The two wins from the first two games at the Palau have left Barça fans with a very positive impression of Aleksander Sekulic’s new-look side. The basketball will now be looking to follow up their victories against Anadolu Efes (89-82) and Leyma Coruña (119-101), the latter featuring a spectacular scoring return not seen since 2018, on the road. And they now face a week with three games in Dubai, Istanbul and Murcia.

Logistically, it is one of the most demanding weeks of the season, with three trips involving 16 hours of flying and more than 11,000 kilometres in the air, travelling with Egyptair, the club’s new sponsor.

Sunday: first flight to Dubai

5,175 kilometres and 6 hours 30 minutes of flying.

The team flew from Barcelona to Dubai on Sunday, arriving in the early hours of the morning. After the longest flight of the season, the players were able to rest on Monday morning and will train at the game venue in the afternoon. Their final training session will be on Tuesday morning, when they will put the finishing touches to preparations before facing Xavi Pascual’s side (6.00pm CEST). Dubai beat Real Madrid by a single point (78-77) in the opening round.

Wednesday: on to Istanbul

3,000 kilometres and 4 hours 30 minutes of flying.

The first EuroLeague double-header week of the season will take Barça from Dubai to Istanbul, a city they will have to visit three times this season. The team will fly there on Wednesday, train on Thursday and face Besiktas on Friday (7.00pm CEST). The Turkish side are back in the competition after a 13-year absence and lost their opening game at home to Valencia by two points (94-96).

Saturday: off to Murcia

2,500 kilometres and 3 hours 40 minutes of flying.

The third stop is Murcia, where Barça will play their second ACB game of the season on Sunday (7.00pm CEST). The team will fly from Istanbul to Alicante on Saturday before continuing to Murcia by coach. Sito Alonso’s side, featuring former Barça player Juani Marcos, lost their opening game in Girona (84-77).

After the game, Barça will take their fourth and final flight of the week, from Alicante to Barcelona (400 kilometres and one hour), returning home to prepare for the game against Zalgiris on Friday the 9th.

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