The Barça recovers the smile in Europe

Barça had several challenges to overcome against Monaco and they did it with a remarkable match. The first, obviously, to win against a rival who aspires like them to get into the top four of the Euroleague. The second, important, control those last quarters that have given Barça so many headaches this season. Got it too. And the third, perhaps the most important, to show that they are a solid team. Jasikevicius’ men were ahead throughout the game, perfectly controlled Monaco’s outside shot and were superior, always starting from a great defence. round night.

It was not difficult for Barça to enter the game despite the rest days, concentrated and intense, in the first five minutes. The little success of two from Monaco benefited him, but he was uncomfortable with Borwn’s defense on Mirotic. So much so that the Barça power forward took a technique. With two three-pointers from Abrines, who started at the start, the Catalans opened the first gap (12-6).

The three-pointers were in fact the biggest difference of the first quarter. None scored for Monaco, four for Barça, for the 24-18 with which the period ended. In addition to Abrines, Satoransky and Mirotic also added very good minutes, who gradually entered the game. Monaco experienced some difficulty in attack, relied on Diallo to score and always followed Barça closely. From Mike James, however, no news.

Barça’s forcefulness in the second quarter was based on an immense Vesely, capable of successfully continuing all the blocks and always offering a solution to his teammates. Jokubaitis read it perfectly and the locals went eleven (33-22). Higgins also stood out but, unfortunately for Barça, Jordan Loyd did the same. Several easy points from Monaco forced Jasikevicius to stop the match. He didn’t want the slightest relaxation. They maintained the income well (50-39) despite the appearance of Mike James.

Barça’s solid first half continued after the break. With an advantage of around ten points, the azulgranas failed to break the game but neither did they allow Monaco to get on their beards. The visitors increased their defensive level in a very tight third quarter. But Barça’s problem this season, as was seen before Unicaja, is not the beginnings or the third quarters. They are the end of the matches (65-57).

And the game was complicated for Barça. The offensive blackout of the Catalans lasted almost five minutes, unable to overcome the defense of a Monaco that little by little added. They got to three (65-62) with five minutes to go. They had come to win by 15. Despite this, the doubts ended there. Led by Higgins and Satoransky, they once again took a good advantage that they would not lose in what was a very rare end of the game: after an argument on the Monaco bench, the visitors practically gave up playing the last two minutes.