FCBARCELONA.CAT

17.06.2007 14:40

1-0 to Madrid (69-62)

Carles Cascante

Real Madrid have drawn first blood in the playoff for the title. Despite Barça appearing in control of the game in the third quarter, Dusko Ivanovic’s men were unable to finish off the game.

In a match up distinctly different to that of Winterthur FC Barcelona’s last tie, Madrid were able to soak up the pressure from Barça and run out winners in an evenly matched encounter. Barça started strong, however, took their foot off the gas at crucial times. The third period should be the reference Barça take with them to help tie the series on Tuesday.

Focused

Fran Vasquez was the first to show his worth; the Galician centre tied the scores early on and showed Joan Plaza’s team how he could respond. Vasquez and Marconato put together the first run which helped Barça open up an early lead (10-16). Good work from Jaka Lakovic and three pointers from Basile and Navarro, allowed Barça to maintain their slim lead at the end of the first quarter (18-21).

Los Blancos respond

Ukic, Roger Grimau and De la Fuente came into the fray, which started with two quick three pointers from Mumbru to allow Madrid to re-establish the lead. A determined Vasquez led the charge for the blaugrana ; scoring 8 points in 6 minutes. Navarro, on the other hand, found the going tough early on and could only muster up three points (32-29). Ivanovic brought on Kasun to counter the Madrid rebound catches, however, lost possession by Barça allowed Madrid to stretch their lead to five points at the end of the quarter (38-33).

Hard defence

After the break, Juan Carlos Navarro took centre stage; capitalising on Madrid’s sluggish Start and forcing his opposite, Louis Bullock, into committing two consecutive fouls. Point Guard Lakovic also helped in Barça scoring 7 points to no reply.

However, general disorganisation from both teams restricted the score rate in the Vistalegre. Barça, who found themselves in a dominant position, did not take advantage of the situation to impose themselves on the game and stretch their lead; the end of third quarter saw both teams on equal points (46-46).

Tomas finieses off game

Emotion was the dominant factor in the last quarter. As hoped, both teams put their star players into the action. Despite everything, it was Marko Tomas who played the decisive role for Los Blancos by giving them a final run in of 11-3, to give the game to Madrid (69-63).

Barça now have time to think about the next game on Tuesday (21:30). Dusko Ivanovic’s men will be looking to tie the series before the playoffs move to Barcelona.

Click here to view game statistics