I have never been to a basketball match… UNTIL today. Of course I know the rules but I’ve never been a basketball fan. Something about it never intrigued me… UNTIL today. Buckle in because today’s blog is a good one – it’s about my first ever basketball experience the match was genuinely crazy.
Today’s game was between Real Madrid and Zalgiris Kaunas in the Basketball Champions League. First of all, I didn’t even know that there was a Champions League for basketball and second of all, I had no idea that there was a team so good from Lithuania. Before the match, as you can see in the photo of the pre-match scenes, there were very little people in the arena so I was a bit skeptical that the atmosphere was going to be any good – especially because I’m used to the packed and loud Bernabeu. But I was immediately proven wrong as the ultras started to come into the arena and before I knew it, it was full. There were even ultras from the other team – from Lithuania!!! – packed away in the corner.
And when I tell you the game was crazy… it really was. The final score was 100-99. Yup, you read that right. 100-99. It came down to the final shot and if Zalgiris scored a buzzer beater 3 pointer, they would’ve won the game. It was that close and I was literally on the edge of my seat as I enjoyed a fantastic evening with 3 of my classmates from the Master’s program.
Another thing I really liked about being in the press section in this game was after every quarter, staff members would bring us stat sheets that went over all the stats from the previous quarter.
I honestly had such a good time and I can’t believe that Real Madrid have such an entertaining basketball team as well. This arena is only a 15 minute walk from my home as well so I’ve decided to definitely go to more games even if it’s not through the University.
Real Madrid basketball, you’ve earned yourselves a new fan.