The Club plants the cradle flag in Europe
Asisa Joventut steamrolls AEK Athens and ties the European playoff series
BadalonaWhen Badalona beats strongly, La Penya dreams big. Asisa Joventut ran over AEK Athens to plant its flag in Europe, where it is one victory away from reaching the final four of the Basketball Champions League. Led by Ricky Rubio, the home team put on a display of strength (88-66). The quarter-final tie, which is tied at one win each, will be decided on Wednesday, April 15th, in Greece.
AEK, which aspires to play in the European NBA, left its yellow jerseys in Athens and only traveled with the black ones. FIBA asked La Penya not to play with its traditional green and black kit, but the Catalan club, aware that it was a historic night, did not accept it.
The Palau Olímpic traveled back in time and transformed into the mythical Ausiàs March Pavilion. The fans vibrated with a victory of the kind that will be recounted every time someone asks about the green and black DNA. A few dozen Greek fans, who ended up fighting amongst themselves and filling the venue with tobacco smoke, occupied one of the upper tiers of a pavilion that had heightened security measures.
Dani Miret, who was again without Guillem Vives, Ante Tomic, and Simon Birgander, was able to use Cameron Hunt. The coach was right again with a game plan that was as brave as it was well-worked. La Penya took advantage of the initial adrenaline to start the game by opening up a significant gap. The verdinegra lead reached 26 points during a first half that local fans will be slow to forget (51-25). AEK tried to reconnect with the game by increasing their defensive level, but they reached halftime with a very unfavorable scenario (53-31).
Ricky Rubio, who understood like no one else what the game meant, made sure that Asisa Joventut did not come out relaxed after the break. Dragan Sakota forced his expulsion to try to shake up the night emotionally, but La Penya reached the last ten minutes with the upper hand (72-55).
AEK's comeback added emotion to a game that La Penya did not deserve to lose.
Bitter night at the Palau Blaugrana
A Barça still without Tomás Satoransky could not compete against Panathinaikos (79-93). An 18-0 with the match already decided flattered the scoreboard. The Barça fans expressed their displeasure, as the Catalan team ended up losing by 31 points difference against a much superior opponent.
The defeat complicates Barça's qualification for the play-offs for the Euroleague title and, moreover, does not guarantee their presence in the repechage.