
Unfortunately, injuries have meant that in the last few years Abalde has not, in fact, always been there. But he showed on Thursday night that if he can stay fit, he is a force to be reckoned with.