Ibon Navarro and his players are already focused on the league match this Sunday, starting at 6:30 p.m., at the Martín Carpena, against Real Madrid. A meeting between the two best teams in the Endesa League in which the leadership will be at stake. A great atmosphere is expected at the Palace, with all tickets sold for almost a month. The cajista coach faces the game with enthusiasm, but aware of the difficulty of facing the “best team in Europe” and that it is “just one more game”, without much significance for the final classification.
Physical state
“We arrived late from Turkey. We will have rested, I hope, for the game on Sunday. We have no physical problems“.
Real Madrid
“I don’t know if they are higher or lower, but at the level they are at the obvious thing is that they continue to win games. Madrid has so many quality players that they will surely be competitive, like all year. The first round match is a good reference. When we were not good, they scored 16 against us. We have to be at our maximum level for the greatest number of minutes of the game because they are a better team than us.”
Edy Tavares and Facundo Campazzo, two of the most important players of Real Madrid / ACBPhooto
Expectation
“It is a match that generates a lot of attention because it is a duel between the first and the second with the novelty that the second is Unicaja, not Barça, Baskonia or Valencia. It’s not a final. Even if we won, it doesn’t mean anything because there are many games left and Unicaja is not going to win them all. The leadership could last us a week, until the visit to Granada. “It’s an attractive game, but it doesn’t mean anything at the end of the season.”
Season
“We don’t need to beat Real Madrid to need an injection of self-esteem. We are very wrong if we think that. It will be bad that if we don’t beat Real Madrid we won’t value what we have. We are having a great season. There are 9 games left and we can win against anyone, but also lose with anyone. Beating Madrid means nothing. “We have to focus on playing our best, but without thinking beyond.”
Osetkowski and Kalinoski. /BCL
Pressure similar to the day of the Copa del Rey?
“This match has nothing to do with Tenerife in the Cup. To begin with, we played in the real Carpena. In ours. Not in the match that day. If this match has something, it is that if we lose, it would be normal We play against the best in Europe, who have lost three league games all season. Losing is normal. It has nothing to do with Cup day. The normal thing is that they beat us because they are better than us, but we can beat them. We want to be super competitive. If we lose it wouldn’t have many consequences. “We want to beat them.”
Little time to prepare for the game?
“Sometimes we prepare the games with a training session and this time we have two. Madrid has many records. They have three absent, but I think we know them well. It is more difficult to prepare for the Cholet game than the Madrid game. “It’s not difficult in terms of the idea of preparing it, but it is difficult in terms of the execution because they are very good.”
Victory in Bursa
“It’s a game that shows the confidence that the team has in itself. We knew it was going to be difficult for us. As it progressed we gained sensations, we lost some concentration in the third quarter, but in the end we knew how to win. But not this Sunday we can play like this. “We have to have a very good level for many minutes to have a chance of winning.”
Unicaja won on Wednesday in Türkiye. /BCL
Keys to win
“The other day I read Chus say that Campazzo is not at his best. I don’t know, but he is always a dangerous player. What has changed is that when Tavares sat down last year, you breathed. This year, with Poirier, they sometimes play better than with Tavares. That conditions you when preparing for the game.. Deck and Hezonja’s play near the rim is also important. Yabousele and Musa… They are many high-quality players. The most notable thing is that when Tavares sits down you don’t know if he’s going to be better or worse.”
Disposal
“There are several training sessions left. We will make the appropriate decision. We are going to think very carefully about who we play against, what we need and the physical condition of the team.. “I have an idea, but it depends on training.”
2024-03-15 10:30:30
#ENDESA #LEAGUE #Ibon #Navarros #press #conference #prior #UnicajaReal #Madrid
