Croatian basketball player Mario Hezonja, who scored 25 points in Real Madrid's EuroLeague semifinal victory over Valencia, expressed his belief in the team's ability to win the competition. Real Madrid defeated Valencia 105-90 in the semifinal and will face Olympiacos in the final after the Greek team defeated Fenerbahçe 79-61.

Hezonja: We Must Continue to Believe in Ourselves

"Olympiacos is a very good team with an excellent coach and a long club history. They finished first in the league phase for a reason, and we must continue to believe in ourselves and do what we did today," said 31-year-old Hezonja in his media statement.

Olympiacos, whose players Nikola Milutinov and Sasha Vezenkov were selected for the best five of the EuroLeague league phase, will have the support of many fans in Athens.

One Spanish journalist, referencing a comment on social media that Hezonja "disappears" in big games, asked the Croatian representative about it. "Where did you see that? Who says that? Was it written on social media? Better for me not to see that," responded Hezonja, who was the top scorer in the semifinal against Valencia.

Third EuroLeague Final with Real Madrid

This will be Hezonja's third EuroLeague final since joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2022. The team became European champions in 2023 by defeating Olympiacos, but lost to Panathinaikos in the final the following year.

Hezonja noted that the win was significant given the absences of his teammates Walter Tavares and Alex Len, as well as the subsequent injury of Usman Garuba. "We didn't have a center or many other things. We had many ups and downs during the league phase, but we have a big heart and wear this jersey proudly. So, we found a solution," said the Dubrovnik native.

Real Madrid has won the European championship 11 times and lost in the final 10 times. Olympiacos has won the title three times, the last being in 2013, and has lost in the final six times.