FCBARCELONA.CAT

09.05.2010 22:46

European Champions (86-68)!

Jordi Clos

Regal Barca steamrollered Olympiacos 86-68 to take their second Euroleague title in Paris tonight. MVP Navarro led the team with 21 points and Mikeal also chipped in with a valuable 14, but the whole team played their part with some solid defence.

The talented Olympiacos team were brushed aside by a majestic performance in which Barca showed themselves worthy of the tag as Europe’s best, leading for virtually the whole game and running out winners by a clear 18 point margin. Xavier Pascual’s team won every quarter of the game and never gave their opponents a whiff of a chance.

Game lives up to the hype

The game lived up to all the expectations as the two European giants clashed. Barca came out strong and after an initial flurry of scores and personal fouls, Navarro and Teodosic took charge of their teams as the scores moved to 17-13 on 6 minutes. The Barca centres were working hard to stop the Greek’s physical power and their good defence helped to take Xavi Pascual’s team into a healthy 28-19 first quarter lead that boded well for the next half hour.

Lead stretches

Coach Pascual used his bench wisely and the team managed their lead well, despite Olympiacos’ extraordinary individual efforts which took them to 35-28 on 15 minutes. Then Ricky and Navarro moved up a gear and when those two are in the groove, the opposition had better watch out! On 18 minutes Barca were 43-30 up and they closed out the half with a 47-36 lead after the Greeks’ star player Teodosic had committed his third personal foul.

Olympiacos fight back withstood

Olympiacos again tried to haul themselves back into the game at the start of the second half and Xavi Pascual reacted by bringing on Victor Sad, who played a decisive role for the rest of the game. It took Barca three minutes to score, through Mickeal and Olympiacos were tightening up in defence and avoiding some of the easy scores Barca had enjoyed in the first half, but Sada, with an excellent three pointer and an assist when the team were under real pressure calmed the game down and the team withstood the storm to go into the final quarter 64-50 up.

Fourth quarter dominance

That 16 point lead was always going to be a mountain for the Greeks and Barca gave them no chance in the last 10 minutes, stretching their lead through aggressive defending and lucid attacking play. The final score was a fair representation of Barca’s dominance and turned the tables on the 1997 Final score in Rome. Barca are European Champions again and there can be no doubt that the best team on the continent won tonight.