What’s new old man? That seemed to be said before starting the duel against Partizan, the bottom of the Euroleague who had three friends who not so long ago dressed in Barça. And there was no grumbling, cruelty or whistling with coach Joan Peñarroya, because he was incapable of putting together a solid game, with more guirigay than order, with more freedoms than corsets, not a single title to savor. Jabary Parker was also complimented, who was a delight for two courses and who left through the back door without much fanfare because that was the wish of the sports area, who dispensed with him to bet on Punter, since he understood that there couldn’t be two roosters in the henhouse, at least two who with the ball in their hands would shoot before passing. And Calathes passed more anonymously, who did not meet Jasikevicius from 2020 to 2022. But there the praise and pampering ended, Barcelona focused on regaining its pulse after a long time in a coma, driven now by a Xavi Pascual who brings vigor and energy, also the idea of recovering order and command, the Barça DNA that it knows so well. And with that and little else, some Vesely and a lot of Shengelia, it was enough to add a new European triumph and define itself as nobility in Europe.
The Barça team had a hard time at the beginning, subdued by the rival’s physical power, also by an intensity that did not reflect Partizan’s critical moment, in the catacombs of Europe and with a loss of communion between the fans and the players that sometimes makes the atmosphere unbearable. Perhaps away from home they felt less pressure, as if they were more liberated, as if their legs turned them into greyhounds. Parker scored his triple, Bonga and Jekiri added from mid-range and Bruno Fernando stands out as an elite player, all in step with Calathes, who has plenty of vision. Barcelona suffered from it, with Hernangómez as sharp in the rival ring as he was intemperate in his own, out of tune from the beginning and without finding the easy ramps to the basket. 13-20 to close the first act.
Barça then applied itself in defense, in playing the same thing, in stealing and running, in finding Vesely in the low post and Laprovittola and Satoransky – their last slipstream was exceptional – on the outside to tie things up, to restart a duel that had gone wrong at the first change. But Partizan was not out for a walk, Osetkowski intoned from the periphery and Bruno Fernando was huge in the bottle. Until; pray a pass that no one sees; pray a basket that everyone wants, show Georgian to reach the break with an advantage (41-35) and that continued until Barça had 17 points to none of the rival.
Partizan’s ills came out suddenly when they saw themselves below, heads bowed and shoulders drooping, all anemic in the face of complex situations, mentally exhausted by the setbacks of the course. Barcelona enjoyed it, catapulted by Norris’ triples and Punter’s hyperactivity, basketball of many carats that explains why this team was united. Something that hasn’t happened in a long time. 62-50 with the last chapter to complete. The one in which Washington tried to rebel, finally suffocated by Vesely, again lethal in mid-distance shots, also by a Hernangómez who swelled to points in the sprint end. Enough to close a most academic victory that places Barça at the top of the table and further muddies Partizan. Peñarroya has a job,
