Mateo: “Panathinaikos deserved it, Slukas is rightly MVP – I’m confused with the refereeing”

Chus Matteo recognized his rightful ascendancy Panathinaikou over Real in the Euroleague final.

“I want to congratulate Panathinaikos. He deserved the title today. He had a very good second half. It was the end of a very tough regular season. We have done a very good job all season but we are talking about one game. It is a match that cannot judge whether we have done a good job or not all season. I am proud of my players, because they fought for this back to back. We fought until the end, even though Panathinaikos took the lead. In the first half we understood very well what we had to do, we did an excellent job, but Panathinaikos has very good material. In the second half they played more dynamically and we lost our energy a bit. We took too many long shots instead of getting close to the basket. Slukas was the most valuable player and he deserved it, he made 2-3 shots in crucial moments making the difference. I am proud of my players, it is not easy to reach two finals in a row. Now we have two choices, cry, which we will do tonight, or stand up, which we will do tomorrow. It’s time to show Real’s character, which is to congratulate the opponent when they lose and move on“, emphasized the coach of Madrid.

“When Panathinaikos increased their pressure, we didn’t pass the ball to attack inside, but we were nervous and kept taking the ball out for shots. We had no discipline in attack“, he added.

At the same time, he left sharp points about the arbitration: “I am confused with the arbitration. Our tall guys were easily fouled, something that doesn’t usually happen with us. I think our irritation also played a role. Poirier also got a technique, but these are setbacks that can happen and you have to overcome them. I don’t want to say that I’m complaining, but the truth is that the criteria should be the same when players use their hands in defense.”

Asked if his team is overworked, he replied:This is the program. On Wednesday we will play against Barcelona. The calendar is very heavy, but we have to respond. I have to have my players fresh. We don’t want to whine about it»