Barça-Real Madrid, a final with a mutual spirit of revenge

The Blaugranas and Blancos open the grand final of the Endesa League this Monday at the Palau (9:00 p.m.) with a very open forecast

Saras’ Barça has knocked out Madrid in three major finals after knocking them out in the semis of the Euroleague

No matter how many surprises there are throughout the course and for better or worse streaks of both teams, the reality is that the finals between Barça and Real Madrid are once again a constant domestically and this Monday the Palau will host the first match of the league final at 9:00 p.m.

With the exception of the Final Phase that the ACB invented to save the ‘covid season’ (2019-20) and that ended successfully for Ivanovic’s Baskonia against a Barça in which Pesic’s head was cut off, it will be the third classic final in the last four campaigns with a title apiece.

the dynamics

On paper, Madrid arrives stronger after resurfacing strongly when things were worse in the months of January and February. He does it with a host of doubts due to physical issues and with the team very connected, although it seems that without Pablo Laso. The white coach is very recovered of the heart attack he suffered last week and two days ago he visited the team after beating Baskonia 3-0.

Without Williams-Goss or Alocén, Alberto Abalde, Sergio Llull are ‘touched’ and the ousted Trey Thompkins and Thomas Heurtel. Despite this, Walter Tavares, Vincent Poirier and the powerful Guerschon Yabusele are sowing panic inside, while former Barça player Adam Hanga has taken stripes and Rudy Fernández is making a difference.

The Barça is not the one of November and December. They have lost solvency, but in the quarterfinals against Gran Canaria and in the semifinals against Joventut, Jasikevicius’ men have shown character with Nikola Mirotic erected as the undisputed leader.

The one from Pogdorica scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds (+18) in the fourth game in Badalona, almost matching the 18 points and seven rebounds (+27) of the third. The other good news in terms of Barça is the good moment of Cory Higgins, who has taken over the shooting guard position to reduce Laprovittola’s minutes and remove Dante Exum from the call by preferring Saras to Nigel Hayes for his work, above all to defensive level.

The fact is that Barça suffered in the quarterfinals with a saving basket by Higgins on island lands in the second game (86-88) and in ‘semi’ against Penya after falling in the second duel at the Palau by 81-87 in an exhibition of former Barcelona captain Ante Tomic.

Sara’s streak

Both Barça and Real Madrid reach this final with pending accounts. Since the arrival of Jasikevicius on the bench, the Catalans have defeated the Whites in the three most important finals they have played.

With the exception of the incredible Madrid comeback in the Super Cup final at the beginning of the current season (83-88 with 63-44 for the Catalans in the 25th minute), Barça went over their eternal rival in the final of the Copa del Rey 2020-21 (88-73 with 20 points from a stellar Higgins).

It was Saras’ first major title on the Barcelona bench and four months later came the second in a reduced play-off due to the coronavirus. In the best of three games, the Barça team knocked out Madrid without hesitation (75-89 at the WiZink with 26 points from Higgins and eight rebounds from Pau Gasol) and abused him in the second at the Palau (92-73 with 27 points and +35 from an unstitched Mirotic).

In a final marked by low scoring, Barça revalidated the cup title by beating the whites in a new classic final (59-64) with 19 points from Mirotic, six rebounds from Sertaç Sanli and six assists from Calathes. Will Saras get four out of four, this time with Chus Mateo on the bench?

The recent Final Four of the Euroleague

Despite this great streak that would suggest that the champion of the regular phase starts with a certain favoritism, the truth is that there are also airs of ‘vendetta’ in the Barça hosts for what happened in the recent Final Four of the Euroleague.

With many doubts and with a Cory Higgins who still had a week and a half to go after his plantar fasciitis operation, Barça was never comfortable in Belgrade in the semifinal against Madrid and ended up losing 83-86 despite a great final reaction that gave him options until Laprovittola rushed into an attack and received a ‘cap’.

Although Madrid ended up falling in the final against Anadolu with a strange decision by Pablo Laso by not punishing the last attack of a Turkish team that prevailed in the image and likeness of what happened a year before with Barça, Saras and his players also have a big pending account.