FCBARCELONA.CAT

26.04.2009 14:14

Last hurdle passed (93-67)

Carles Cascante

Regal Barça has comfortably overcome their last hurdle before the Final Four. The Blaugranes beat Cajasol with an inspired Trias who made the most of his chances. Barça now automatically get second place in the Liga ACB.

Xavi Pascual’s men can now focus on the Final Four which begins in Berlin on Friday. Although Cajasol have been the surprise team of the second half of the ACB, they were easier to overcome than Barça expected. Tucker and Xavi Rey were their only outstanding players. As for Barça, Trias made the most of his chances with 12 points, 5 rebounds and a valuation of 21.

Initial dynamism

The match began dynamically, and Regal Barça didn’t give Cajasol much of the play. Barça player Xavi Rey, on loan to Cajasol, got stronger during the game. With Berlin in mind, Xavi Pascual played constant rotations, and at the end of the first period the score was 26-15.

Less usual players on

The intensity dropped notably during the second quarter with both side missing chances. Xavi Pascual gave a chance to his less regular players to come on, such as Jordi Trias and André Barrett. Roger Grimau got a triple to make it 35-20 five minutes from the break, and Xavi Rey continued to make some great passes for his teammates but without much result. At the break Barça led easily by 48-32.

Easy third quarter

Pascual returned to his initial five at the start of the third quarter, which was Lakovic, Navarro, Basile, Andersen and Vázquez. Barça came on strong, as they have done in many third quarters this season. Fran Vázquez was ruthless in forcing personal fouls and the score got to 57-36 with a few minutes to go to the end.

David Andersen also showed that he was on form for the Final Four semi-finals, with some great outside shots, and at the end of the third period they dominated the game by 66-47. Anderson and Vázquez finished the quarter with 12 points each.

Trias, Santiago and Grimau - key players

Jordi Trias was one of the key players in the final quarter, scoring various times from short range and getting 10 points. Puerto-Rican pivot Santiago and Grimau were Barça’s other key players, helping to bring the score to a final 93-67.