Madrid - Barcelona, an emergency classic in the Euroleague
Abu Dhabi is a long way off for the Spanish Euroleague teams. Reaching the Final Four, from 23 to 25 May, is a huge challenge for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Baskonia with eight of the 34 rounds of the marathon regular phase still to be played. The Blaugranas visit the Whites on Thursday (20:45, Movistar) while the Vitorian team travels to Belgrade to face Partizan on Friday (20:30, Movistar). There is no longer any margin for error with a view to entering the playoffs for the title. Barça is ninth in the standings with 14 wins and 12 losses, Madrid is eleventh with a mix of joys and falls (13-13) and Baskonia is down with 11-15, in 14th place. The return of the Euroleague after the national Cups and the FIBA windows marks the final sprint of a group stage dominated by Olympiacos (19-7) and which looks very tight: only one victory between the second and sixth placed teams, and two between the third and tenth.
The Euroleague is a labyrinth. The top six teams in the regular season qualify directly for the quarter-finals (the top four with home court advantage in a best-of-five game) and the seventh to tenth teams play the so-called play-in. The seventh team hosts the eighth team in a single game, as does the ninth and tenth teams. The winner of the first match goes on to the playoffs and the loser has a second chance to face the winner of the match between the ninth and tenth teams at home. The team that wins this match also goes to the quarter-finals.
Against this backdrop, Madrid and Barça will play a classic in intensive care. The Whites must host Barcelona, Lyon, Olimpia Milan and Paris at home, and will visit champions Panathinaikos, Virtus Bologna and, in a double stop in Belgrade, Red Star and Partizan. The Blaugranas face the classic away and the duels against Alba Berlin, Milan and Fenerbahçe, and host Partizan, Zalgiris, Bayern and Virtus. Lots of twists and turns.
And many obstacles. Joan Peñarroya, Barça's coach, is filling the infirmary. In addition to the absences of Laprovittola, Vesely and Punter, point guard Juan Núñez is now out due to inflammation of the external meniscus of his right knee. "I see it difficult for him to play again this season," Peñarroya said on Wednesday. Another slap in the face in the direction of play for a team that has already lost 23 times this season, almost as many as victories (25).
Madrid is suffering from the same pain. Their coach, Chus Mateo, confirmed the loss of point guard Dennis Smith, who was signed a little over a month ago and who is leaving after playing just 35 minutes between the ACB and the Euroleague. “He arrived at a difficult time, he had to make an effort to get in shape after being out for a long time. He has not had the adaptation that he would have liked, nor has he adapted to our way of doing things. You can't blame the kid for a lack of professionalism either, he just decided to take a different path. He probably thought that we couldn't get him into the dynamic. He saw the demands of the team and that he wasn't going to be able to help as he wanted to,” said the coach. Madrid has 19 losses this season (the last one in the cup final against Unicaja), five more than in the entire previous campaign, and three in a row in three visits to Europe. “We have to fight until the last day,” anticipated Chus Mateo.
The sensations are worse than the numbers. Barça is the second highest scoring team in the Euroleague (87.1 points per game), the second highest assist-maker (20.7), behind Olympiacos in both lists, and the highest stealer (7.5). Madrid is the best rebounder in the competition (36.6). But the absences, the failed signings and the extreme hardness of this tournament today paint a picture of a classic with many urgent issues.
EL PAÍS
