FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.03.2007 15:56

De la Fuente: "We will play in the Final Four"

Winterthur FC Barcelona captain Rodrigo De la Fuente has been one of the key players in the team's recent improvement and he is now highly confident that Dusko Ivanovic's outfit can reach the Final Four of basketball's Euroleague.

After another strong personal performance at the weekend in a crucial victory against the current leaders of the ACB League, Real Madrid, De la Fuente spoke to Barça TV about el clásico, Barça's chances of finishing in the top three, the keys to beating Panathinaikos on Wednesday and of his sincere belief that the team will reach the Final Four in Athens at the end of the season.

Intense and even

The 100th meeting with Madrid, who are trained by Catalan coach Joan Plaza, was intense and very even. Although barça were almost always in the lead, the visitors to the Palau Blagruana never gave up and made the game a true spectacle, according to De la Fuente: "It was a very hard game with few points," he said. "A couple of times we opened up a lead of ten points, but in the third quarter they tried to beat us with zonal defending , but we remained patient and our offnsive play proved to be the difference."

Team strength

The strength of the entire squad has been one of the reasons that Barça have bounced back to form in recent weeks. The Blaugrana's success is based on a "strong defence" according to the skipper, but he highlighted the work of every player in the encounter with Madrid: "Without doubt, the team is very focussed. I think that we have defended very well and thanks to that and the ability of our forwards, our confidence has shot up. Now, unlike the games at the start of the season, we do not suffer so much in the third quarter and are capable of beating anyone."

Aiming high

Finishing in the top three of the ACB League and reaching the Final Four in Europe are Barça's main ambitions and De la Fuente is confident that both can be achieved, now that the team has tasted success inthe Copa del Rey in Málaga: "In basketball you have ups and downs and after the cup win we have enjoyed a great run and we have used that success to build on. Looking ahead to the Euroleague game against Unicaja, we know what it akes to beat them, having done so in the Copa del Rey at their stadium. We will end up playing in the Final Four."