The Barça de Sarunas Jasikevicius has been eliminated from the final four from Euroleague at the hands of the eternal rival, the Real Madrid. The blaugranas managed to dominate the game at half-time, with a considerable advantage, but in the third quarter they disappeared from the floor and the whites smelled blood and took no prisoners. In this way, the team of the MVP, Nikola Mirotic, who has played very well, remains without reaching the grand final and the meringues will face the fearsome Anadolu Efes, who starts as a great favorite.
The chronicle of the Barça-Madrid (83-86)
The truth is that Barça has come out visibly nervous on the track. Madrid, very hard and forceful, has marked territory with a very good first quarter led by Guerschon Yabusele, who with a couple of triples and a spectacular esmaixada has created doubts for the azulgranas. Even so, Saras’ men have reacted after a timeout and Brandon Davies has appeared, as he always does in important games, to balance the score. Thanks to this, the Catalans have been able to close the first half with the result tied at nineteen points.
The second quarter started again in favor of the Whites. Rudy Fernández, after a three-pointer, forced another timeout from Saras. From here, however, the Euroleague MVP, the great Nikola Mirotic, has carried the team on his shoulders to generate the first advantage in favor of Barça. The culés have reduced the effectiveness of the meringues with a good defense and in this way half-time has been reached with the azulgranas dominating the scoreboard (45-34).
Madrid, much superior in the second half
The third quarter started with the same dynamics and Barça managed to take an advantage of thirteen points. It seemed that the azulgranas would be able to maintain a certain superiority over the whites, but then Fabien Causeur appeared and changed things. The French player has led Madrid and has begun to cut points. Slowly, the whites have been eating the morale of the Catalans, to the point that they have been able to turn the scoreboard around. At Barça, his nerves have reappeared and he has entered the last period with a four-point disadvantage.
The last quarter started with an open scoreboard and where anything could happen. Madrid have started really well and have created a very opportune hole for their interests. Even so, Nico Laprovittola, with two consecutive triples, has cut a great distance and has come to tie the game. Everything was left open with only two minutes remaining, but then Causeur reappeared. He has scored an impossible triple, has recovered a ball and has scored on the counterattack and has been strung five points above the scoreboard. Despite the fact that Barça was able to get close again, Sergio Llull scored the definitive basket for the Whites, who thus qualified for the final.
