Chus Mateo disappointed with the referee after Real Madrid's loss in the final (1 Viewer)

[Maestro]

Even though Real Madrid were seen as the favorites, Los Blancos lost the EuroLeague final to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. After the game, Real Madrid's head coach, Chus Mateo, pointed to the refereeing as one of the reasons for the loss.

Real's big men got into foul trouble pretty early, with Edy Tavares, the team's main center, picking up two personal fouls quickly in the first quarter. Vincent Poirier, Tavares' substitute, also ran into trouble, receiving two fouls in a row near the end of the third quarter, one of which was a technical.

Facundo Campazzo, considered the leader of the team, fouled out with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter, further complicating Real Madrid's efforts to stage a comeback.

"The fouls have undoubtedly taken them out of the game," Mateo said in the post-game press conference about his big men. "I'm confused with the refereeing. Our big players soon found themselves in foul trouble. During the year in the EuroLeague, it hadn't happened very often."

"There was a level of frustration, especially when Vincent got a technical foul. That was a complication," the coach later continued. "But these things happen in games, you have to know how to deal with them. You want to try to keep your centers out of foul trouble, and it wasn't the best day in that sense. I don't want to say that I'm complaining, but one would hope the level would be similar when using your hands."