Madrid explodes with a handful of unexpected resignations

BarcelonaDespair has reached the white house. After Florentino Pérez rescued Juan Carlos Sánchez to lead Real Madrid's basketball section, Sergio Rodríguez announced his resignation on social media. The former player, until now sports director, does not want to work with someone he does not get along with. "After deep reflection, this afternoon I have informed the president of my decision to put an end to my time at the head of the sports management of our basketball section. I have sincerely thanked him for the opportunity and the trust he has placed in me during this season," he said.Rodríguez, who has tried to modernize the section, has paid for a season without titles. Valencia Basket prevented him from lifting the Supercopa Endesa, Kosner Baskonia left him without the Copa del Rey, and Olympiacos prevented his success in the Euroleague. "I have enjoyed every moment with passion, with the vision of building a stronger, more sustainable, and professional section, in an increasingly challenging context," Rodríguez has acknowledged.Despite having a budget much higher than its domestic rivals, Sergio Scariolo's Madrid has not achieved the expected results, and the team was left without competing in the ACB League semifinals. "I leave with pride in the work done, with great learnings, and with the satisfaction of having found a profession that I am passionate about," summarizes Rodríguez, who has a very difficult relationship with Sánchez, which stems from his time as a player.Martynas Pocius and Paco Robles, Chacho's two main advisors, will also not continue at Madrid, which plans to strengthen its structure with Rudy Fernández. Florentino Pérez's shake-up arrives at a very delicate moment, as it will affect the planning for next season. The club travels to the past to try to regain lost prestige. The future of Sergio Scariolo, who has the president's confidence, will be one of the first strategic decisions.

The last days of Xavi Pascual at Barça

Barça can accentuate the white crisis if they manage to win the Endesa League. After Saturday's poor performance, the Catalan team wants to step on the Palau Blaugrana to regain a title they haven't won since 2023. Xavi Pascual wants to complete his last dance in particular and that of some of the most important players in the culé locker room with a victory that no one imagined just a few weeks ago. The next two games of the final will be played at the culé sanctuary.“We are playing against an extraordinary team that has rhythm and a lot of athletic capacity. We know who we are up against and why it is such a difficult opponent. We need to improve defensively. On Saturday, we were unable to be stable in the game and we had some strange rotations. When we were behind on the scoreboard, in the second half, we lost our way, we stopped doing things well and we collapsed,” admits Pascual, a coach who cannot stand losing to Barça.Despite the poor image on Saturday, Barça arrives at the Palau Blaugrana with the tie drawn (1-1). “When we arrived in Valencia we thought that returning to Barcelona with a 1-1 was a good result. In a play-off, when you win, you think you can't lose, and when you lose you think you can't win. That always happens, but the next day everyone recovers and thinks about the next game. The tie is 1-1,” says the coach.Pascual highlights the positive side of the situation. “If we ask Barça's people, everyone would have signed this scenario. Now we go to the Palau and we have a play-off with three games, two of them at home to end the season. It's an unbeatable situation. We expect the Palau for the big occasions, but we have to play better – says the coach, who also expresses his displeasure with the refereeing criteria–. It's important to learn from defeats and move on. Valencia Basket was much superior and it's not the day to talk about referees, but it's a complicated season, in this sense”.Pascual wants to achieve that his players start the match with the maximum possible concentration. “We are starting matches very badly, in this final. The team enters badly, very unfocused. We have to review it and start matches better, because playing from behind on the scoreboard is very difficult”, he assures.“We weren't expecting a game like Saturday's. We knew they would play with more intensity, but we weren't on point. We have two games with our fans and we hope the Palau Blaugrana will be a pressure cooker, because we have the opportunity to lift a title. We have shown that we can compete physically against them. The team is very focused and mentally prepared,” explains Joel Parra, who transfers the pressure to Valencia Basket. “After a defeat, the feelings are not good because there is no time to cry. The objective is to forget Saturday's game and correct some things. Games are not always equal and we will make changes,” analyzes Toko Shengelia.