Bilbao Basket the toughest opponent for Barça Regal despite the precedents

Bilbao Basket the toughest opponent for Barça Regal despite the precedents

Catalans and Basques have met twice in the play-offs and Barça has won every game The last time they met in the final phase was in the 2010/11 final when Barça won 3-0

Barça Regal and Uxue Bilbao Basket have met five times in two play-off series and Xavi Pascual's men have won them all. The first time the Catalans and Basques met in a final phase was in 2008. As now, it was in the quarterfinals and Barça beat Bilbao 75-64 in the Palau Blaugrana and 83-92 in La Casilla. The 2-0 series win sent Barça through to face Joventut in the ACB semi-finals. There, Barça also won 2-0 to go through to the final where they lost 3-0 to Baskonia.

A great final

Barça Regal played the final of the 2010/2011 Endesa League against Bilbao Basket. The team coached by Fotis Katsikaris was too good for Real Madrid in the semi-finals but Barça Regal, who got to the final phase in great form, won the first two games in the Palau 74-64 and 74-67. Barça went on to lift the league championship in the Bilbao Arena 55-64.

It won’t be easy

Although results from previous seasons can help gauge the strength of the opponent, this season Bilbao and Barça have met twice with one victory apiece. Barça lost 78-77 in the dying seconds in Bilbao while in the Palau Blaugrana, Barça won in extra time (87-85).

The Barça Regal coach, Xavi Pascual, is convinced that the Basque team will be difficult to beat: “Uxue Bilbao is the toughest opponent we could have got. They’ve got players with a lot of experience and quality. This year they played the final of the Eurocup. They’re a solid team with very experienced players. They’ll be difficult opponents but we hope to win playing good basketball”. There’s no margin for error in a three-game series where a defeat can complicate things a lot.

Força Barça
Força Barça

Related to this article

Close article

Related to this article