MADRID, 15 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Baskonia was left out of the Euroleague quarterfinals this Friday due to the ‘in extremis’ victory of Zalgiris in their visit to Bayern (80-83), closing with agony a regular phase that after 34 days has matched the Barça (2nd) precisely with the Kaunas team (7th) and Real Madrid (3rd) with Partizan Belgrade (6th).
After Baskonia’s final goodbye on this last day and Valencia Basket in previous weeks, the two Spanish teams that are still alive in the top competition of the ‘Old Continent’ will have field advantage for crosses that will be played for the best of five games .
In case of winning their respective qualifiers, culés and meringues would face each other in a semifinal of the Final Four for the title, which will be held from May 19 to 21 at the Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas (Lithuania). The direct confrontations between Barça and Zalgiris this season have resulted in a local victory on Lithuanian lands (73-72) and a Barcelona triumph also in front of their fans (93-74).
Regarding the direct confrontations between Real Madrid and Partizán throughout this season, equality has also prevailed. In the first round of the competition, the whites prevailed at home by 105-97; and in the second round, those from Belgrade scored a 104-90 in their favor in the heat of their fans at the Stark Arena.
On the other side of the draw, the leader Olympiacos has a favorable home court factor in its matchup with Fenerbahçe (8th). Whoever wins will face off in the other ‘semi’ of the Final Four with the winner of the duel between AS Monaco (4th) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (5th), whose field advantage is for those from the Principality.