ESP – Final Four at stake as Real Madrid face Valencia

MADRID (Euroleague) – It’s make or break, do or die.

Call it what you will.

Thursday night at the Caja Magica in the Spanish capital promises to be one humdinger of a game between Real Madrid and Power Electronics Valencia.

The winners will advance to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona to meet Maccabi Tel Aviv and the losers will stay home and watch the event on television.

"We are playing a game with everything at stake and the motivation of the team is maximum,” said Valencia coach Svetislav Pesic on the club’s website.

“Our head is already in the game and on wanting to play our game in Madrid.

“The team doesn't go into the game in the best possible shape against Real Madrid, but we will try to make up for that.

“We did a good job so far and with good results not only in the Euroleague, but we want more. We are eager to get much more than we have so far.”

Valencia have been riddled with injuries but have somehow survived.

Captain Victor Claver, who hasn’t played in the Euroleague since the home defeat to Olympiacos that left La Taronja 1-3, spoke to FIBA.com about his disappointment at not playing but also satisfaction with the way his team fought.

"It is frustrating not to be able to help the team in these important games, but I know I have contributed and helped in other games,” he said.

"Now all I can do is to support them from the back of the bench and applaud them and be there for them."

Madrid's players have been under immense pressure since the resignation of their coach, Ettore Messina, following their 95-77 Top 16 capitulation at the hands of Montepaschi Siena.

Really, they've responded well, taking a hot Valencia outfit to five games.

Madrid were in the ascendancy in Game 4, pouring in the first eight points of the third quarter at La Fonteta last week for a 46-40 lead.

But Valencia, led by Omar Cook and Nando De Colo, fought back and prevailed to force Game 5.

"We had wanted to close it out and weren't able to get it done,” Madrid’s outstanding Clay Tucker said to FIBA.com.

“Now we've got a Game 5 in Madrid."

Of all the teams to reach the Top 16, Power Electronics were maybe the biggest surprise considering their 1-4 start.

They were also 1-3 in the Top 16 and looked to be on their way out of quarter-final contention but won at Zalgiris in Lithuania and then returned home to beat Fenerbahce Ulker to advance.

There is no better symbol for this team that has lived on the edge than Florent Pietrus, the France international who was deemed surplus to requirements after last season but has taken advantage of injuries to key players to remain with the team.

He’s done a little bit of everything to help Valencia, including guarding Madrid point guard Pablo Prigioni in Game 4 when the Argentina international got hot at the start of the third quarter.

"Our team has done a great job," Pietrus said to FIBA.com.

Pietrus downplayed the importance of Pesic having him in the starting line-up of that contest.

"For me, I've never seen a game won in the first quarter so really, the most important thing is to finish the game,” he said.

"My teammates did a great job and we're really happy.”

Pesic and Real Madrid coach Emanuele Molin have done well to have their players take it one day at a time, and to understand that games in the ACB are just as important as the ones in the Euroleague.

Each could have stumbled in the domestic competition because of the intensity of the Euroleague series but each has continued to win.

"Every game is important and not just in the Euroleague,” Pietrus said.

"We had to focus on Sunday (a win over Cajasol Sevilla).

"It's always about remembering that tomorrow is a new day."

Molin has done very well under the circumstances that he has found himself in.

He wanted the job of Madrid coach after Messina’s departure and now sounds like a man who was the right replacement.

Ahead of Thursday’s game at the Caja Magica, he said: “It will be a game in which concentration and mental strength must be present at all times since tip-off to the last second."

FIBA