FCBARCELONA.CAT

Euroleague: one step from the Final Four

Winterthur FC Barcelona came within a cat’s whisker of participating in what would have been their second consecutive Final Four but were eliminated by Unicaja Malaga in the third game.

In a tie decided by the best of three games, the home advantage proved to be vital. Qualification for the Final Four was clinched in the third game (67-64) played in the Martín Carpena in Malaga with a three-pointer from Pepe Sánchez.

With Malaga’s inside game weakened by the absence of the injured Daniel Santiago, Barça hoped to gain the upper hand but in the end Malaga’s outside game swung the tie in their favour.

It was an exciting affair but Barça spent most of the time chasing Unicaja, though the gap remained small. Unicaja took the first quarter 21-18 and extended the lead to six points by the halfway mark (38-32). Barça improved in attack after the break but continued to struggle in defence, with Cabezas, Sánchez, Brown and even Tusek causing continual problems. The final quarter started with the scoreboard showing 48-44. Barça improved in defence and rode their luck in attack to take a 51-52 lead, opening the gap to a maximum Barça lead of 51-56. From then on, the two teams swapped baskets until a final three-pointer from Pepe Sánchez ended the game in Malaga’s favour.

To reach this decisive game Barça had successfully negotiated two group stages to qualify as one of the eight best teams in Europe. In Group C, Barça started with five consecutive wins. The final balance was nine wins and five defeats, behind CSKA Moscow (13-1). In Group F of the Top 16, Barça (four wins, two defeats) finished second behind Panathinaikos (five wins, one defeat) and guaranteed a place in the Final Four. Panathinaikos eventually lifted the Euroleague title.

Navarro second highest scorer in the Euroleague

Juan Carlos Navarro finished in second place in the Euroleague ranking of scorers with an average of 16.8 points. In the Barça squad, Jaka Lakovic (10.3) and Gianluca Basile (9.6) came second and third behind Navarro. These three players also topped the ranking of the time on court with Navarro, once again, in the lead (28m 34sec). Navarro (16.9) and Jordi Trias (13.3) led the valuation ranking.

Jordi Trias had the best rebound statistics in the Barça squad (5.2) followed by Denis Marconato and Michalis Kakiouzis (4.1). Fran Vázquez averaged the most blocks and came third in the Euroleague rankings with 1.17.