Third consecutive European slap in the face for Barça
The Barça team loses in Monaco and is out of the title race
BarcelonaTwo years in a row stumbling on the same stone. Barça lost on Monaco's court and will not play in the play-offs for the EuroLeague title (79-70). Europe expelled the Catalan team before the end of April. It will be the fourth time in history that the Catalan team is not among the eight best teams in the competition. Furthermore, it's three consecutive years without even smelling a final four.
The Salle Gaston Médicin was a nightmare for Barça, who didn't have enough with a good game from Toko Shengelia and Jan Vesely. The coach had to rethink his game plan due to Tomás Satoransky's physical problems, who could only play 10:30 minutes. It's the first time the coach from Gavà will not participate in the quarter-finals, as he had not failed with Barça (8), Panathinaikos (2) or Unics Kazan (1).
Having lost both previous encounters this season, Barça proposed a different game. Pascual introduced very interesting tactical nuances to try to trap Manuchar Markoishvili and change some of the dynamics from previous matches. Despite having only nine players and suffering serious financial problems, Monaco had a positive surprise; the return of Terry Tarpey, who reappeared with a lot of energy.
One of Pascual's concerns was that Barça would start the game well, which did not happen. Despite Will Clyburn's initial points, the script was not as imagined. Barça's defense allowed the home team to score 26 points in the first quarter, which once again highlighted the Catalan team's shortcomings (26-14).
Barça tried to take refuge in a zone defense to try to turn around the scoring dynamic of a Monaco that showed great reliability in shooting, but the difference continued to grow until reaching 17 points (47-30). Daniel Thais dominated the game near the basket and turnovers were a headache. Showing more courage than discipline, the Barça team improved its performance to reach halftime alive (49-35).
Monaco pressed the accelerator again (53-35). The visiting reaction came thanks to defensive improvement and the connection between Toko Shengelia and Jan Vesely, two players who understand basketball very well. The partial was 3-14 (56-49). The sensations turned around and the Monegasque team had problems scoring (58-53).
The refereeing criteria really annoyed Barça at the start of the fourth period, when Monaco revived their score. The difference was eleven points with five minutes to go (72-61). Juani Marcos had good minutes and the Blaugrana team did not give up, but they were not able to be consistent to complete the comeback.
Quarter-finals
The EuroLeague quarter-finals will get underway next week. Olympiacos, the regular season leader, will play the first two games at home (Tuesday 28th and Thursday 30th April). The third and, if necessary, the fourth game will be played on Monaco's court (Tuesday 5th and 7th May). The fifth clash, which would be back in Greece, does not yet have an exact date assigned (12th or 13th May).
