After his three straight losses in the Euroleague, he wants to surprise at the WiZink Center
Chus Mateo warns: “Valencia is a team that always tickles us with outside shots from its big players”
He Valencia Basket will visit the Real Madrid pitch this Thursday They need to surprise and achieve a victory that breaks their streak of three defeats in this Euroleague and that allows them not to drop the fight to enter the quarterfinals of the competition.
After having achieved six wins in seven games, the team from Álex Mumbrú made a place for himself among the eight best but his defeats against Olympiacos, Cazoo Baskonia and this Tuesday against Emporio Armani Milan have knocked him out of that area.
The Valencian team occupies eleventh place with thirteen wins, one less than Zalgiris, which is eighth, but the same as Anadolu Efes, which is ninth but has played two fewer games. This way, Valencia may be one or two wins away from that last place in the quarterfinals. Madrid for their part is second despite their defeat this Tuesday on their own track against Baskonia.
cut the losing streak
But, beyond the classification, the three defeats of Valencia have had a common denominator in the lack of continuity in their game. Both against Olympiacos and against Milan, she signed two bad third quarters that weighed her down on her options. On the Baskonia field, she directly completed her worst game of the season.
The Valencian team, which made defense the key, gives up its recovery between January and the end of February, He has not been able to maintain the intensity in these games at the back when he has lost the fluidity in his attacking game or the aim to finish them. Maintaining it will therefore be one of your first objectives.
The match will repeat the one that both teams staged just a couple of weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, in which Valencia knew how to force an even finish in which they had two shots from Chris Jones to win the match but they did not go in. It was the third defeat of the campaign against Madrid because they had previously lost at Fonteta in the Euroleague and on the court of Chus Mateo’s team in the ACB.
For this clash, Mumbrú maintains the casualties of Sam Van Rossom, Millán Jiménez and Kyle Alexander and the doubt of Jaime Pradilla, whose shoulder momentarily came out this Tuesday in an action in the clash against Milan. In addition, although he has been training for a couple of weeks with the team, the Icelandic point guard Martin Hermannsson has not yet made his debut, who has been injured for nine months.
Chus Mateo’s warning
Chus Mateothe Madrid coach, foresees “a demanding match. Valencia is a team that always tickles us with outside shots from its big players, something that we must take into account. They also have high-quality players on the perimeter, capable of scoring & rdquor ;, he said.
Alex Mumbrú He also fears that Madrid will arrive injured after their last defeat: “Madrid lost on Tuesday against Baskonia and I’m sure they want to find victory again”, highlighted the technician in statements to the media. “Besides In the Cup they beat us at the last second and I’m sure they are with the lesson learned“, he added.
“They are a great team, with a very long squad and I’m sure they’ll make three or four changes to it to be fresh. We know there are things we have to do well in attack and defense,” recalled Mumbrú, who pointed out that it’s not It was the same to face Madrid in a neutral setting such as the Copa del Rey “at home”.
The coach said they must recover from the great “wear and tear” caused by their comeback attempt on Tuesday against Emporio Armani Milan. “We know it will be complicated,” he assumed.