Victory against Real Madrid in the EuroLeague (89-76) in another atmosphere to remember

Valencia Basket thrilled the 14,922 spectators, the best attendance to date at the Roig Arena, with a hard-fought 89-76 victory against Real Madrid in the EuroLeague.They successfully defended their lead, steadily building it point by point from the end of the first quarter, thwarting all of their opponent's attempts to get back into the game.

Post-game quotes: Pedro Martínez

Last week we played on a very beautiful court, in Kaunas, which really impressed us — especially the new players. We had been told about the great atmosphere there, and it truly was; it gave the team a lot of energy. You don’t see it as much on TV, but it was fantastic — a very intense yet fair environment. I think today we were at the same level as what we experienced last week as visitors.

Beating a great team — Madrid is a great team — means a lot. They have everything: tactically they’re very difficult to play against because they attack in so many different ways, they have very smart players, and they’re very well coached. Everything is very clear for them, both in offense and defense. They’re big, very physical players, and it’s hard to compete well against them — that was our first goal. And then, of course, to win — we really enjoyed that.

Reuvers had a very good game, both offensively and defensively. But I think this was a very collective victory; many players contributed. Darius Thompson played a great game — he controlled the tempo very well and scored a lot. Montero did an excellent job on defense, which sometimes is hard for him, but today he really put in the effort. Jaime Pradilla and Matt Costello rebounded very well at the end. I think “Papi” hit a very important three-pointer. Yankuba gave us a big boost in the third quarter when we were a bit stuck — he had two very important pick-and-roll finishes.

I don’t want to forget the huge basket by Josep Puerto at the end of the shot clock — it was a very difficult shot, and he made it with great confidence. I think today everyone went home with good feelings, knowing they helped the team win against a very tough opponent.