Soul, leader, winner: Sergio Llull marks Real Madrid record game with another one for the history books

Jan 12, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

“I am very proud to share the lockerroom with a man that Sergio Llull is for Real Madrid,” Chus Mateo.

Let’s begin from the end, specifically from the last question of the postgame press conference following Real Madrid’s 96-86 overtime win over Valencia. Yours truly, The Sports Rabbi was not going to give up a chance to ask the Los Blancos head coach a question about arguably one of the greatest players in the club’s history to set the all-time games played mark at 1047 and was honored for doing so before the game.

Llull is the gift that keeps on giving, the leader who never gives up and makes the impossible possible time and time again. After the game I was able to share a few words with him as he waited to go on Euroleague TV for a short interview upstairs, away from the hustle and bustle of the court in one of the vast areas that the Wiznick Center seems to have plenty of in a facility similar to that of those in the NBA.

Sergio Llull – Photo credit: Real Madrid


Modest, kind, pleasant, humble. That is what I sensed in those few moments when I was in his presence, drained, drenched, exhausted from doing battle and making sure to get the win even if it took 45 minutes instead of the 40 that he had really wanted to end the game in. But a leader will do what he needs to in order to lead whether on the basketball floor or in he board rooms of major corporations that Madrid has plenty of.

The Wiznick Center is an Arena to behold. A corporate monster, fans in suits, dressed to the nines and very unlike many of the other facilities that dot Spain, originally known as Palacio de Deportes, the current iteration of the building was actually rebuilt in the early 2000’s after a fire left the arena in ruins. Since the reopening in 2005, the facility has hosted the Euroleague Final Four in 2008 and most recently in 2015 while many concerts and other events have been held at Wiznick. For the real history buffs, in the 1870’s the site used to be a bullring until a larger one Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas was built in the mid 1930’s.

Valencia Head Coach Alex Mumbru was given a nice round of applause by the Real Madrid faithful who remember his time with the club in the first decade of the 2000’s while on the other bench Chus Mateo has only done one thing since taking over from Pablo Laso; win as he looked for his 100th victory as the club’s head coach.

For both teams this was their 5th game in roughly ten days having played four of the Euroleague variety plus an ACB League matchup which is a rough schedule whether you’re in Europe, Asia or the NBA. With that in mind, the respective coaches rotated some players in and out of the lineup as Real’s Vincent Poirier was out as was Semi Ojelye and Kevin Pangos from Valencia.

Facundo Campazzo got busy early and often as he dished off the rock in style to Edy Tavares for an easy deuce as well as to Guerschon Yabusele for a jumper while knocking down a triple of his own. But at the other end, Chris Jones, Justin Anderson and Brandon Davies got to work and brushed off their loss to Zalgiris earlier in the week very, very quickly.

Facundo Campazzo – Photo credit: Real Madrid


Jones who has been matched up with Keenan Evans last game was now seeing himself go head-to-head with arguably the top guard in the competition in Campazzo and he made sure to make his presence felt as well with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists to go along with 8 points from Davies to give the visitors a surprising 24-16 lead after ten minutes of play.

Real honored Sergio Llull right before tipoff for becoming the club’s all-time games played leader with 1047 as the leader of Los Blancos joined the club all the way back in 2007. While the 36-year old was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2nd round of the 2009 NBA Draft, Lllull never had the desire to head over the ocean and try his luck in the world’s greatest league. When you look at his trophy case there in fact was no need to. With a trio of Euroleague titles and countless other awards, Llull (ended the game with 16 points going 4/8 from 3) will no doubt go down as one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game.

Chus Mateo’s team began to chip awe at the lead as Mario Hezonja, Alberto Abalde and Eli Ddiaye found points, but Stefan Jovic, Damien Inglis and Nathan Reuvers all scored to increase the lead to 34-23 midway through the second quarter. Tavares kept causing problems in the paint at both ends of the floor for Valencia as the big man scored at will, blocked shots right under the basket and caused chaos for the visitors allowing the hosts to get right back into the game. Dzanan Musa, Campazzo and Tavares scored to get the lead down to just 3-points but a floater by Jaime Pradilla kept Valencia in front 40-35 at halftime.

