FCBARCELONA.CAT

12.04.2007 10:26

Barça and Unicaja meet in quarterfinal tiebreaker

Winterthur FC Barcelona must win in Malaga in order to reach the Final Four in Athens. After levelling the series 1-1 with a crushing victory in the Palau, Barça must now return to Andalusia for the third and final game in the quarterfinal playoffs.

Winterthur FC Barcelona, with Juan Carlos Navarro and Jaka Lakovic leading the way, have their sights set on a place in the Athens Final Four. The defence, as Dusko Ivanovic stressed in the pre-game press conference, will be the key to qualification for the second season running.

Confidence: The Barça team go into the game in buoyant mood after their comfortable 80-58 win in the second game of the series, and with their memories fresh from the last gasp victory (thanks to a Jaka Lakovic three-pointer on the hooter) over TAU in the ACB.

Coach Dusk Ivanovic and his men have a two-pronged objective: to smother the Malaga inside game with intense pressure in defence and by dominating the rebound; and to be alert to the danger posed by the Andaluses from the three-point line and avoid the eight three-pointers scored by Unicaja in the first game of the series. The Barça attack will be led by two men in excellent form - Navarro and Lakovic. Navarro played a vital role in the second game with 25 points and tops the tournament averages with 23 points. If Barça can set a fast pace then players such as Grimau, De la Fuente, Kakiouzis and Roko Leni Ukic could play a vital role.

Santiago injury doubt and pressure, the worst allies of Unicaja: The Malaga side coached Sergio Scariolo have the incentive – and the pressure – of qualifying Unicaja for the club’s first ever Final Four (so far TAU and Panathinaikos have claimed two of the places). The Martín Carpena pavilion will be packed to the rafters but the doubt remains whether the players will be able to live with the pressures of expectations from the home fans.

Malaga are focussed exclusively on the Euro league while in the ACB they continue to disappoint in the ACB – they currently languish in seventh place after losing their last game against Grupo Capitol Valladolid, one of the teams struggling at the wrong end of the table. Unicaja’s Italian coach, Sergio Scariolo, should be able to call on his entire squad now that Jiri Welsch appears to have shaken off his injury concerns. Marcus Brown is also available. The main doubts surround Puerto Rica star Daniel Santiago, though signs are that he will be fit in time. However, he has missed training for most of the week due to an eye problem.