The coach praises the opponents: "We knew it would be tough, they can get into the Final Four". Ivanovic: "Good first half. But we have to get to the end"

A first part of a great challenge basket and a breathless finale where the accumulated fatigue made itself felt and weighed heavily on the legs and minds of the black and white players. Coach Ivanovic takes the defeat with Monaco with his usual philosophy, once a challenge is over, you turn the page and try to look forward to the next one, even if obviously the defeat in front of your own fans is disappointing especially for how it came about, from the +21 of 39-18 in the 13th minute that had exalted the black and white fans to the 80-86 defeat, with the team that finished without gas. "What can I say, basketball is played for 40 minutes and we didn't do that - underlines Dusko Ivanovic - in the first half we played excellent basketball for a dozen minutes, both in attack and defense, and in general we played a good first half". A challenge with two faces, as confirmed by the Montenegrin coach himself, completely changed in the second half when the Monaco he revved up his engine.

"In the second half we undoubtedly took a step back – continues Ivanovic – they were much more present than us. We knew it would be a difficult match, I had also said so during the presentation phase. Undoubtedly the Monaco confirmed its qualities which in my opinion make it one of the top teams capable of playing for a place in the next Final Four". Regret but not recrimination therefore for a Virtus which must leave the defeat behind with Monaco, turn the page as soon as possible and start again. The black and whites after the challenge with Monaco will return to the field on Sunday on the parquet of the PalaSerradimigni in Sassari to challenge Dinamo. The next appointment of Euroleague instead it will be on January 31st in Istanbul at the home of Fenerbahce.

Filippo Mazzoni