Leaders claim 13th straight win at WiZink Center

Real Madrid close this week's EuroLeague double-header with a full house of wins after beating Maccabi on Tuesday and defeating Asvel Villeurbanne today. Chus Mateo's side are still unbeaten at the WiZink Center and have now won 13 consecutive games, the same as in the 2021/22 season and their second best start ever in the competition. The leader faced an opponent that competed very well, but our team clearly dominated the game and resolved it with a 20-2 run between the end of the first half and the start of the second half. Yabusele (26 points and 33 PIR) put in a great performance, supported by Poirier (21 PIR) and Deck (13).

A lot of pace and few interruptions in a fast-paced start to the game. Madrid started off well in offence, fluid and with a number of players adding to the attack. Campazzo (5), Deck (6) and Poirier (6) led the attack in the first quarter. The French centre was also the boss at the back. He dwarfed the 2.21m Fall and closed the zone (2 blocks) with the help of great collective work. Asvel held their own, with Paris Lee very successful (8), to put up a good fight against the leader at the start (24-17, min. 10).

Madrid regain their confidence before the break
Because they had lost it for a good part of the second quarter. It was a time when Asvel upped their level of aggression, started to grab offensive rebounds and threw our team off their game with their three-quarter court zone. Scott (11 points) brought his team to within two on several occasions, the last at 37-35 in the 18th minute. History repeated itself. When the visitors were at their closest, Madrid again made a surge. It was due to a much more intense defence led by Rudy and Alocén, which led to more turnovers by the opposition and allowed us to go on the counter-attack. The strength of Yabusele (13 points and 18 PIR in this quarter) and the finishing skills of Musa were key to go 10 up at the break after an 8-0 run in two minutes (45-35).

The score continued to increase in the second half to 20-2 and we reached a difference of 18 points (55-37, min. 24). Poirier and Hezonja were a pain for Asvel on the offensive rebound, while Campazzo put in the points. With a significant lead in our favour, we lowered our concentration and the French team saw this as a chance to try to get back into the game, with Thomas leading the response to get under the 10-point barrier. But it was a situation that did not last more than a couple of minutes, the time it took us to recover our intensity. Sergio Rodríguez broke the deadlock in the third quarter (17-15) to go into the final quarter 12 points up (62-50).

The leader closes the game
The visitors continued to play their game. They grew when Madrid allowed them to. But the feeling was one of total control despite the visitors' attempts to get back on track. Yabusele, impeccable in his shooting, had a great game. He finished with 26 points and 6/8 from two-point range, 1/1 in three-pointers and 11/11 in free throws. Together with Deck and Musa, he contained the rival's anxiety to bring us another victory at the WiZink Center by 86-79. Sergio Rodríguez equalled Llull as the second player with the most games in the Euroleague (395) and the team is one win away from its regular season high (23). February is off to a good start. On Sunday, against Bàsquet Girona, our third game in six days at the WiZink Center (12:30 pm CET).

REAL MADRID-ASVEL STATISTICS