Zvezdan Mitrovic, the Monaco coach, narrowly beaten (94-86) by Real Madrid on the 3rd day of the Euroleague, regretted the nightmarish start of his men, who conceded the first quarter 30- 12. Zvezdan Mitrovic (Monaco coach, defeated (94-86) by Real Madrid Wednesday for the 3rd day of Euroleague): “I want to retain the pleasure we had to play against a great team. But as you have seen, we started in a catastrophic way. We were playing with stress. Then we started to wake up and at the end the game is played on a shot, a possession. At 19-44 (15th minute), I was trying everything I could to find the right major five. I change the players four by four. At half-time, we spoke in the locker room, we said that we could take twenty, thirty, but not by playing that, by walking. Finally, we finally started playing. Mike James was the image of the team, he started very badly, then woke up. We know how brilliant he is in attack, he was incredible, put in unimaginable shots, but he was just as impressive in defense (4 interceptions) and in the pass (10 assists). He’s a special player, sure enough, one of the best, and he showed it tonight. We hope his leg is fine (James was injured late in the game). »Read also The results of the 3rd day of Euroleague Pablo Laso (Real Madrid coach): “We managed our first quarter very clearly (30-12). But creating such a difference creates a strange dynamic, where you think the game is already over. And little by little, imperceptibly, Monaco started to play better, we let them enter the match again, get closer. Then Mike James started shooting incredible shots, some very well defended by our players. I think we showed a great attitude and great seriousness at the end of the game, both defensive and offensive. We were patient, we found the right intervals and the right passes. We are happy with the victory, but we have to move quickly to the next game. »Read also Classification Léo Westermann (Monaco): “We have to play a better basket. Especially since we enter the game in a completely different way. Whether in attack or defense, Madrid did what they wanted at the start. You can’t afford that kind of thing. Afterwards, of course, as soon as we were more aggressive in defense, we were able to run and do good things. At 19-44, on reacts, but it’s already late. We do not yet have the automatisms of a team that has been playing together for a long time. It’s something that will stick to our skin. We must continue to look for easy baskets, especially with the athletes we have. It allowed us to get back into the game. But we have to play much better on both sides of the field to be able to hope for something in this event. Real finished with four French players on the pitch. It’s nice to say that a big club like that trusts our breeding ground. But it’s also normal given the level of the players we are talking about (he smiles). “