The 1991 Korac was a final marked by the heart attack that took the life of coach Ignacio Pinedo in the first half of the first game. In sporting terms it was a very tight final, where in the first leg, Cantú won by two against a Real Madrid team paralysed by what happened to their coach, and in the second leg, an extra time was needed to decide the winner. Mannion was a nightmare for the Madrid defence
Quarterfinals
Cantú – Cibona
Phonola Caserta – Real Madrid
Joventut – Students
Zadar – Mulhouse
Semi-finals
Real Madrid – Joventut
Mulhouse – Cantú
In a match marked by tragedy – the acute myocardial infarction suffered by the Madrid coach Ignacio Pinedo at the edge of the break and the impact this had on his players during the second half – the Clear Cantú achieved a short victory on Real Madrid’s ground that leaves the swords high in the face of the return match. The first act of the final of the Cup Korać was a return match, with alternate dominance (white in the first half and canturino in the second), which had as a turning point the heart attack of Pinedo, incident that only came to culminate a season full of misfortunes in the Madrid team. A Real Madrid with everything against it, with its coach admitted to a hospital in a state of coma, knew how to pull of caste to dominate in the return match (up to 18 points of difference), although it lacked continuity to realize that dominance and finally ended up giving in to the Clear Cantú after an extra time. Before the beginning of the match, the local fans had the nice detail of chanting Ignacio Pinedo’s name as a tribute to the Madrid coach. The extra period, with Real Madrid broken by the previous effort, was totally dominated by the Clear. The elimination of Biriukov at the end of regulation time was joined by Roberts’ after three minutes of extra time and the Madrid team, although it never gave up, saw how its mission was already practically impossible. The claw of «Joe» Llorente, with a triple and an additional free kick, managed to tie the game (93-93) with 18 seconds to go. The white team’s tactic was clear to the end: committing a personal foul to force the «one plus one» while waiting for an opponent’s failure. However, Pessina’s wrist did not tremble from the free-kick line and the Clear Cantú managed to win their tenth European title in twelve contested finals, a record.
Clear Cantú
*Marzorati – 0.0p
*Mannion – 34.0p, 2.5r
*Bosa – 7.5p, 3.0r
*Pessina – 12.0p, 6.5r
*Bouie – 19.5p, 9.0r
Dal Seno – 2.5p, 1.0r
Rossini – 4.5p, 4.0r
Gianolla – 3.0p, 2.0r
Gilardi – 1.0p
Real Madrid
*Llorente – 16.5p, 6.0a
*Biriukov – 12.5p, 1.0r
*Herrera – 17.5p, 12.0r
*Cargol – 3.5p, 2.5r
*Roberts – 17.0p, 10.0r, 3.5t
Villalobos – 3.0p, 1.0r
A.Martín – 10.5p, 4.5r
Romay – 1.5p, 4.0r
Santos – 0p. (1)
