Win or lose, whether the team is better or worse, Badalona always supports La Penya. Few cities can boast of that symbiosis between a hobby and a club that this season has recovered a small piece of its brilliant history. With a cheerful game and with the quarry always as a flag, the black-and-white have got into the semifinals of the Endesa League for the first time in 14 years and, as in the 2008 edition, Barça is opposite, the eternal rival from whom they have snatched the field factor after winning (81-87) at home the second game of the series. With the tie tied at one, it’s time for the Palau Olímpic, where today (9:00 p.m.) and Friday, with the atmosphere of the big nights, the next and perhaps last matches of the Catalan best-of-five match will be played.
“You go down the street and everyone congratulates you, they show you their support”, explained Pau Ribas, the only survivor of the previous semifinals against the Catalans. The shooting guard is aware of the “help” that a full stand with a crowd that “always supports no matter how the game goes.”
As the season progressed and the team grew, the people from Badalona have been approaching the green and black fort more frequently. The upper tier, normally closed, has been opened on several occasions this year due to the high demand for tickets. An average of 9,000 people supported the team in the two quarter-final matches against Lenovo Tenerife and the best attendance was precisely against Barça in the regular phase with 12,166 spectators, very close to the maximum capacity of 12,500.
A similar response is expected for the double confrontation against the Barcelona fans. “The most important thing we have achieved this season is to hook the people of Badalona to come back to the Olímpic, to enjoy our game”, concluded Ribas, trained in the Joventut youth academy since he was four years old.
Beyond the environmental factor, the results support the cause of the Verdinegro team, which in the League has only regretted four defeats at home for 15 wins, one against Barça. “We have won a lot on our court because we feel very protected. But we will have to play basketball well”, warned Carles Duran about the Blaugrana, who are still favourites.
The Penya coach, who has doubts about Brodziansky and Andrés Feliz, with a sprained ankle suffered in the second game, expects from his pupils the performance that led them to win eight years later at the Palau Blaugrana, where they dominated rebound and nullified the shooters of Jasikevicius’s team.
“We know very well the atmosphere that is created in Badalona, ??but we are Barça. We know how to face these matches”, said Nikola Mirotic. The Blaugrana, superior in the first game (89-72), were again very irregular in the second. With the news of Higgins, already recovered from a blow to the lower back, Barça will have to offer their best version to overcome the test of an Olímpic that wants to carry Penya to the ACB final 29 years later.
