Men's basketball: After Barca, Ádám Hanga could also reach the top with Madrid

– I assume the team is in a good mood having won the last seven games...
– We won important matches, it's true – said Ádám Hanga, the 33-year-old Hungarian star of Real Madrid, which is second in the Spanish league and EuroLeague. – However, we play an awful number of games, almost every two days, which is exhausting. So, it means a lot that we can perform well, and the atmosphere is calmer when we win back-to-back. But this is Real Madrid, no matter how many games you win in a season, it doesn't matter if you don't end up with a gold medal.

– Spanish Cup final eight, which Real last won three years ago, starts on Thursday in Badalona. How are you preparing in light of this?
– It's extra motivation for everyone. In last year's final we lost to Barcelona by five points, which hurt, but we got over it quickly because we won the league final, which is more important. This year, we are not playing the El Clásico for the cup gold, as we are in the same group, which means we can only meet Barcelona in the semifinal.

– On Thursday, Real Madrid plays against Valencia, which is also in great form. What do you expect at the match?
– Valencia is getting better and better, they've signed new players, they're a complete team now. We are ahead of a big battle because the first game in the cup is the most important. If you lose, you go home. Valencia is also fighting hard in the EuroLeague, but they seem to have a lot of double pressure and competing in two of Europe's most competitive series takes out a lot of energy from them. That is why they have dropped down the table in the Spanish league.

– What pops into your mind about Badalona?
– That it's a big arena with a capacity of almost thirteen thousand spectators, and that it was the venue of the basketball tournament at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the place where Michael Jordan and the Dream Team conquered the world. But regardless of the venue, the atmosphere is always good, with eight teams staying in one hotel and four going home after the first games.

– What do you expect from Real?
– I was lucky enough to win the Spanish Cup three times as a Barca player. All of them were great experiences, and it would be nice to do the same with Madrid.

– Your injury is thankfully in the past, so how do you see your position in the team now?
– I'm a jolly joker again, I've experienced that a few times at Barca. My minutes are a bit reduced, but I'm on the court at the important moments. Last time, I played twelve minutes against Monaco in the EuroLeague, five of them were at the end of the last quarter when I scored seven points. Time is still not the most important thing for me, but the success of the team, especially at Real, where no one plays more than 30 minutes. Four play over 20 and everyone else less as head coach Jesús Mateo uses a 12-man rotation.

Translated by Vanda Orosz