Winning in Munich was non-negotiable for a Barça that, after the two defeats last week against direct rivals such as Fenerbahçe and Panathinaikos, had made its path to home field advantage in the Euroleague playoffs somewhat complicated. Roger Grimau’s men accepted the challenge, storming the BMW Park with a convincing performance, which should clear up doubts and help regain the confidence of the Blaugrana ahead of the last two days of the regular phase, against Maccabi at the Palau and against Asvel in Lyon. Staying in the top four is a primary objective and, for now, with today’s games remaining, the Catalan team took a giant step forward by defeating a Bayern team that was risking its life but saying goodbye to its aspirations.
Perhaps somewhat gripped by the situation, it took Barça a few minutes to decipher the combination, running into a Bayern in which Ibaka seemed like an insurmountable wall every time someone dared to step on the paint. But after some testing plays, the Barça engine began to fuel. Kalinic appeared everywhere. He stole, assisted, rebounded and scored. He was a kind of hinge through which all of his companions passed. Vesely emerged as the most fun, receiving balls with advantage and destroying the Bavarian hoop.
Laprovittola’s first lesson sealed a 0-9 partial through a triple that began to distance Grimau’s team, although it was Jabari Parker in the subsequent play that sealed the maximum Barça difference of the first quarter (11-19). Some throw from Lucic and the electricity from Francisco were one of the few arguments that Laso’s team seemed to oppose.
Blood began gushing from the local wound in the second quarter and there did not appear to be any doctor in the room. With an outstanding Willy Hernangómez, dominating the area (8 catches in the first half), Barça won the rebound battle against Bayern, the second best team in the Euroleague in this section, and from there they ran, enjoyed and escaped . Parker scored with his usual ease, Brizuela joined the party and Abrines met with the net from the goal to extend a partial that reached 0-15, which seriously threatened to crush the game early. Laso called a time-out but there was no way to stop the Barcelona gale. Although Bayern ended the drought of almost six minutes without scoring, a Barça team that was very comfortable on the pitch extended it to 21-43 (minute 16) thanks to a basket from Da Silva.
From there, both in the final stretch of that second act and throughout the entire week, Bayern really competed, trapped in a dead end, and was closing the gap while equalizing the rebound battle. He did not fully get into the game, winning the score only in the last quarter. In the third, Barça tried to definitively settle the duel but Weiler-Babb firmly opposed it, somewhat fueling the excitement of the last ten minutes. In that stretch, Francisco found clairvoyance and with two free throws from Lucic, Bayern cut it to 77-83 with 1m3s remaining. A bomb from Laprovittola lowered the pressure on Grimau’s bench and closed the Barça suitcase with the victory. A victory that came with points from the eleven players who stepped on the hardwood. More coral, impossible.
79. Bayern Munich (19 11 23 26): Edwards (6), Bolmaro (-), Lucic (13), Bonga (9), Ibaka (17) – starting team – Weiler-Babb (17), Harris (6). ), Francis (8), Radoncic (1), Wimberg (2) and Kharchenkov (-).
87. Barça (25 22 24 16): Satoransky (9), Laprovittola (14), Kalinic (8), Da Silva (4), Vesely (12) -starting team-, Hernangómez (9), Parker (15), Rubio (6), Abrines (3), Brizuela (3) and Jokubaitis (4).
Referees: Ilija Belosevic (SER), Milan Nedovic (ESL) and Amit Balak (ISR). No eliminated. They pointed out a technical foul against the local Edwards (min.32) and an unsportsmanlike foul against the local Ibaka (min.23).
Incidents: matchday 32 of the Euroleague basketball match played at the BMW Park in Munich (Germany).
