Paris (AFP)

The Villeurbanne basketball players achieved a masterful feat by winning Friday night on the floor of FC Barcelona, ​​leader of the Euroleague, signing their sixth consecutive victory in the queen of European basketball, and they can dream of the play-offs .

TJ Parker players had already dominated Barça at home at Astroballe in the first leg (80-68).

They therefore inflicted two of the eight losses, during this European campaign, of the teammates of Nikola Mirotic, still leading the regular season of the Euroleague after 26 games played.

The coach of Asvel becomes the first French coach to chain six victories in the Euroleague, erasing André Vacheresse and Gregor Beugnot from the shelves who had stopped at five, at the end of the 1950s for the first, in the 1990s. / 2000 for the second.

In the standings, Asvel continues an incredible comeback, with seven wins in their last eight Euroleague matches.

With 12 wins on the clock, Tony Parker's club now occupies 12th place and is only three successes behind Fenerbahçe, the last team in the Top8 synonymous with Euroleague play-offs.

What to maintain the dream on the side of the Astroballe.

Friday, on the Catalan floor, the Villeurbanne offered a defensive recital against the men of Sarunas Jasikevicius.

"It's our identity! When we defend this way, we are hard to beat. We scored key baskets in the second half. It's a magnificent series and we have to continue," commented on Euroleague microphone coach TJ Parker.

- "We executed the plan" -

Mirotic was contained to 19 points and limited in his defensive duties by many faults accumulated quickly.

And apart from Brandon Davies (22 points), the Catalans were silenced in attack.

"We executed the game plan well. They are a good three-point team, so we challenged the long-distance shot. In defense, we had a good game on the rebound," Norris said. Cole, once again extremely valuable at the end of the meeting.

"We knew the game would be close. It's my job to take the right shots in the last moments. My team did the job, it's a team victory tonight," added the two-time NBA champion - with the Miami Heat of LeBron James (2012, 2013) - author of 21 points on Friday.

"We knew it would be a difficult game against the leader. We are in a good series and we hope to integrate the Top8 and go to the play-offs," said William Howard, elected man of the match (13 points, 8 rebounds).

Eight days from the end of the regular season, the next two matches, in Kaunas on Tuesday and against Fenerbahçe on Friday, will be crucial in trying to come back even more in the race for the Top8.

"We believe in us and we have to continue this way, taking game after game," concluded Norris Cole.

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