The 18-year-old team’s coach, Rokas Kondratavičius, expressed his optimism about the future of his players. “I am still trying to understand, but fiction. What we did here – we are currently the best youth team in Europe,” said R. Kondratavičius after the victory.

Reflecting on the team’s performance, R. Kondratavičius noted, “No one here kept the favorites here but I mentioned that we team that can play with topical teams. We showed this in the match against Barcelona. We drove confidently. We thought softly, but we felt that we could be equal rivals for these systems.”

He attributed the victory to a combination of factors. “Will you win depends on many things. We were well prepared, we had no more serious injuries. Everyone was ready 100 percent. A little success, good decisions, good devotion of players. All of this fell first. The road is long – there was NKL,for someone RKL – a long season. We said that for our good season, NKL was a reward to play here. Now we baked a cake and put on a cherry. The road is long but fun,” said the strategist.

David Buika, who recently joined the men’s team, shared his excitement: “As of this, we worked all season, it is indeed really great. we managed to reach our goal. The tale. Everything from the fairy tale, I can’t believe it yet, I’m shocked,” said David Buika.

Comeback Victory

“A psychologically and physically demanding trip. But we have shown that we have worked a lot this season at psychology, we are stronger than our opponents.”

The final match presented a challenge for Žalgiris, who trailed 28:42 at halftime after conceding 31 points. Though, the team rallied, leveling the score before the break and seizing control in the third quarter, holding their opponents scoreless for five minutes and surging ahead 58:51. Despite the opponents’ efforts,Žalgiris maintained their lead.

“A psychologically and physically demanding trip.But we have shown that we have worked a lot this season at psychology, we are stronger than our opponents.We were able to break them at the end of the match.”

D. Buika contributed 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in the crucial matches, including a three-pointer and free throws when Milan‘s team threatened. “At first, I really didn’t drop the throws, I tried not to make them. In the first half,just three shots were scattered. with a smooth result, someone needed to take the initiative. I can praise other teammates – all contributed and played great.”

D. Butika’s tournament averages were 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 9.8 utility points. Dominykas Grunkis was initially misidentified as the MVP, but the award ultimately went to Dominykas Grunkis, who averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 14.2 utility points.

Žalgiris Kaunas youth team previously won the Euroleague tournament in 2003 and 2007. Vilnius Lietuvos Rytas won twice, in 2012 and 2018. Real Madrid Academy holds the record with five titles.