Bartzokas: «Congratulations to the players and the fans»!

According to Giorgos Bartzokas, defense was the key to beating Real Madrid.

“This was a huge night for us. As everyone can understand, it was an important game for us. The team and the players were ready to play and face the challenge ahead of them. We played a really compact defensive game. The 60 points we only allowed Real to score is proof of that. Everyone knows how talented a team they are offense wise. We gave nothing away. We controlled the tempo through our defense and we simply had to not have been so nervous due to the importance of the game, so that we could have opened up the margin even more. However, I have to congratulate our players and our fans. The atmosphere had been fantastic and they got to enjoy a classic Euroleague derby. But we need to forget about this game now, because we have quite a few difficult games ahead of us”.

Real Madrid’s coach, Chus Mateo, stressed the following: “We played against one of the biggest teams of the competition. We knew it would not have been easy to win here and the difference probably is that in the moments that defined the game, Olympiacos was playing with greater energy. We also did not play smart in offense, so as to take the open shots. On the other hand, Olympiacos played a very good defensive game with much more strength than us. Our bad shooting percentages with threes and the lost defensive rebounds were also decisive factors for us”.