Barça does not want to see the precipice in Munich
The Catalans reach the third duel of the Euroleague ‘playoff’ against Bayern with everything at stake (1-1) and without the ‘field factor’
BARCELONA, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barça will play this Wednesday at the Audi Dome (8:30 p.m.) against Bayern Munich in the third game of their Euroleague quarterfinal ‘Playoff’, a series tied and with everything to be decided after the first two duels at the Palau Blaugrana, and with those of Sarunas Jasikevicius forced not to fail if they don’t want to say goodbye to the dream of the ‘Final Four’ in Belgrade.
The Catalan team needs to recover its best version in a transcendental week for its aspirations in the European competition. For this reason, they will try first of all to get 2-1 on the scoreboard and return to having everything more favorable for Friday’s duel, in which they could seal their pass to the ‘Final Four’. However, a new defeat would make him see a precipice that was not expected at the beginning of this crossing.
The culé team began to sow doubts after becoming the champion of the Regular Phase with an overwhelming dominance in Europe. Now, they must pick up the competitive rhythm and recover the accuracy that they have lacked in their last games and get closer to their Euroleague average of more than 80 points.
Without the ‘field factor’ in his favor, the current runner-up, who curbed some of his doubts with his hard-fought victory last Sunday against Lenovo Tenerife (69-65), will have to show his character and will have to match, at a minimum, the sacrifice and the effectiveness of Bayern, who not only competed in the first assault (77-67) but also won the second with some authority (75-90), thanks to their exterior accuracy.
On the contrary, Andrea Trincheri’s team predicts a tough outcome between the two teams and recalled that their rival is “the best team in the Euroleague, the one with the strongest squad and the best coach.” “He’s still the top favorite for the title and we’ve only earned the chance to play two more games,” admitted the Italian coach.
To overcome the Germans, the Catalan team will have to find answers to the aggressive defense of their rivals, who limited them to only 24 field goals in the last duel. For this reason, they hope to instill a high pace to have more opportunities and also better control the rebound, an aspect that they could not dominate in Barcelona, where they were also the victim of Munich’s outside success.
Thus, Barça will look for the formula to find Mirotic, who has only made eight baskets so far in the tie, a greater contribution from Calathes, tarnished by the strength of the German team, or the wrist of Kyle Kuric, not very successful in both first duels. Barça has traveled to Germany with the entire squad, including Cory Higgins, although he is not expected to reappear in either of the two ‘finals’ as he faces the final stretch of his recovery.
However, Bayern are counting on the sensitive loss of Darrun Hilliard, who injured his collarbone in the first game, while it seems unlikely that Trinchieri will be able to count on the American guard Corey Walden, who has not quite overcome his back problems, and he also has doubts about Leon Radosevic.
DATASHEET.
–TEAMS.
BARÇA: Calathes, Laprovittola, Exum, Mirotic and Davies –possible starting quintet–; Oriola, Jokubaitis, Kuric, Hayes-Davis, Martinez, Smits, Abrines, and Nnaji.
BAYERN MUNICH: Weiler-Babb, George, Lucic, Rubit and Hunter –possible starting five–; Thomas, Jaramaz, Obst, Sisko, Radosevic, and Walden.
–REFEREES: Ryzhyz, Radovic and Difallah.
–PAVILLION: Audi Dome.