It marked the second season in a row in which Milan topped Real at home
Milan moving on up with two straight wins
A week can be a long time in sports and, just seven days after facing a must-win derby in a state of crisis with confidence on the floor after a bad run of results, life is suddenly looking a whole lot rosier for EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.
Having ignited its season with a vital victory over Italian rival Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 7, Thursday night saw Milan grab a second consecutive win and improve to 3-5 by overpowering Real Madrid 85-76 at the Unipol Forum.
It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t always pretty, with both teams struggling to find offensive fluidity and regularly suffering long periods of play without scoring. Milan, for example, managed just one field goal in the opening 5 minutes of the game and could only score free throws in the first 6 minutes of the second half.
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But the hosts stuck to their gameplan and persistence paid off, with the team led by Ettore Messina – now back on the bench after missing last week’s double slate of games through illness – ultimately having more than enough to overcome the Spanish side. And it was a valuable victory, leaving Milan looking upwards rather than worrying about climbing away from the foot of the standings.
The chief inspiration was a EuroLeague rookie, Neno Dimitrijevic, who had been up and down in the opening weeks of the season but shone on this occasion with 22 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
The North Macedonian guard, however, was more interested in emphasizing his team’s efforts at the other end of the court, saying: “We are a new team so it will take some time, but this a very important for win for us against a team like Madrid. We held them to 76 points and with all the offensive weapons they have, I think we did an amazing job.”
Milan’s success in downing Real was even more impressive for the fact that it was achieved amid significant injury problems, including backcourt leader Shavon Shields and rebounding ace Josh Nebo.
But with new signing Nico Mannion delivering 11 points and 5 assists on his first appearance for the team after taking part in just two practices, all the signs suggest the Italian team is ready to keep on climbing towards the playoffs places in the next few weeks.
Certainly, with the next challenge for Milan being a trip to face rock-bottom ALBA Berlin at the start of the latest double-round week, there will be plenty of confidence of making it three wins in a row and getting right back in the thick of the playoffs race.
Coach Messina was glowing in his assessment of Thursday’s triumph, capturing the new-found mood of positivity as he beamed: “The whole team played well. Everybody who stepped on the court helped us and we’re all very happy because we beat Real Madrid, one of the toughest teams in the EuroLeague.
“We have to earn everything every day, but today is a day of light so we’re happy and we move forward.”