Matteo: “Among the best teams of all time, Olympiacos deserved it as much as we did”

Basketball machine and one of the best teams of all time he characterized the coach of Real, Chus Mateohim Olympic after the victory of his team in the Final 4 of Kaunas.

“It’s not easy to talk now. It was a very difficult season, with many ups and downs, but happy ending. I’m proud of these kids because they never gave up. We may have had misfortunes, defeats and injuries, but in such circumstances, when things got worse, they were more and more united and fought harder. Even in the last game we didn’t give up and managed to beat a basketball machine like Olympiakos with Yule’s only basket of the match. I am very happy“, he emphasized.

“I want to congratulate Olympiakos for having a fantastic season. Bartzokas is a gentleman of the benches, I feel sad for him, although of course I am happy for Real. His team played amazingly all season and maybe he deserved it just as much as we did. I am proud of my colleagues. Unfortunately, they only consider you working when you win. This family, which is the Real team, fought against all these problems that arose. We were able to come back from 0-2 down, pull off an upset in the fifth game, beat Barcelona and in the final beat one of the greatest teams of all time, Olympiacos. Respect to my players because they never gave up“, he added.

Asked about his future and whether he sees himself on the Real bench next season, he replied: “I want to live in the moment. I respect all opinions, I’m very happy and I don’t want to think further than Wednesday’s match against Betis. We will play in front of our audience who deserve it too. I don’t know what will happen next. I’d rather enjoy it today. Have a beer, maybe two. This job has a lot of ups and downs and all you can do is control what’s up to you».

Finally, on how a team can come back after such a defeat, as Real did after last year’s final, he said: “That’s how sports are, wins and losses are part of sports. We shouldn’t get mad at every result. Neither to be too high, nor too low. To work everyday and think about the next day. It is not easy to raise your head, but Olympiacos is a team with a big heart and they will work together. We will probably see Olympiakos again next year in the Final 4, today they didn’t win, but they are also champions».