In Tuesday's UEFA rematch, Real Madrid away to Red Star. Facing the hosts' tough defense, they hit the iron in a row, shooting just 9 of 37 from three-point range, shooting just 24 percent from the field. In the end, the Whites lost 62-65, gaining four consecutive defeats.
From the very beginning of the game, both sides fought hard to defend. The hosts' strategy of controlling their opponents with a low tempo worked, with Real Madrid shooting just 7-of-17 from 17 two-pointers and 4-of-20 from three-point range at half-time, all the while falling behind (35-28). In the second half, the hosts continued to use a near-foul defense to limit opponents' scores. It wasn't until the last 3 minutes of the game that Real Madrid's three-pointer improved slightly. First Abard closed the gap to just one point behind (57-56) with a three-pointer, then Ruhr hit two more three-pointers to close the score (63-62) in the final 13 seconds. However, with Ivanovic's two free throws, Real Madrid was ultimately unable to reverse the defeat.
In the first half of the season, Real Madrid has maintained a steady performance, ranking first in both UEFA and La Liga. Recently, however, their status has declined significantly. In the last 13 games, they have lost 8. Especially in the Europa League, it has lost 4 consecutive games. Before the defeat, they lost 51-66 to Fenerbahce, 68-86 to Barca and 47-68 to Bottom-up Sarakilis. In 4 games, they averaged just 57 points per game. It's clear that Real Madrid are struggling on the offensive end, which has also put manager Pablo Lasso into a crisis of trust. However, considering that Russo has just won 362 games as the most won manager of the Whites in La Liga, coupled with two EuroPaliga championships in 2015 and 2018, and countless awards in 11 years, almost no one in European basketball can match him, so the chances of Lasso being dismissed are slim. However, when he will be able to help Real Madrid out of the predicament remains to be seen.