Cuban Rivero stands out in historic basketball team success of Burgos against Real Madrid

June 21, 2020

The Cuban basketball player Jasiel Rivero was one of the protagonists in the historic triumph of San Pablo Burgos 87-83 over champion Real Madrid, in the final phase of the Liga Endesa, the main basketball league in Spain.

"Good team victory, let's go for more," wrote Rivero, 26 years old and 2.06 m, on social networks, celebrating the first success in Burgos history against the powerful Real Madrid.

In his 28 minutes on the court, Rivero scored 13 points, captured six rebounds and provided two assists.

But for the specialized blog El Palco, the greatest virtue of the Havana native on the court was on defense. "The statistics do not summarize the solid defensive work done by the Cuban in the paint. During the game he was the only one capable of defending the 2.21 tower Walter Tavares (Cape Verde) and in the final minutes he left his mark on the defense by putting a lock on the paint and making a three-pointer at the right time," it highlighted.

"It's an unforgettable victory. This is unbelievable, I myself don't believe it," Rivero told El Palco.

"Historic feat by San Pablo against Real Madrid," titled the Burgos newspaper for its part and highlighted: "San Pablo devours the current league champions in an authentic masterpiece game and dreams of advancing to the semifinals."

It added that the triumph "nobody expected it," but "the people from Burgos executed it perfectly to defeat for the first time in their history the white team, which was unable to find solutions" to stop the so-called Blue Machine.

Now Burgos records 2-0 in the final round, after debuting on Thursday with a victory against another of the greats, Casademont Zaragoza (92-86).

On Monday it will seek its third success against Herbalife Gran Canaria.