It was time for another EuroLeague match. This time, I had an assignment for school: writing a match report from the visitors’ perspective.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano started another two-round EuroLeague week with a loss against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital. Peppe Poeta’s team couldn’t find an answer to Real Madrid’s strengths, losing 106–77. Olimpia is now twelfth in the league table, with eleven wins in 23 matches.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano travelled to Madrid with confidence, having won four of their last five matches in all competitions and beating Derthona last weekend (78–87). However, Olimpia was also looking to bounce back from a home defeat in the EuroLeague against Crvena Zvezda, facing a strong Real Madrid side that held a 10–1 home record prior to tonight. The visitors had to play without Leandro Bolmaro, who stayed behind in Milan for precautionary reasons.
Real Madrid leading at the break
After a touching minute of silence for the victims of the train accident in Spain, Olimpia quickly realised that Real Madrid were determined not to lose their home record against the Italians. EA7 Emporio Armani Milano had no answer to the attacks of Sergio Scariolo’s men and went into the first break trailing by seven points. Olimpia tried to find solutions in the second quarter but were unable to stop Real Madrid from increasing their lead. They struggled in particular against Trey Lyles, who scored eleven points in the second quarter alone.
On the other side of the court, Peppe Poeta’s team found it difficult to score against a defensively strong side that had held Barcelona to just 61 points over the weekend. As a result, Real Madrid held a 54–36 lead at the break. Armoni Brooks was the visitors’ best player in the first twenty minutes, scoring seven points with one three-pointer and two two-pointers
Olimpia tries to fight back
The third quarter swung back and forth, with Olimpia searching for a way back into the game. They found more offensive rhythm, highlighted by a three-pointer from Shavon Shields, but were unable to stop the home side from scoring at the other end. Real Madrid entered the final quarter holding a comfortable 23-point lead.
Real Madrid encountered no further problems in the final ten minutes and handed Olimpia their second consecutive EuroLeague defeat, winning 106–77. The visitors struggled offensively for large parts of the game, although Marko Gudurić showed his quality in the fourth quarter, finishing with a total of fifteen points. Defensively, the Italians were unable to contain Trey Lyles, who caused constant problems and finished with seventeen points.
Back at home
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano will have to make the most of their home advantage in the upcoming EuroLeague games, with four of their next five matches to be played in Milan. Starting this Thursday, Olimpia aim to respond to this defeat with a matchup against BC Žalgiris Kaunas in Milan, followed by games against KK Partizan, Saski Baskonia, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (away), and Dubai.
Press Conference
Olimpia’s head coach Peppe Poeta wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance. “First of all, congratulations to Real Madrid, the team in the best shape in the EuroLeague. Honestly, we probably had our worst game so far. We gave them too much confidence at the start and then became flat. We were coming off four wins in the last five games, and I didn’t expect this kind of match.”
The Italian doesn’t want tothink about this game for too long. “We have to focus on Thursday, which is a really important game against BC Žalgiris Kaunas.”
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