Madrid destroys Barça’s European dream

the dream of the Euroleague jumped to pieces for the barca on a fateful night in Belgrade. A defeat against real Madrid in the semi-final he condemned the team Jasikevicius (83-86). All the good feelings of the season were buried in a game in which the Barça team lost their heads in the second half, throwing away the 11-point lead they had at half-time and, above all, the great match from mirotic (26 points, 12 rebounds, PIR of 39), who emptied himself to change the fortunes of the azulgranas, but who will have to see, one more season, how the European title slips away.

Two unexpected actors on the Madrid side, Causeur and Yabusele, both with 18 points, became the executioners of the Barcelona fans, who aspired to take the final step this year, but who have reached the moment of truth without the freshness or confidence that such a demanding company needs. The dynamics of the azulgranas and madridistas have been completely opposite. The growth of the team lasso He has been spectacular in the last month, in play and efficiency, as he showed in the series against Maccabi. The barca It has fallen into a kind of depression, from which it has not been able to rise and which will force a deep reflection.

laso’s surprise

As much as both teams know each other, there is always room for surprise and Madrid He demonstrated it with a quintet without a starting center, with whom he won the initiative. Laso’s move matched sanli with Yabusele and the French power forward, much more mobile and with an excellent shot from outside, gave the white team the first eight points with two triples and a counterattack. He had to quickly start moving the bench Jasikevicius to find answers to a game that started crooked (8-14). the input of Davis and the prominence of mirotic they gave them Barça achieved that the score of the first quarter would return the balance (19-19).

The sensations, however, remained better on the Madrid side, which continued to show more fluidity in attack. The mastery of the rebound, the penetrations of Deck and Hanga and some punctual action of Rudy They put Barça’s defense in trouble, which had not yet entered the game. The Catalan team did not manage to find the rhythm until the entrance of Jokubaitis and step in front of Davis in the fight for the rebound. The return of mirotic to court after a quick step on the bench managed to wake up the team. The Montenegrin star, very active on the rebound, also began to score in attack. But they also did laprovittolaand to a lesser extent Abrines and Davies.

control at rest

Barça offered its best minutes in that phase of the game and recovered part of the skills that have made it so solvent this season and managed to change the dynamic. Suddenly, Madrid was out of rhythm, overtaken by the Barça transitions and lost punch. The consequence was that the table of Jasikevicius was shot on the scoreboard in the last four minutes of the second quarter, and from a tie at 31, after a very distant triple by miroticsigned a 14-3 run that shot their leads over ten at the break (45-34).

.@RMBasketball‘s French connection- @FCauseur1 to @viinze_17P for a two-handed slam!#F4GLORY I #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/8k5gAcj38Y

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) May 19, 2022

When the semifinal seemed to paint well for Barça, everything was blurred in an unacceptable second half. To forget. He was able to maintain the dynamic in attack, albeit with an overexertion of mirotic, who was left practically alone when it came to attacking the hoop. And Madrid, on the other hand, began to grow in each action through defense and taking matches from pairings such as abalde with laprovittolawhere he found physical advantage.

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In this commitment to put intensity, the team of Jasikevicius it turned out very badly. He suffered an inexplicable blackout and won a very tough set against (2-17) in just five minutes that cast doubt on each of his actions and boosted the confidence of Laso’s team when they saw themselves in front of the scoreboard again (56-60 ).

For many changes that the Barca coach tried, the feeling of bewilderment in the barca did not disappear and the loneliness of mirotic it just made it grow. Madrid was gaining in solidity and, in precipitation, J’s teamasikevicius with the marker running against. Two consecutive triples laprovittola in the last three minutes (75-75, m-38) they seemed to give the Barcelona fans hope, but the appearance of causeur With five consecutive points, he signed an end that very few expected and that will prolong the painful disagreement between Barça and the competition.