By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
KAUNAS, Lithuania – The day for Barcelona and Real Madrid has come, as the eternal Spanish rivals will face each other in the second of the 2023 Final Four semifinals. This duel is a repeat of what happened in Belgrade a year ago: a game dominated by the Azulgranas but which ended up being taken by the whites.
Nikola Mirotic, the undisputed star of FC Barcelona, spoke right after the training before the duel between two of the top candidates to always win everything, with a touch of revenge and always special because it is a Clasico.
“Real Madrid is very competitive, a great team, with a lot of experience and which can play these games. A team that, obviously, we all want to beat, but it’s not going to be easy, there are no favorites. The important thing is to have a good start and be calm, the forty minutes can be long and we have to be able to endure anything that happens, especially in the beginning. And to think how we can impose our pace of play, that’s the key”, FC Barcelona’s number 33 said.
Real Madrid arrived in Kaunas with more absences, but that circumstance is not of special relevance for the Montenegrin. “We also have a super important absence like Cory Higgins. This is a game, if there were three games maybe yes, but anything can happen to a party. I don’t think it’s decisive, the details are going to be important”, the former Real Madrid player commented.
FC Barcelona’s small forward went on to speak about the Blancos. “We know what they’re capable of. Tavares is their only center, so we have to be very smart in how to face these situations, grab the rebound well and play our cheerful basketball on offense”, he added.
Guerschon Yabusele’s sanction and Gabriel Deck’s injury imply that who’s taking care of Mirotic is not very clear at the moment, although it is most likely not the one proposed by the captain of Barcelona.
🤔 Yabusele sancionado, Deck lesionado… ¿Quién va a defender a Nikola Mirotic?
😂 El montenegrino propone un nombre: Felipe Reyes pic.twitter.com/SvdCmLOhOD
— Alex Molina (@alex30mp) May 18, 2023
“It is not a thing of a position, of who defends me, it is a collective work. We have players capable of making great matches but we have to think as a team. We didn’t come here for a player to shine, we have to shine ourselves as a team. We have to be prepared to take the game as we want”, he went on adding.
This matchup between Barça and Real Madrid comes after the one in Belgrade, a duel with a fateful outcome for the Catalans and which remains very present in the memory of the locker room. “Last year it’s not something that goes easy, especially when you face the same opponent. It must be a message to us. We know that this rival is a great rival; it doesn’t matter if you go up by 10 points, they know how to come back very fast. It has to be a full game in 40 minutes”, Nikola Mirotic finally added.