Sergey Karasev: "It's always nice to beat a top-4 team, especially away"

The captain of the blue-whites Sergey Karasev commented on his return to the floor and told how the team reacted to the victory over UNICS (84:87).

— Congratulations not only on the win but also on your return to the court. How did it feel to get back into the game today?

— I got into the game fine, although I'm still feeling some pain. My elbow is bothering me, but overall, the game went more or less okay. The most important thing is that we secured a very important victory.

— It looked like Belenitskii hit you on the arm. Was there a risk of not being able to return to the court?

— There's always a risk because the elbow hasn't fully healed. I understand it’s going to hurt, so I need to play through the pain and try to do everything I can.

— A win in Kazan isn’t an everyday event. How did the team celebrate in the locker room? What did the head coach say?

— He said it's just the beginning of the season and that this win was important in terms of psychology, motivation, and team unity. It's always nice to beat teams in the top-4, especially away. Xavi also told us before the game against Avtodor that we need to defend our home court and go to Kazan with full commitment, aiming to get this victory. We took that small step, so to speak, and now we need to go home, recover, and prepare for the next game against PARMA.