With four games to play and two margins with fifth place, Barça faces the duel against Partizan with much to gain and little to lose. A victory in Belgrade, which will not be easy, would virtually seal the top-4 of the Euroleague. A defeat, on the other hand, would keep them ahead of the fifth and three games to achieve the great objective. From the locker room they want to win the four games they have left (Partizan, ALBA Berlin, Milan and Valencia) but they are aware that two are enough. We’ll see if the first one is tonight.
The Catalans have traveled to Belgrade with all their available troops. That’s 15 players, Jasikevicius will have to rule out three, in full physical condition but in different moments of form. Mirotic chains four games in the Euroleague at a very high level, thus joining Satoransky and Vesely. The three, accompanied by Kalinic, are today the base of the team. On the contrary, there is Kuric, far from the best version of him, a Sanli who did perform at a high level against La Penya and Laprovittola. The Argentine, who pulled the car at the beginning of the season, is not signing his best performances now.
The first obstacle that Barça will find in Belgrade is the atmosphere of the Stark Arena. To an already hot public, we must add the problems that the Serbian fans had in the first leg at the Palau: many bought tickets outside the area designated for visiting fans (something not allowed) and the club did not let them access the pavilion prior return of money. The problem, which made it necessary to reinforce the party’s security so that it would not end up becoming a matter of public order, is that many had already traveled to Barcelona. And of course, happy they did not leave. Most of them will be in the pavilion today.
The second problem, and probably the biggest, is that Zelko Obradovic’s team arrives ready for their appointment with Barça. There are four games won in the last five, including a victory against Olympiacos and another away against Anadolu Efes. In addition, they are in the middle of the fight for the playoffs, they are seventh, so there is a lot at stake for them.
With Kevin Punter as team leader (15’7 points per game)Partizan has many and varied weapons to hurt Barça. dante exum without going any further, that last year he dressed as a blaugrana, but also Mathias Lessort, second most valued player in the competition. Partizan is in fact the third team that scores the most points in the Euroleague and the team that scores the most free throws, so the defense will be especially relevant tonight.