Asvel struggling, Barcelona wins the Clasico, Monaco cracks
On the occasion of the 26th day of Euroleague, Thursday 10 and Friday 11 February, great meetings were on the program. Apart from the “Clasico” won by Barcelona against Madrid, Monaco lost on the wire against Kaunas on Thursday, while Asvel chained a fifth consecutive defeat in the competition, losing against Panathinaikos.
Asvel still struggling
Asvel conceded its fifth consecutive defeat in the Euroleague against Panathinaikos (76-63), Friday at the Astroballe de Villeurbanne on behalf of the 26th day, and sees its chances of reaching the final phase dwindling.
No victory for our Villeurbannais this Friday.
We return to the Astroballe on Sunday to challenge @ASMonaco_Basket
Fr #BetclicELITE#LDLCASVEL #EuroLeague #10oneteam pic.twitter.com/RJ0exI6WoZ— LDLC ASVEL (@LDLCASVEL) February 11, 2022
Villeurbanne, fourteenth before the match, who remains three wins behind Fenerbahçe (eighth) but also Efes Istanbul, Bayern Munich and Monaco, has won only two of his last thirteen European matches, for a record of nine wins and fifteen losses.
For its part, Pana won for the sixth time this season, the first outside of twelve trips, for a total of seventeen defeats. The Athens team, 17th at kick-off, is also three games late.
Barca win the Clasico at Real Madrid
In the expected match of this day, FC Barcelona outclassed Real Madrid 86-68 on their floor and won the “Clasico” to return to the height of the people of Madrid, tied for first place in the standings.
The Catalans failed hard, taking a twenty-point lead in the first quarter (28-8), and kept their mattress until the end, inflicting their third consecutive defeat in all competitions on the Merengues, the first at the WiZink Center in the Euroleague this season.
Poetry in motion by Barcelona
Diamond | Side ball screen | Weak elbow pindown#ForcaBarca pic.twitter.com/TDQryJWWrj
– The Basket Head (@theBasketHead2) February 11, 2022
Until then, Real had been on a series of 13 wins in 13 home games, but this second “Clasico” lost against Barça on its floor, after that in the Spanish league on January 23 (75-85), a permit for the men of Sarunas Jasikevicius to equal his record (20 wins – 5 losses each).
Monaco, beaten on the wire by Kaunas, falls from very high
On Thursday, Monaco had completely cracked against the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas (83-82) at home during the 26th day of the Euroleague, and lost a big opportunity to get closer to qualifying for the Top 8.
Tight match for the @ASMonaco_Basket tonight against @bczalgiris Fr @EuroLeague
The #Rocateam lost 82-83 in the last seconds against a team that did not give up
Debriefing tomorrow evening in our JT
© Communications Department / Michael Alesi pic.twitter.com/lEAeNFL3hU— Monaco Info (@monaco__info) February 10, 2022
With 13 defeats, for only 12 victories, Sasa Obrodovic’s men will now have to count on two home victories against two direct opponents to hope to revive. It will be next February 22, against the Russian team of Unics Kazan, then on February 25 against the Turks of Fenerbahçe Istanbul.
“On a merit to lose this match”analyzed after the fact the Monegasque coach, annoyed. “I didn’t like the way we played. We played too slowly the whole match. We can’t not accept this Zalgiris team like that,” he added, regretting “individualism” of his players in the game.