Tavares is an interesting one for Real. The Cape Verde native was discovered by a German tourist on vacation in 2009 and set up a meeting with Gran Canaria’s brass. When the island club saw Tavares and his potential they were going to do what was necessary to do in order to get him up to speed and they created a second U18 team to accommodate him. The 7”3 center was taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2014 draft and played very sparingly, pretty much getting a cup of coffee in the NBA between 2015-17 while also spending plenty of time in the G-League.

After three years in North America, Tavares (finished the bans with 18 points and 19 rebounds to earn MVP honors) headed back to Spain and has been playing with Real Madrid ever since. Two Euroleague championships later along with too many other trophies and awards to count, Tavares is still impacting the game as only he can causing all kinds of matchup issues for any team that plays Real Madrid. Sometimes his biggest asset comes without even touching the ball but just his presence in the paint which has been the case once again.

Campazzo led off the third quarter with a corner 3-ball, Jones matched him but a triple by Fabian Causeur and an incredible baseline move by Musa follows up by a 3-point play by the Bosnian and Real Madrid moved in front 46-43 with five minutes left in the period. Anderson didn’t let Tavares’s presence deny him from posterizing the big man to his dismay, Yabusele and Jovic traded triples, but Campazzo was dominant with another one from deep to allow Real to head into the final frame holding a 58-55 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Facundo Campazzo – Photo credit: Real Madrid


Campazzo, a native of Cordoba, Argentina began his career at Penarol and started to make a name for himself in his home country before inking a 3-year deal with Real back in 2014. After a loan stint with Murcia, a more mature Campazzo returned to Los Blancos and was an integral piece of their 2018 Euroleague title which was followed up by another two seasons of top level play.

From there the Nuggets came calling and Campazzo (scored 19 points in the win) played in Denver for a pair of seasons and then began the 2022/23 campaign with Dallas before being waived, allowing for a return to the Euroleague but not to Real just yet but to Red Star where he finished off the campaign. This summer saw him finally get back to Real where the 32-year old signed a 4-year contract.

Brandon Davies came to work in the fourth quarter with two quick buckets, Llull put up an oh so high arching shot from beyond the arc it seemed that it would never come down, but of course it did, swish right through the basket in absolute beauty, but 3-points are just that, 3-points with no extra ones for style.

Two back-to-back buckets by Josep Puerto put Valencia in the lead, Sergio Rodriguez drained a 3-pointer, Davies dropped a bucket inside then another from the outside, but just as Valencia thought they were comfortable, Hezonja put in a 4-point play where his 3-pointer well became four with a foul but Mumbru’s team stayed in front 70-68 as time wound down.

Sergio Rodriguez – Photo credit: Real Madrid


Tavares put in a pair, Jones came back from downtown but Rodriguez went in for a layup and Llull scored from beyond the arc to put Real back in front yet again 77-75 with 1:28 remaining in regulation. Inglis drew Valencia even but Campazzo as he had done all evening dialled up long distance to put Real ahead for what looked like for good, but Jared Harper out of a timeout heaved one from deep as it goes off the backboard and in for a game tying triple to send the game into overtime all knotted up at 82-82.

Harper, who attended Auburn may not have had his best game to say the least but at least he saved his best for last with that bank shot. In fact, Harper’s career has been like a bank shot, going from one place to the next but figuring out a way to become an integral piece of a team.

After leaving school early to try his luck in the NBA Draft, Harper latched on with the Suns, Knicks and Pelicans while also spending time in the G-League before heading over to Valencia to begin last season. The 26-year old Atlanta, Georgia native has shown spurts over the past two seasons as he has played alongside Chris Jones who no doubt has been teaching him the ropes. However, he’s got a long way to go until he gets to what a player like Sergio Llull can do and hopefully playing against him was a learning experience as well.

Sergio Llull – Photo credit: Real Madrid


Speaking of Llull, on his night, a special one for sure, he made sure that the last gasp triple didn’t bother him too much as he got right to work with one of his own to lead off the extra session followed by a right handed layup as he took the bull by the horns to lead his team to a 10-point, 96-86 overtime victory.

Chus Mateo spoke about Llull and what he means to the team and to him personally, “I’m very proud to share a lockerroom with him, it’s very difficult to find someone like the way Sergio Llull is. He is the soul of this team and he is the leader and he can change our mood when the heads are down. He pushed us for victory too many times and he is never scared about the last shot. This is something that says a lot about him and I am very proud to share the lockerroom with a man that Sergio Llull is for Real Madrid.”

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