A mature and compact team showed all of Barça’s problems. Messina’s Milan short-circuited the Blaugrana with a 0-20 run to conclude the third quarter that sealed their victory at the Palau – the sixth in a row in the Euroleague – and left Nikola Mirotic’s emotional return 546 days later in the background. There was no Barcelona response, neither on the bench – no time-out was called in that quarter – nor on the hardwood, where the players chained errors. The last one, from Vesely, with a clear foul and protest with technique included. Which in the RAE is defined as an absolute disaster.
The situation of Peñarroya’s team is more than worrying, as they continue to go down the ranks in the Euroleague and, furthermore, they barely have a center, Vesely. Because Willy Hernangómez ruins everything he touches and Fall is invisible to the coach despite his 2m21.
Emotional reception
Leday, with 33 points, eclipsed Mirotic who was applauded with passion at the beginning and end of the duel
As it could not be otherwise, the evening began and ended with a unanimous ovation from everyone present in the Palau for Mirotic during the presentation of the teams and, especially, at the end of the duel. His mark is deep and that of Barça on him, too, so the mutual affection blossomed again on his first visit since he left. Of course, when the ball went into the air, friendships were put aside.
Barça had certainly come out plugged in, it was very noticeable in the defensive intensity, even celebrating every steal or every deflection of the ball. The Blaugrana were in charge with a Jabari who wanted to be liked. Also Mirotic, whose numbers fell out of his backpack. A rebound here, a triple there and whatever you choose on the other side. Despite all this, the score was increasing and Willy Hernangómez made it 21-12.
Milan showed too much error in the three-pointers, which prevented them from getting too close, but the Messina team did not seem excessively nervous, and with the help of a scoreboard they began to gradually slow down the rival’s production. Mirotic ran the court, stopped and scored a triple like someone eating a lollipop. And his teammates followed him, and now they were starting to do damage on the outside shot. In front, the recovered Brizuela tried to respond but the distances were shortening. It was a push and pull of the light, fattening and thinning the differences like a Hollywood actor.
The exit from the locker room was magnificent on Barça’s part but it ended up being a mirage. Núñez made it 55-46 and Messina sensed what could happen and stopped it by protesting, earning a technical but also leaving his mark on the referee trio. Italian master move. Barça stopped at 60 points as if it had hit a concrete wall and Milan, with a masterful Leday, scored 0-20 in just over three minutes in which Peñarroya did not even want to stop the game. Strange thing. The end of the event, with five free throws in a row for the Italians after a recital of techniques, ended the night. The last ten minutes were unnecessary, converted into a road of the cross for a Barça that is beginning to be seriously injured in Europe.
Technical sheet
81 – Barça (24+19+17+21): Satoransky (8), Punter (21), Anderson (17), Parker (7), Vesely (13) -starting five- Núñez (3), Parra (2) , Hernangómez (4), Brizuela (6), Sarr (0).
94 – Armani Milan (16+24+36+18): Mannion (6), Bolmaro (4), Shields (11), Mirotic (19), Leday (33) -starting five- Dimitrijevic (5), Causeur (5 ), Brooks (3), Ricci (0), Diop (6) and Gillespie (2).
Referees: Mehdi Difallah (France), Milan Nedovic (Slovenia) and Thomas Bissell (France). Eliminated: Parker (min.36).
Incidents: matchday 15 of the Euroleague basketball match played at the Palau Blaugrana in front of 5,496 spectators.
Joan Penarroya
“We collapsed for three minutes and the game was decided there”
A dejected Joan Peñarroya was trying to deal with Barça’s tough defeat in the Palau press room. “We had the game under control for 26 minutes, we won by 9 points, but we collapsed for about three minutes and the game was decided,” he lamented. “We have had difficulties with several open play situations, arriving late to the shots of Leday and Mirotic, who are very inspired in the triple,” he explained. The Barça coach pointed out that those three minutes “do not have to be erased, we have to keep them in mind to try to prevent them from happening again.”
#Leday #shortcircuits #Barça #Palau #surrenders #Mirotic
