By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
The matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona never last just for 40 minutes. “El Clásico” is always a topic of conversation for days. Some of these clashes are remembered for months. Others are carved in the memories of basketball fans forever.
Who does not remember the bombs of Juan Carlos Navarro, the impossible shots of Sergio Llull, or Luka Doncic scoring from his house?
It’s time for the new episode of one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sports, if not the greatest. And here are seven games which are still remembered from the modern EuroLeague era.
The first “clásico” – 2004-05 Top 16
Barcelona 84-71 Real Madrid
Top scorers: Juan Carlos Navarro (Barcelona, 20 points); Elmer Bennett (Real Madrid, 25 points)
We have become accustomed to the current EuroLeague format which produces at least two “clásicos” in each season since 2016-17. However, it was not always so. On March 3, 2005, Barcelona and Real Madrid met in a European competition for the first time since 1996.
The Whites were leading 58-53 against a team led by coach Manolo Flores, who was making his debut on Barça’s bench. Soon, the “Man of the Clásicos” would appear and decide the first confrontation between both teams in the modern EuroLeague. An extraordinary Juan Carlos Navarro made 8 free throws without a miss in the final moments to assure the comeback victory.
It’s not nostalgia to mention that Navarro was supported by a great Dejan Bodiroga (29 performance index rating) on the way to the win.