Chus Mateo, a Cup against suspicion

• Opinion Dear Cup: 'You're awesome, baby!'

Surely

never thought that the opportunity of his life was going to come to him this way after a whole career in the shadow of great coaches, but he hardly doubted when the schism between

and Real Madrid exploded after the heart attack suffered last June by the man who had been their 'boss' since 2014.

After that controversy of crossed medical reports and pending accounts that put an end to a historic era, with a certain aroma of betrayal and with the initial run run from the WiZink stands, the coach has been advancing to stand in Badalona to face his first great challenge .

Real Madrid goes to the Copa del Rey -this Thursday they open the quarterfinals against Valencia Basket (6:30 p.m.)- as a favorite along with a Barça team they could meet on Saturday in the semifinals, as champion of the Super Cup, the only title played, and at the top of both the Endesa League and the Euroleague.

To know more

Basketball.

Pablo Laso: "At Real Madrid it wasn't just winning, it was how"

• Writing: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO Madrid

Pablo Laso: "At Real Madrid it wasn't just winning, it was how"

It was precisely in Catalonia, at Sant Jordi in Barcelona, ​​where Mateo led his only match as head coach of a Cup. He lost it.

His Unicaja, in which he lasted a few months -his only other experiences in command were in Fuenlabrada and in China's Shanxi Zhongyu-, fell in the quarterfinals against

's Cajasol , in the same edition that the great Rubicon of the Laso era, well

and company then broke a 19-year streak so that Real Madrid reconquered the title.

11 years have passed since that and it has nothing to do with it: now he goes to the Olímpic with one of the most luxurious squads that Real Madrid remembers, with the only unknown being the discards that he will have to make among his 15 players, and with a streak of 12 victories and only the defeat in Piraeus as the balance since Barça conquered WiZink in ACB on January 2.

That duel once again aroused suspicions about a low-profile technician, who has barely granted interviews and who dodges the media puddles.

"It makes no sense to be thinking about what they say about you," he admitted in one of his few public exhibitions, an interview in Dazn with Piti

in which he recalled his origins at the Agustiniano school in Madrid, where he began training at the age of 16. .

From there, to the white youth academy, a club to which he returned in 2014 when the club decided to fire those who until then had been Laso's assistants,

.

Beyond his first great title as head coach -it is true that the last ACB of Real Madrid was directed by him in the absence of Laso, who was in charge of the training sessions since he was discharged from hospital-, what Mateo faces is a personal acid test.

Escape from suspicions that have not abandoned him despite the good progress of his team.

A failure in Badalona would put him back on all targets.

The Hezonja Hope

Two points were criticized: the management of the end of the game and the lack of competitiveness against the big rivals.

Defeats like that of Monaco at WiZink -where his team was leading by four with four seconds to go-, or the two consecutive ones against Barça triggered the alert in a team that, however, seems to have found the way since Christmas.

With the leadership of

and the sparks of hope from

, the threats from Real Madrid skyrocket.

's Valencia

-another coach who is also looking for his first cup victory-, who is being one of the revelations of the Euroleague and who a few weeks ago was reinforced with

to form a fearsome outside game with

, he will test another aspect that did not quite work in Mateo's group, the management of the bases.

"We are not a round team, because there are still things left," admits the man from Madrid before his first big test.

Maybe the final one.

Despite the fact that the fans still do not forgive the management of

in the departure of Pablo Laso, the reconquest of a Cup that Real Madrid has not lifted since 2020 would be a great accolade for Chus Mateo.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• real Madrid

• Pablo Laso Biurrun

• badalona

• Sergio Llull

• ACB League