Thomas Hertel: “Lasso trusted me and I betrayed him. I had an opportunity to do something good in Madrid and I lost it.”

After ending the season with Real Madrid, winning the Spanish championship and reaching the EuroLeague final, The Queen’s French guard Toma Ertel spoke to Equipe about last season, the injuries that afflicted him and the ones he suffered were not allowed to offer what he wanted, but also the team’s course in both EuroLeaa and Liga Endesa.

At the same time, he faced grief after the game against Panathinaikos in Athens, which damaged his relationship with Pablo Lasso and temporarily knocked him out of the team. Hertel admitted through his statements that he regretted it and had cheated on his coach.

His statements to Equipe in detail:

For Real Madrid this season“The team won the title in Spain and reached the EuroLeague Final Four. I’m happy for my teammates who worked hard to get here. But the last two months have been the most difficult of my career. In the final in Belgrade ” “I’m sure I could have helped, or for as many minutes as I needed. I would have loved to have had that opportunity, the Final Four was my dream. After Nigel Williams-Goss’ injury, I was expecting to play in the final “Pablo Lasso made a decision and stuck to it. I had to accept them and I gave everything in training to always be ready.”

For what happened in Athens and changed his relationship with Lasso and his role on the team: “I was in Athens the day before the game. The situation was complicated, the team was stuck in a series of defeats. It was written that I went out and came back in the morning, but that was wrong. Thinking about this story makes me sad. With a bad choice I ruined what I wanted to build with a great team like Real Madrid. If I traveled back in time I would never make the same mistake. We had a disagreement a few days later and I apologized. I paid for my mistake and I won’t do it again.

That mistake ruined my season and what I was able to achieve with Madrid. I had a role in the team, I also had ups and downs. All players want more time, more responsibility. I was content and thought of nothing else. But in the end, people kept the last picture. You will remember that fact, as well as the fact that I haven’t played for two months.

For his relationship with Pablo Lasso and his other teammates: “From my point of view, the team was always closed. They came to my house and we celebrated my son’s birthday. The atmosphere was colder afterwards and that hurt me. There was no quarrel with Lasso. We ate together, we talked. “He trusted me and I betrayed him.”