Real Madrid and Barça seek to touch the title
The final ‘Playoff’ of the Endesa League arrives at the WiZink Center with equal wins
MADRID, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid and Barça will try this Friday (9:00 p.m.) to give a blow to the ‘Playoff’ for the 2021-2022 Endesa League title and get one win away from glory when the series, with a victory for each , land at the WiZink Center in the capital to host the next two matches.
The Madrid team recovered the ‘field factor’ after prevailing with authority in the first duel last Monday (75-88), but the Blaugrana replied this Wednesday with a hard-fought win (71-69) to balance the fight and also the appearance of the pressure.
Now, this could fall on Chus Mateo’s men, who were one triple away from winning a more than valuable 2-0 win at the Palau Blaugrana, and they will want to assert the support of their public to leave the current champion on the ropes. But he will also have to control his emotions and prevent them from taking their toll on him against Sarunas Jasikevicius, who as a Blaugrana coach still doesn’t know what it’s like to lose at the WiZink Center after six visits.
The third game has also brought the tension that was expected between these two teams, reflected in the madridistas’ complaints about the arbitration of the second game, so many eyes will also fall on the trio Carlos Peruga, Benjamín Jiménez and Alberto Sánchez Sixto, the designated to direct a key clash because the loser will come out very urgent.
At the moment, Barça knew how to recover after their weak first game and knew how to handle the pressure better, taking it more to their ‘field’, that of preventing their rival from scoring easily, and with a great Nikola Mirotic (26 points). In addition, he notably improved his rebounding side, which prevented Real Madrid from playing at his own pace, reduced losses, and, above all, gave a feeling of more energy.
For its part, the madridista team, although it was not at the same level as in the first game, mainly in success, with a poor 5/26 in the triple, knew how to compete until the end and had the good news of participating, not excessive, by Sergio Llull.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
REAL MADRID: Hanga, Causeur, Deck, Yabusele and Tavares — possible starting quintet –; Rudy Fernandez, Poirier, Taylor, Abalde, Nunez and Llull.
BARÇA: Calathes, Higgins, Hayes, Mirotic and Smits –possible starting five–; Laprovittola, Abrines, Martínez, Davies, Kuric, Jokubaitis, Nnaji, Sanli and Exum.
–REFEREES: Peruga, Jiménez and Sánchez Sixto.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center.
–TIME: 21:00/#Let’s go.