Real Madrid-Barça: league semi-final playoffs get underway
Chus Mateo's side will be bidding to take the lead in a best-of-five playoff this evening at the WiZink Center (8:30pm CEST).
Real Madrid and Barcelona get the Liga ACB play-off semi-finals underway this evening with the first of the two opening encounters at the WiZink Center. The Whites, who have home-court advantage in a best-of-five tie, will be trying to get off to a good start in front of their fans in the seventh meeting between the two sides this season.
It will be a somewhat unique playoff because the two powerhouses don't usually meet before the final. The Madridistas and the Catalans will be battling it out for a place in the title series in what is expected to be a fiercely contested tie. The Whites racked up five more wins in the Regular Season (28-23) and eliminated Gran Canaria in the quarter-finals (2-0), the same result that Barcelona achieved against Lenovo Tenerife. In terms of head-to-head meetings this season, Madrid have won 4-2, in the Copa del Rey final, the Super Cup semi-finals, one in the league and one in the EuroLeague.
Madrid go into the tie having had less time to rest because of the EuroLeague Final Four and after a weekend of great intensity. In Berlin the Whites played their 80th game of the season. Barcelona will be fresher and, as Chus Mateo said in the press conference ahead of the clash, ”Heart, energy and the will to win will be important.” The support of the fans, who always get behind the team on big occasions, will also be crucial. It's a match where small details are decisive and where the hosts will have to attack and defend effectively.
Highest rated against best offence in the playoffs
Barça have improved offensively in the playoffs by almost 9 points, averaging 96 points. They are shooting 45% from three-point range, which means Madrid will have to play at their best defensively. Satoransky, Abrines and Parker have all stepped up for their team, which possesses a lot of attacking firepower. Madrid will have to draw on the strength of the group. The Whites are the most highly rated team in the competition with six players in double figures, spearheaded by Tavares and Campazzo (17 and 16.2 respectively).