There were mixed emotions after Friday’s Play-In Showdown in the Spanish capital
Real Madrid already looking forward while Bayern rue missed chances
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The dust had barely settled on Real Madrid’s resounding 93-71 victory over FC Bayern Munich on Friday night, and already the Spanish team was starting to look ahead to its next challenge.
The outcome sees Bayern’s season end while Real advances from the play-in – despite losing to Paris Basketball on Tuesday night – to set up a potentially thrilling playoff series matchup with Olympiacos Piraeus starting next week.
And although Real coach Chus Mateo allowed himself some satisfaction at the achievement of reaching the final eight, he made it clear that he wants much more as he told EuroLeague TV: “I’m very happy because that was the goal at the beginning of the regular season.
“It’s very tough to reach this goal of the playoffs and now we are among the best eight. That is something we were looking for from the beginning of the season. I know that Olympiacos is a great opponent, but now we are going to play knowing we’ve got five more victories to be champions again.”
Bayern, meanwhile, suffered a big blow in the buildup to the game when key offensive weapon Carsen Edwards was ruled out of action with a back injury, depriving the visiting team of an All-EuroLeague First Team selection who finished second in the regular season’s scoring charts with 20.5 points per game.
Edwards had played in all 35 Bayern games prior to Friday’s encounter, and it was quickly evident how much his teammates missed the guard’s dynamic drives to the basket as the German team netted just one two-point basket in the first eight minutes.
But visiting coach Gordon Herbert did not use that as an excuse, instead reflecting on his team’s poor finish to the regular season which cost the team automatic entry to the playoffs. “It’s tough because we had 32 pretty good games and then the last two of the regular season, but it is what it is,” Herbert said. “We had a chance to finish fifth or sixth but let it slip.
“Give Madrid credit today. They came out very focused in the first seven minutes of the game, got a big lead and they never gave it up. That put us in a big hole and we never got out of it.”