A brilliant and well-deserved victory for CSKA after two overtimes, in the most exciting final of all the European Cups held in Barcelona. With the help of the brilliant Belov and the deadly marksman Kapranov, CSKA forced Real Madrid to loosen their floating defence on the giant Andreev, who became the real master under both boards. His stoppers sank Luyk and Aiken, who were forced to shoot from outside the area.

The Soviets dominated the scoreboard throughout the first half, and after achieving a maximum ten-point gap (18-8, min. 7), their lead stabilised at between four and six points. Nevertheless, a vibrant penetration by Emiliano was the trigger for a great Madrid reaction, and through an inspired streak of success Real Madrid was able to equal the score (27-27, min. 13). Despite CSKA taking the lead again thanks to Kapranov's outside shots and Andreev's unbeatable wingspan, two lightning counter-attacks by Brabender and Aiken allowed Ferrandizs men to retreat at half-time with a three-point lead (42-45).

At the restart, the Real Madrid players kept the initiative on the scoreboard, although Brabender, Luyk and Vicente Ramos began to be threatened by personal fouls. In the 30th minute, Real Madrid had their maximum advantage of the whole match (58-64), although at this stage of the game the equality was total and the score was narrowed or widened depending on the scoring spurts of each team. In this situation, the last five minutes were reached with Spanish advantage (71-74). With two minutes remaining, with 75-80 on the scoreboard, Luyk was eliminated, although it seemed that Real Madrid could control the outcome of the match by using up their possessions and forcing CSKA to commit fouls. With 25 seconds to go, Emiliano misses a crucial free kick (77-81). With 79-81 on the scoreboard, Emiliano himself, instead of exhausting the possession, forces a tackle and misses under the hoop in front of the opposition of the giant Andreev. The rebound falls to the Soviet pivot himself, who assists Lipso to score the final 81-81 and force extra time, to the despair of Pedro Ferrandiz and the entire Madrid bench.

In extra time, Real Madrid again took the lead, and with just half a minute remaining it looked like they had the match in their hands (89-93). However, a further series of Madrid errors allowed Lipso to equalise the match with two free kicks (93-93). Once again, the Whites had the chance to seal the match, but Aiken missed incomprehensibly under the Russian hoop. With 25 seconds left, a mistake in the pass of Vicente Ramos made possible a counterattack by Belov with a final pass to Lipso, who crushed the basket that seemed to be the one for the victory for CSKA but that surprisingly was annulled by the Swiss referee Pythoud alleging some alleged steps of Belov, against the anger of the Muscovites (who even threatened to leave the court). This action also served to make the Catalan public even more in favour of CSKA (and, by extension, against Real Madrid). The second extra time was clearly dominated by the Muscovites, who were more physically fit, until the final 103-99.

Courtesy of BasketFinals

CSKA Moscow - Real Madrid 103-99 (2OT)
CSKA Moskva (coach: Armenak Alachachian): Aleksandr Kulkov 4, Sergei Belov (190-SG-1944) 19, Vadim Kapranov 18, Gennadij Volnov 12, Vladimir Andreev 37; Anatolij Astakhov 2, Yurij Selikhov 3, Jaak Lipso 7, Aleksandr Sidyakin 1
Real Madrid CF (coach: Pedro Ferrandiz): Vicente Ramos 9, Emiliano Rodriguez 18, Wayne Brabender 20, Miles Aiken 24, Clifford Luyk 20; Cristobal Rodriguez 4, Toncho Nava 4, Jose Ramon Ramos