The way Olympiacos behaved in the semi-final against Monaco showed once again that the road from hell to heaven is just … a slippery road.

A small ten-minute break, about as long as it takes to turn around and smoke a cigarette, was enough to press the button, and the Red-Whites wrote a special history in the Euroleague with a big record: this is in favor of 27 -2 (+25) in just ten minutes, the biggest difference the team has ever made in the history of all the final fours of the competition, and brought an impressive change of scenery.

If the tense Olympiacos could not keep up with the pace of Monaco in the first half and found themselves within 12 points (29-41) in the 20th minute, then after a ten-minute break they looked completely different, played perfect basketball and very impressively reached goals. historical revolution.

What Giorgos Bartzokas said to his players during the break is still unknown. For a manager whose repeated outbursts during matches, even those of little importance, have gone viral, it was rather strange how stoically he handled a first-half blackout, seeing his players lose unnoticed shots, one shot after another, even layups in practice pace.

When he went inside with them, many believed that a small … earthquake would follow, but those who found themselves behind the closed door of the locker room were surprised to describe the unexpected calmness, without screams, tension and panic.

Perhaps it is precisely this approach of the head coach of the Euroleague in the last two years that largely explains how Olympiacos turned the knob in the second half and entered the field in a completely, completely different way.

What came to light and was passed on by Olympiacos as a guide on the way to the final against Real Madrid was what Giorgos Bartzokas told his players after the end of the semi-final against Monaco:

“Congratulations on your… response in the second half. We represented the team, the club, the world in the best possible way during those 20 minutes that dominated. In the third quarter we won with a score of 27:2, which is a record in the history of the Euroleague. Defensive play gave us confidence in attack. It was something wonderful. Now let’s calm down, please, no holidays, we have two days to finish the work we started in October. Congratulations guys.”

low tones

The key words in the speech were these two: “No holiday!” Those who have been in any role in situations where everything is decided on a razor’s edge and every detail has its own special significance know very well that the “key” moment of success is how each team manages the space between the semi-finals and the final.

In the Euroleague, it takes less than 20 hours from the moment the lights are turned off in the semi-final to… the floodlights are turned on in the final, and this relatively short period of time largely determines how the players will perform in the game. this decides the title and their labors of the whole year.

And the already experienced Bartzokas, in his 4th Final Four appearance, knows perfectly well that if his charges get drunk on the aroma of epic chagrin in the semi-final, there is a chance that they will end up in another. .. field during the grand final.

The latest obstacle to Olympiacos’ path to the title is Real Madrid, the most successful team in history, having won 9 Euroleague Cups. Olympiacos counts 3 wins and aims to sew a 4th star on his shirt on Sunday night with the same gold lettering he sewed on in 1997 in Rome, in 2012 in Polis and in 2013 in London, for the last time again with Giorgos Bartzok on his shirt. shop.

He excels in… no man’s land

These two teams meet for the fourth time in the Euroleague final, where the “Queen of Europe” leads with a score of 2:1. He achieved both on Spanish soil, the first in Zaragoza back in 1995 with a score of 73-61 and the second at home in Madrid with 78-59 in 2015.

Olympiacos dominated the only final that took place on… a neutral ground in 2013 in London when they won 100-82 to claim their third title. The common thing is that all of them were judged without becoming … a thriller, and what they have in common in the London final with Sunday is the presence of Barzokas on his bench, as well as … the neutrality of Kaunas! Also important is the fact that Olympiacos beat Real Madrid in both matches this year: 89-87 in Madrid and 73-60 in South Africa.

Olympiacos will look to put everything they have achieved in a tough 34-game season in a 40-minute game where they took first place in the regular season followed by 5 (3+2) games they lost in the playoffs against Fenerbahce and the victorious semi-final of the Final Four against Monaco. The paradox lies in the fact that over the previous 7 years, when the Euroleague was held on a round-robin basis, i.e. all against all, with home-away games in the same group and play-offs as the Final Four, the team has never won a trophy. who took 1st place in the regular season!

It has been won 6 out of 7 times by teams finishing 3rd or 4th, and only CSKA has won the trophy in 2019, finishing 2nd in the regular season. The only No. 1 to reach the final was Barcelona in 2021 when they were defeated by Anadolu Efes, with Olympiacos now the second No. 1 to reach the final, aiming to be the first to break the thread! It is also notable that the teams that finished 1st and 2nd in the league never met in the final, which would have happened for the first time this year if Barcelona had beaten Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Spanish Civil War.

• 2017: Fenerbahce (5th) v Olympiacos (3rd) 80-64
• 2018: Real Madrid (5th) – Fenerbahce (2nd) 85-80
• 2019: CSKA Moscow (2nd) – Anatol Efes (4th) 91-83
• 2021: Anatolo Efes (3rd) – Barcelona (1st) 86-81
• 2022: Anatol Efes (6th) v Real Madrid (4th) 58-57
• 2023: Olympiacos (1st) v Real Madrid (3rd)

• 2017: Real Madrid (relegated in semi-finals)
• 2018: CSKA Moscow (relegated in the semi-finals)
• 2019: Fenerbahce (relegated in the semi-finals)
• 2021: Barcelona (lost in final)
• 2022: Barcelona (relegated in semi-finals)
• 2023: Olympiacos (qualified for final)