Two and a half months ago, nothing predicted the explosion of Real Madrid, who have recorded 15 defeats in their 20 official games in Spain and the Euroleague! Who would have expected that the struggling queen would suddenly step on the gas and, despite the constant loss of soul material, first reach the final in Belgrade and then the triumph of the championship?

But at the same time, who felt that Barcelona, ​​riding a horse, leading the EuroLeague race and counting five wins in a row against Real, would collapse so emphatically?

It is very interesting to see that in the duel between the top two Spanish teams, the “Blancos” finally managed to decapitate Barça and, above all, the selfishness of Saronas Yassikevitsios.

The year ended very differently from what it had shown up until mid-April, and the change in sentiment was reflected on the front pages of the newspapers. First in Madrid, where Marca and As celebrated the conquest of the 36th championship by the great Real with great titles

On April 15, Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Yul, Real’s icons and oldtimers, invited their teammates to a barbecue. At Rudy’s home, in addition to the beautiful meat, Real’s counterattack was cooked on all fronts. The players got closer, the team rallied and has only lost twice since then!

One in the final in Belgrade, when Pablo Lasso blacked out and left the ball in the hands of Efes players, and another in the third final of the Liga Endesa playoffs from Barcelona. A defeat that Florentino Perez attributed with humor in the… discussions of the Catalans, leaving tips for the referee.

Rudy’s barbecue did a good job, but before that Pablo Lasso had made sure to make drastic decisions in the development of the year and had to send him home before the heart attack he suffered 20 days ago (no… quite, because the experienced coach could hardly be kept off the field and was the first to lift the championship trophy on Sunday).

So, before the 22nd title of his career came along, Lasso had made his life easier:

✒ After the game against Panathinaikos in Athens (March 31, 87-86 in favor of the “Greens”) he sent both Thomas Hertel and Trey Tombkins out of the team. He never wanted the Frenchman at Real anyway, finding a way to ‘get rid of’ him as well as the heavyweight Tombkins, who had returned from injury but was not the excellent power forward we know. The truth is that after the return of Gabriel Deck and Anthony Randolph (plus Yabuselle), although we predicted at the time that Real was going to be powerful, there was still someone left. It did happen, however, when Deck was left alone as not even Randolph could really help and his horrific injury in the third final knocked him out (with a cross) for a final KO. They say Hertel and Tombkins were caught out walking in Athens in the middle of the night, true or false, it doesn’t matter. Lasso made his move to “straighten” his team.

Ε The sacking of Hertel and the injury (in the last four) of Nigel William Goss enhanced the role of Fabian Koser, who became a key player at Real where almost everyone had written him off. Abalde was a bit behind, while adapting Adam Hanka to… a regular Guardian helped Lasso’s plans, which convinced veterans Yul and Rudy, among others, to their new role. Plenty of time on the ground and on the bench, something all great players find difficult to accept. The Madrilenians became again… a nice atmosphere, as can be seen from the epitaphs in the dressing rooms and the tweets from his players, with Sergio Yul first and foremost

Real became a fist, or rather, as Rudy said – after the final – he “withstood all the punches he ate on or off the pitch, with constant injuries. In the end, I think we’ll win this title more than ever have earned “.

Eddie Tavares broke in the final. The big center, who couldn’t even let a mosquito get past him, cut, sewed and finally took the trophy home. In the fourth final, he gave a recital with 25 points and 13 rebounds. An insurmountable obstacle for the Catalans, the telegraph player from Cape Verde was not only the scarecrow in defense, but also the mainstay of Real in attack: “With my defense I know that I can play anywhere. In order to improve the attack,” I did it but worked very hard. It’s not possible, it’s not easy…” commented the Fair MVP of the finals (13.6p-6.2p in a row)

By the way, Tavares is another of Real’s big wins against Barça five years ago. Kuzmic was injured in November 2017 and the Madrilenians were looking for a replacement. The first suggestion they made to the tall center, who played for the Raptors’ G-League affiliate, was met with a negative response.

For their part, Barcelona had doubled the player and were seriously discussing a deal with him in the summer of 2018 as they wanted to replace Ande Tomic. An agreement would have been reached if Real hadn’t come in more dynamically, forced to offer land and water as he had run out of height due to the injury and Gustavo Ayόνn.

