Real Madrid topples Barcelona and will play the final

The stellar performance of Sergio Rodriguez (12 points, 9 of them in the last quarter) and the demonstration of power of Walter Tavares (20 points, 15 rebounds and a PIR of 39) have ended the resistance of the Barcelona (66-78) and allow the Real Madrid fight for their eleventh Euroleague title next Sunday against Olympiacos.

As happened last year in Belgrade, and four of the five times it has been measured in Europe, the whites once again came out on top in a classic: now they need to break the curse and win the title, because when they have beaten Barça in the semifinals, then they have not been able to win the title.

Real Madrid’s rival will be Olympiakos, who defeated Monaco in the first semifinal. Precisely the last Euroleague title for the Greeks came against the whites in 2013.

Some on the outside, others on the inside. Real Madrid supplying Tavares with inside balls and Barça showing the cast of their shooters. This is how the game was painted from the first minute, with a 0-6 start for the whites and a maximum advantage of seven points (3-10). As soon as the wrists of the Barca shooters warmed up, the match was even. In the first quarter, all the points for Saras Jasikevicius’s team were triples, three from Abrines, two from Kalinic and one from Satoranski.

The balanced, dominating Barça, the Barça with resources, the Barça that has been seen for a good part of the European season, did not appear. His players were too tense, pending individual duels, as in the case of Miroticwhich was measured with the young I’m going, but she never took advantage, and that drag dragged her throughout the match (3 points and 0/7 in triples). Initially, the rebound was for the whites (12-6), Tavares reigned in the paint and if the game was balanced it was because of the three-point difference (18-18).

in the second room Rokas Jokubaitis appeared to stretch the score and Kuric showed that he is also among the team’s list of great shooters, despite the fact that Jasikevicius has not counted on him as much this year. Barça’s first stretch on the scoreboard placed them at 32-25, coinciding with Tavares’ second foul at 3:46 before the break. The Cape Verdean left, but Anthony Randolph came into play. Satoranski’s management catapulted the Catalans to 42-33, but Madrid discounted with a ‘mandarin’ on Llull’s final horn that left 42-36 at halftime.

With Barça very fast in the ‘bonus’ due to fouls, Real Madrid went to their thing. Tavares charged Sanli and Abrines with fouls, who committed the fourth with 7:39 left to go in the third quarter. The result? From 47-39 to 47-49 in just over two minutes. Chus Mateo’s men took advantage of Barça’s disconnection and the absence of Mirotic and Vesely, who played one of their worst overall games of the season, to get a 0-10 run. By then Tavares was already close to double figures and Real Madrid had escaped on the scoreboard (47-54), an advantage that Barça cut, thanks to three-pointers from Laprovittola and Kuric, with ten minutes to play (55-58). .

And the game stopped at the moment of truth. A triple by Laprovittola and two baskets by Sergio Rodríguez in 4:30 minutes (58-62), but the canary had more dynamite saved and scored a total of nine points in 1:35 minutes to put a 60-67 that brought his team closer to victory at 4:35 for the final. Real Madrid closed their basket with Tavares, Barça had stopped scoring from distance for a long time and the memory of last year fell like a stone, when they let slip a 13-point difference. Today there were nine.

Those of Chus Mateo will fight for their twentieth continental title in Kaunas. They haven’t won since 2018, but they are in a winning inertia, despite the casualties, despite everything. On Sunday, Olympiacos will be the last obstacle.

Datasheet

Barça, 66 (18+24+13+11): Satoransky (7), Laprovittola (12), Abrines (16), Mirotic (3), Sanli (-) -starting five-, Vesely (4), Kuric (11), Kalinic (6), Sergi Martínez (-), Jokubaitis (6) and Nnaji (1)
Real Madrid, 78 (18+18+22+20): Williams-Goss (10), Musa (7), Hanga (-), Ndiaye (2), Tavares (20), Sergio Rodriguez (12), Hezonja (14), Rudy Fernandez (2), Randolph (2). 6), Cause (-) and False (5)

Referees: Pukl (Slovenia), Mogulkoc (Turkey), Difallah (France). Eliminated: Sanli (min. 38)
Incidences: Some 15,400 spectators attended the match in the second semifinal of the Euroleague played at the Zalgirio Arena