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Founded in 1928, the Monaco club has been roaming the lower divisions of French basketball for many years, beginning its rise just five years ago.
2013-2014 In the season, AS Monaco won the third division of France, and a year later they triumphed and returned to the top of the French league in the second and after a break of three decades.
Serhiy Diadecka, a Ukrainian businessman who bought the club in 2015, further contributed to the promotion, with whom AS Monaco won the French League Cup three times, played the French Championship final twice and was on the podium twice. of the FIBA. Champions League.
However, the dwarf country team achieved the biggest victory on Friday night when it won the second European Cup final against UNIKS and rose to the top of the second strongest trophy in the continent’s tournament by a 2- win. 0.
Getty Images / Euroleague.net photo / AAS Monaco triumphs after winning the European Cup
Therefore, AS Monaco not only won the international title for the first time, but also won the first trophy of the French championship teams in the tournaments organized by the Euroleague: the Euroleague or the European Cup. So far the closest to this has been the SIG Club of Strasbourg, 2015-2016. reached the final of the European Cup in the 2007 season, but fell behind the Galatasaray Istanbul team.
Z. Mitrovičius, who led the Monaco team to victory, shone with happiness after the victorious final.
“I think my team has done something special this season. We started the season with an incomplete line-up, but you saw how hard we fought, we played all 40 minutes in every game. We gave our best, said the Serb. – Of course I’m happy. Maybe I can talk more about this win tomorrow. I’m still in shock right now, but I feel happy. “
Scanpix / SIPA nootr./Zvezdanas Mitrovičius
Many believe that his team has traveled the easy way in the European Cup playoffs. In the quarterfinals, AS Monaco defeated Budučnost from Podgorica, and in the semifinals they defeated Gran Canaria from Las Palmas, when UNIKS had to pass the barriers of Lokomotiv from Krasnodar and Virtus from Bologna.
In the final, however, the Monaco team showed their advantage and caught up with the skeptics.
“I think we showed great basketball. That is the most important. I really enjoyed the game with the fans we haven’t seen since October. Sure, it was the Kazan fans, but it still blew me away. I hope to see similar images next season as well. We play basketball for the people who come to see it, that is the essence of basketball, ”said the specialist, who will return to the Euroleague after a one-year break – in 2019-2020. in the season he worked in an elite tournament while he was in charge of Wilerban ASVEL.
Unlike his coach, Rob Gray, the most useful player in the final series, he has yet to play in the Euroleague. The 27-year-old, who competes for club AS Monaco the first season, scored 24 points and 20 utility points in two games against UNIKS, was glad that the series did not last until the third game, which would also have taken place in Kazan, and paid tribute to the team.
Getty Images / Euroleague.net nuotr./Robas Gray’us
“It just came to our notice then. We knew that UNIKS would come out with energy in both defense and attack. But we wanted the series to end 2-0. We didn’t want a third game in the series, especially when they had UNIKS fans. We knew that the environment would be challenging and they would pressure us to play in the third game. So we had a plan to finish everything in the second game and return to Monaco, which is what we did, said the final hero. – Incredible feeling when receiving the MVP award . You always want to play the best you can. I set high standards for myself, constantly improved my game, put in many hours, so when the opportunity arose, I had to seize it. I am happy with how things turned out and that we won the title. tribute to the whole team “.
Despite the lost final, the UNIKS club will also play in the Euroleague next season, returning to it after a four-year hiatus.
VIDEO: Champion’s Tears: Monaco’s triumph after the European Cup
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