The offer made to him in the winter of 2017 on a three-year contract at $2 million a year could not leave untouched the Tavares who erased Barcelona from his memory and became a Madrid resident…

They’ve celebrated many titles in the recent and recent past but he was certainly one of the best they’ve won at Real. The team had suffered a major shock earlier this month. On Sunday June 5th, Pablo Lasso was not feeling well and decided to go alone to the hospital, which fortunately was close to where he lived. Doctors understood the seriousness of his condition as the 55-year-old coach had suffered a heart attack and had to undergo cardiac catheterization.

The Chos Mateo staffer did his best to justify the work of the entire coaching staff and ended up dedicating the title to ‘the best Spanish and possibly European coach’. As As wrote, the era of lasso is not over yet!

You’d say he’s opening a new chapter as Real needs to be rebuilt from the ground up considering Hertel, Tobkins, Randolph, probably Goss, maybe Kozer, who’s also 35, are saying goodbye (but their Appearances in the final, revised the first thoughts), while the age of retirement is first 37-year-old Rudy Fernandez, and then 34-year-old Sergio Yul. According to reports throughout the season, Real Basconia’s Wayne Baldwin is keeping an eye out while he is said to be in advanced negotiations with Mario Hezonia.

Sarah under a lot of pressure

In Barcelona, ​​the euphoria at the beginning of the year, from the 5-0 win over Real, first place in the regular EuroLeague season, has given way to great concern. Flying into the clouds, the Catalans landed unusually and Sarah Yassikevitsius’ growing selfishness was dealt a serious blow.

The Lithuanian triumphant a year ago, when he broke Real’s dominance, reached the quarter-finals, had imposed his will on Barça’s management, who spent around 40 million to see the Blaugrana lose four in the semi-finals and win the league by one home disadvantage! Suddenly one of the cash sellers was found on sale. The 11:4 against Real faded (at the end of the season it became 12:8), but so did the figure of the Barcelona coach, who until recently remained unharmed.

Saras has lost a lot of its luster because the basketball Barça plays seems boring, even if it has brought him results so far. The voices and tension on the bench date back decades and are not always the coach’s response to the competitive crisis. Among other things, Yassikevitsios never took responsibility, it was all the fault of others, either the referees or his own players, who “didn’t show character” as they should.

He also described the season as…successful by the scale and overall progress his team has had over the months.

Before Alector yelled three times, Nikola Mirotic firmly contradicted his coach, stating that Barcelona failed because they are a team that must win all the titles. He also denied the lack of character, because as he said: “We didn’t do more than was asked of us. Certainly with mistakes because we are humans and not machines, but always according to the coach’s plan.”

A few hours later, El Mundo Deportivo revealed a rift in Nick Kalathis and Yassikevitsios’ relationship. The Greece international denied the rumors and posted fake messages on Instagram, despite the rumors in Barcelona about Barça’s agreement with Tomas Satoranski (recently photographed with Saras), but also his sideline, in several big parts of the games, which they certainly haven’t.. .excited him.

According to the Catalan newspaper, Kalathis is in Maccabi’s and Fener’s sights, but by ending his contract the team actually served to cut the budget by 10%.

However, it is the first time that Yasikevitsius has felt himself hit by the arrows of criticism, and enough. Saras is accused of messing up team chemistry at the end of the season. He brought Higgins into the rotation after his injury, but the American limited Laprovitola’s role while Kyle Kuric lost some of his confidence.

Usually irritated, the 46-year-old coach has lost much of his brilliance, knowing he must regain impressions and lost ground, but after a self-criticism, a word he seems to ignore.

Barcelona newspapers reported on the triumph of the club’s handball team, winning the 11th league in its history and basketball in second place, although Sport wrote about “disappointment with sad Barça”.

The report wants Barça to hand over the keys to Czech Tomas Satoranski, who has finally decided to return to Europe. He will be joined by his compatriot Jan Veseli, with whom the Catalans have agreed on the position of Brandon Davis, who moves to Milan and Olympia. Ready to sign for a renewed Barça (this year at Alba) is Brazilian Oscar Da Silva, who will be looking with her first coach for the ideal end to a great season in days like this. Because this year… the hole in the water was huge.