Barcelona - Real Madrid

Spain - Liga ACB, Round 27

The Basketball Expert

Barcelona defeated Valencia in the Euroleague on Friday night. In this way, they ended the regular season in second place and will play against Zalgiris in the quarterfinals. Before the first game in that tie, the Catalans have three games in the Endesa League ahead of them, which could decide where they will finish on the table. They currently have one win less than Baskonia, so this clash against Real Madrid is extremely important. Barcelona has established its rotation in backcourt, but head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius still failed to find who could help Nikola Mirotic, Sertac Sanli and Jan Vesely inside. Oscar da Silva and Mike Tobey get their chance alternately, and now Jasikevicius gave Oriol Pauli a opportunity as well.

Real Madrid lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague last round. Had they won, they would have Zalgiris as their opponent in the quarterfinals. Now, they will play against Partizan and fans already expressed their dissatisfaction on social networks due to missed opportunity. Head coach Jesus Mateo constantly receiving critics and he is under enormous pressure. Euroleague title seems to be his only chance to keep his job. It is increasingly being talked that Sergio Scariolo has agreed the details and "Los Blancos" bench most likely will be his in few months. Real Madrid also has problems with absences. Vincent Poirier will not be on the roster until May, while Sergio Llull and Nigel Williams-Goss have started to practice, but they are still far from 100% fit.

Neither of these two teams exploited their potential to the maximum. Both have a lot of room for improvement before decisive games in both competitions. However, Barcelona looks a shade better. Compared to Real Madrid, their biggest advantage is on the bench. Coach Jasikevicius is at a much higher level than coach Mateo and that could be the key difference in this game. Real Madrid has more problems with injuries, plus the momentum is not the best either. In these circumstances, Barcelona are favorite on their court and should win this "El Classico" without drama late in fourth quarter.

Pistol Pete

The biggest Spanish rivals will have a direct duel for second place in the 27th round of the domestic championship, and Barcelona's advantage is not only the fact that they are the hosts in this derby.

Both teams disappointed with defeats in the previous round of ACB league, but Real Madrid's 96:72 away loss to Breogan is more worrying for them than Barcelona's 82:80 loss at Bilbao. The Catalan team then left an excellent impression, with a triumph on Friday over Valencia in the last round of the Euroleague, 85:71. Since the beginning of December, Barca have lost only twice in the Spanish ACB league - both times by difference of two points, and away from home. Momentum in the derby against Real is definitely on the side of the hosts, led from the bench by the legendary Lithuanian Sarunas Jasikevicius.

In the first part of the season, at the beginning of January, Barca celebrated away from home in Madrid 87:78, in a game that was almost routine for them. In that match, the Catalan team showed that they have overally better options in the guard positions. The Argentine Laprovittola and the American Higgins were an unsolvable "puzzle" for the Real Madrid guards.

It is clear that the key task for Barca will be to prevent Real's game through the center Walter Tavares, as well as to reduce the percentage of three-point shooting of the guests to the smallest possible extent.

Real Madrid has lost three away games in a row in all competitions, and on Thursday they played a tough match in Tel Aviv and were defeated by Maccabi in overtime 100:96. It will be a key task for the coach stuff to refresh and prepare the team for another tough fight after the long journey back to Madrid.

Real will have to find a way for the best possible conversion of shots of important tall player Yabusela under the basket, as well as the Bosnian guard Musa. The team has the problem of not having a dominant playmaker, the veteran Rodriguez plays with reduced minutes, so the other guards often strive for individual solutions.

Also, it is clear that Real have problems with the defense, in each of the last three away matches they conceded at least 96 points - and Barcelona has more attacking potential than all those teams.

This season in the ACB league, the big rivals, interestingly, have the same percentage of shooting from the field for two and three points, as well as the same average stats in assists. However, it is clear this season that Barca is ready to play better defense against quality rivals compared to Real Madrid, and one gets the impression that they are a more mature team for difficult and uncertain last minutes of the games. This advantage is especially highlightened when they play in front of his fans.

A triumph would almost certainly launch Barcelona to at least second place ahead of the playoffs, so the Jasikevicius team's motive is clear, as well as their greater chances of triumph in this match.