Euroleague working day 3. 4
![Barça](https://as01.epimg.net/img/comunes/fotos/fichas/equipos/large/4110.png)
Monaco and Panathinaikos did not fail their previous commitments to close the regular phase of the Euroleague and were left looking in the rearview mirror at Barcelona, who fell to Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne (76-72) but sealed their classification as fourth place , all in the slipstream of Real Madrid, the example of the orange planet. In any case, the Barça team gets a home advantage in the quarterfinals, already knowing that their rival will be Olympiacos [que retorció al Fenerbahçe en la prórroga por 84-81], best-of-five series. The negative part, taking into account the precedents and even though last week he gave them a corrective at the Palau, is that they would face Chus Mateo's team – as long as they surpass in their series the last classified in the play-in– in the semi-finals of the Final Four As happened in the last two seasons, he got off in both before the final challenge.
With the position secured, Barça took refuge in Lyon in the rotations, minutes for the less burdened players, distribution of efforts and candy on the part of the coach. Also vindication of the jumping Brizuela, who for some time now, every time he plays, is highlighted with points and assists, with Show, although unfortunately for him it now coincides with the annual emergence of Laprovittola, poison for Maccabi (he decided the duel with a triple) and for Madrid, to whom he scored 25 points; also with a hot wrist Abrines. Was the Basque Mambain any case, the one that drove the team in the first quarter, one-handed basket, deli at home, triple and assistance for Kalinic. But the team barely accompanied him and the tall Fall prevailed under the hoops against a Vesely who has lost steam as the season has gone by, intemperate until told otherwise because there is no center who shoots better from mid-distance. That and the fact that the Barça B unit was not up to par, gave Villeurbanne wings, a splendid Lee from the outskirts, 24-18 after the aperitif.
ASVEL, 76 – BARCELONA, 72
Asvel Villeurbanne: Lee (10), De Colo (9), Thomas (4), Lighty (6) and Fall (15) -initial quintet-; Kahudi (0), Lauvergne (20), Luwawu-Cabarrot (4), Jackon (6) and Ndiaye (2).
Barcelona: Satoransky (0), Brizuela (7), Kalinic (3), Da Silva (0) and Vesely (9) -starting quintet-; Paulí (9), Ricky Rubio (5), Abrines (6), Parker (7), Nnaji (9), Jokubaitis (12) and Parra (5).
Partials: 24-18; 14-24; 19-15; 19-15.
Referees: Sreten Radovic (Croatia), Anne Panther (Germany) and Gentian Cici (Albania). No eliminations.
LDLC Arena. About 10,000 spectators
Barça got into tune in the second quarter under the direction of a Ricky Rubio who is still not round but who gets the fans out of their seats with his bowler hat basketball – like a running pass and looking down the line; like a basket falling backwards -, also with an electric Jokubaitis, even with a Paulí who hardly counts for Grimau but who is the perfect substitute, always motivated and without twisting his face, always with the sum as his flag. The mixture made Barça go to the dressing room ahead (38-42).
But Nando De Colo, who had not said a word until now, chained two triples, finally breaking into an incomprehensible shot for a player who has many points on his hands, while Fall kept up with him. Estirón of Asvel, who explained that he has more team than to be the penultimate in the Euroleague as its president Tony Parker defends. Although perhaps not enough to break up Barça, who found Parker in his minutes of prime, which brought the match to a draw (56-56), a poor scoreline in any case. But it was a night where the defenses prevailed over the attacks, in addition to the fact that Barça was once again a calamity in free throws (13 of 25 in the duel), a repeated defect during the season.
Lauvergne then appeared as a lever to move Villeurbaunne and as a whip for a rival whose arm at times shrank, a problem resolved with two plays of two plus one from Paulí and Jokubaitis, also with a triple from Abrines and the repeated rebounds by Nnaji. But Lauvergne had more, he became huge again and demanded that Barça play red or black on the last play. Jokubaitis' jump shot, ball spit out of the ring after tie and Asvel, who even took advantage of the couple of seconds left to extend the victory, left Europe with joy. It didn't matter too much to Grimau's Barça because of the close classification to the quarterfinals, although he showed that without the starters it doesn't matter much.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Barcelona #falls #Villeurbanne #Euroleague #quarterfinals