EuroLeague Round 12 Reactions: In El Clasico victory, Real Madrid's stars rise to the top

After 12 rounds of EuroLeague action, Paris basketball is in fourth and Bayern Munich is in third. If the play-in tournament began tomorrow, Barcelona and Real Madrid would both be in it. There are no guarantees in EuroLeague basketball, the early days of this season has reminded us of that, but there are consistencies. One is that stars always matter. 

Real Madrid’s offseason was a struggle, and the season itself has gotten off to an unspectacular start to say the least. They were 4-6 heading into their Round 12 El Clasico rivalry matchup on the road against Barcelona. The Catalan club started the season strong but had tapered off. The winner of this game could give their season a much-needed spark, the loser might continue spiraling. In big games like this, it is always the stars who matter most. 

Los Blancos won this game because of Facundo Campazzo, Mario Hezonja, and Edy Tavares. In this double-overtime instant classic, the three of them played over 35 minutes. A strong start from Xavier Rathan-Mayes didn’t earn him any extended minutes. When Barcelona’s bench got them rolling early in the second quarter, Campazzo checked back into the game and sparked a 7-0 run to retake the lead. 

In the third quarter, when Madrid’s offense dried up like a desert, Hezonja became the source of life. He delivered 12 straight points for Madrid and kept the game close. After Tavares got going with his first second-half field goal early in the fourth quarter he got his rhythm back and when they trailed by four with less than two minutes to go, he converted a three-point play. 

Then, with Madrid down three with less than ten seconds to go. Facundo Campazzo brought the ball up, got over halfcourt, was probably just as shocked as everyone he hadn’t been fouled yet, and then capitalized on the opportunity to tie the game and buried a wing pull-up 3 to tie the game and eventually force overtime. 

The first overtime was dominated by Tavares, especially as Barcelona struggled to matchup and gave up post-entries too easily to Real Madrid. Fortunately for Barcelona, their own star — Kevin Punter — kept them in the game and helped them force a second overtime. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it again in the second overtime. 

Campazzo, Tavares, and Hezonja delivered all of Madrid’s points in the second overtime and stole a victory away from their rivals. Madrid’s season has been a myriad of madness, plenty of blame has been assigned, but when it mattered most they reminded us what they’re capable of when they’re at their best. 

Campazzo and Tavares are aging, and Sergio Llull is truly ancient (sorry, Sergio, we love you) but with Hezonja, Musa, and Gabriel Deck still in their primes, this remains one of the most star-studded groups we’ve ever seen in EuroLeague. Maybe they can’t bring their best for all 34 rounds like they almost did last season, but they could flip the switch when they need to. As long as that holds true, they’ll be a contender for as long as they want to be.