Dubai beats Real Madrid in a Euroleague thriller after a terrible white finish

The walk through the desert was suddenly ruined for Real Madrid, unable to finish their exciting preamble to the Super Cup. That was in Abu Dhabi, a few kilometers away, at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, Xavi Pascual hit the key: he hindered all the connections of what Pedro Martínez intends. It will be difficult to see this Madrid below 80 points again. Even so, he lost after a horrible outcome, in which everything that could have failed failed. [78-77: Narration and classifications]

For example, Andrés Feliz's shot to win, almost at the buzzer. Or the previous ones by Luwawu and Campazzo. Six in total, one after another until ruin, to open the Euroleague, which is always a pretension for the club with a sprained foot. Dubai got revenge, which is not only individual talent, the power of Bacon, Okobo, Kabengele or the demon McKinley Wright, who hit the final triple with 50 seconds left. Xavi Pascual has arrived to make everything work. And it starts with defense.

If anyone knows how to deactivate offensive proposals, it's him. That legend of seriousness and defense accompanied him throughout his career, which now begins its umpteenth challenge in Dubai. The former Barça player had been ruminating for a few days about his defeat last Friday in the Super Cup semi-final, when he dominated Real Madrid by 16. And at dawn, as if his entire universe was ordered, he managed to make the antidote take effect: the rival was tied up, a gray Madrid that could only score 16 points in the entire first act. Pedro Martínez's first commandment had not been fulfilled: it is not that his players did not score any triples, it is that they only attempted four.

With 16 shiny pieces in his squad, the new white coach has a puzzle for each match, controlling loads and injuries (and passports in ACB) to leave four rested each match. This time it was Llull, Schulga, the recently signed Nick Smith and Okeke, perhaps the most striking. The calendar will provide opportunities for everyone. And the talent and versatility of the squad is unquestionable. Madrid only needed a little while to relax. When he did, it was like a storm in the desert. Led by Maledon and, evidently, launching more triples (four of nine in the second act), they shut down Dubai.

The swing, a partial 0-12, was resounding. Jantunen had opened the can. Tavares finished counterattacks. And only the individual talent of the locals managed to keep them afloat. If Shengelia had closed the first quarter with a triple at the buzzer, Kabengele did the same after halftime to close the gap.

But it is still a time of ups and downs. The return to the locker room was striking. When Tavares committed the third, the punishment was for Campazzo, immediately sent to the bench by Pedro Martínez, just one minute into the restart and Dubai on the way to a 9-0 run, with Bacon and Okobo unstoppable. Damian Jones left wonderful notes in that section. Tremendous finishes, a substitute, it seems, of guarantees for Tavares, the former Warriors player. The third act became an even and dangerous give and take.

Which continued until the very end, pure thriller. Five points in a row from Feliz seemed to give Madrid everything to win (71-77). But there were three minutes left and, suddenly, everything went cloudy. Failures and more failures and a 7-0 local run, with a three-pointer from McKinley Wright included, to speed up hearts. And, despite everything, the whites had one life left. 10 seconds to win the match. No luck.