In May of 2023, Real Madrid lifted its 11th Turkish Airlines EuroLeague trophy, a record in European basketball. This season, Los Blancos are defending their title in a formidable way and, for starters, have already clinched first place in the regular season.

“It was kind of unrealistic to come into the season and say ‘OK, after 20 games in the regular season, we will have 18 wins or something like that,'” Dzanan Musa says. “But right now, when we see our roster, the way we talk to each other (…) I think that’s the key to success this season.”

And success it is. Not only Real became the first team to reach the playoffs, but it has also secured home-court advantage for its series by nailing down first place in the regular season standings.

“We tried to do our job from the beginning of the season,” coach Chus Mateo explains. “We are trying to play with a style and to do the right things in practice.”

Real is first in the league in average PIR (106.9), points (88.5), total rebounds (36.6) and assists (20.5) some numbers that are hard to argue against and that show utter domination by the Spanish team in the first phase of the season.

“Our mentality is helping a lot,” Mateo continues. “Our lockerroom is great, the players are together in the bad moments, too.”

A sign that the intangibles, like the so-called “team chemistry” also play a major role in the success of any team.

Now, Los Blancos are getting ready for the postseason to try to win back-to-back titles in Berlin next May.