In a match full of emotion, very intense, with tough defense and some inexplicable refereeing decisions once again, Regal FC Barcelona narrowly failed to win in Panathinaikos. Creating a deafening noise, the more than 20,000 spectators were also vital in helping the home team to win their second game in the series. In 48 hours time Xavi Pascual’s team will have another chance to force the 5th and final match, at the Palau Blaugrana nextTuesday.

Expected script

The match began as expected, with the Greeks flying out of the blocks amid a deafening roar. One small relevant detail: Panathinaikos has recognized in the press that although the OAKA hall has a capacity of 18,000, there were 22,000 packed in there today

Getting back to the game, the tough defending on Navarro was a reality again, and restricted his scoring chances, and the Greeks took an important lead (11-4) after a second consecutive basket from Bastiste, the first one following a clear personal foul in attack that was not given. Regal Barça, however, closed the gap, mainly due to Anderson, who was well supported by Ricky. From this point there were lots of hesitation and errors from both sides and at the end of the first period PAO were in front by16-13.

Barca go ahead

In the second quarter, Barça, who had already had several chances to turn the game around, finally succeeded, thanks to a pair of consecutive baskets by Terence Morris (16-19). Obradovic was forced to call on his team’s star, Diamantidis, and between him and Fotsis they regained the lead, helped by a 7-0 scoring run.

Following a time-out called by Pascual, however, Barça changed to individual marking, and due to lots of courage and a good counter-attack by Navarro, finished off by Grimau, they reduced the deficit to only two points (23-21). At the end of the first 20 minutes of regulation time the Greeks managed to go in with a 4 point lead (33-29) although a motivated Jaka Lakovic scored a triple just before the whistle to end the first half.

Ricky, 'on fire'

The second half started at a terrific pace. Barça, led by an inspired Ricky Rubio, author of three almost consecutive triples, drew level (45-45). A non-existent foul by Lorbek on Fotsis, blown by the referees, affected the Barça players, and the Greeks took advantage of the situation with a triple from Diamantidis, and they took a six point lead (49-43) with just over 3 minutes to go. It was then that Pascual went for an outside 3 of Lakovic, Navarro and Anderson.

The tough defense on Navarro continued, but Barça were unable to take advantage of the personal fouls, and to add to this, Navarro was penalised for a technical foul to the disbelief of the Barça bench, who opted not to complain too much. Barça were poor from the free-throw line, and towards the end of the 3rd quarter they had a 5/11 success rate, ending the quarter 6 points behind (55-49).

Three consecutive triples give some hope

With the help of triples Barça got back into the game and a steal by Ingles made the score 61-63 with loads of time on the clock (over 6 minutes.) There were lots of nerves, mostly from the Greeks, and the Barça players began to believe in the possibility of winning the game. Free throws, fouls and lots of nerves were the dominant trend over the last three minutes, and Jaka Lakovic tied the scores once more with 3 minutes left.

With just over 2 minutes to go, however, a triple by Sato put the Greeks 5 points ahead. In the end it was a total chess game, with lots of fouls by both teams, and a great basketball match, with luck smiling on the Greek side, ended in a home team win by 2 points (76-74).