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Barça above the rest

With first place in the standings at the end of the regular season, 21 wins out of 28 matches recorded - the matches played against Russian clubs have been removed from the count - Barça flew through the first phase of the Euroleague, with only seven defeats, including two at the end of the year in meetings without stake.

The Blaugranas were carried at the start of the season by Nikola Mirotic, passed by the NBA (Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee) and designated MVP for the months of October and December, in particular for his recital against Real Madrid (31 points, 10 rebounds), his training club.

The road to a third coronation, the last dating back to 2010, goes through a quarter against Munich, with home advantage, while the Palau Blaugrana have been almost impregnable this season (two defeats).

Caution is however in order for the men of Sarunas Jasikevicius because with an almost identical record last year they had defeated Saint Petersburg only in match 5.

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Monaco, the positive dynamic

If Barça dominated the regular season as a whole, Monaco is the team in form when approaching the play-offs.

For a first in the queen competition of European basketball, the "Roca Team" went to seek its place for the play-offs (and therefore for the next Euroleague season) thanks to a remarkable second part of exercise.

With thirteen wins out of the last sixteen matches, Monaco have been formidable since the arrival of Sasa Obradovic in mid-December to replace Zvezdan Mitrovic.

A change of coach which benefited Mike James, more than ever fulfilled in the Principality and MVP of the month of March.

The Monegasques will have to reverse the advantage of the field against Olympiakos, 2nd in the regular season (19 victories), which will receive for the first two legs of the quarter-final, before two matches at Gaston-Médecin.

The slap inflicted on the players of Piraeus (92-72) only a month ago in Monaco offers an indicator of the trend of recent weeks.

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Real in the hard

The dynamic is much less favorable for Real Madrid, only fourth in the regular season with 18 wins.

But of the ten setbacks recorded, eight have been cashed in the last ten matches.

American winger Trey Thompkins on the free throw line for Real Madrid against ASVEL at the Astroballe, March 25, 2021 JEFF PACHOUD AFP / Archives

In addition, coach Pablo Laso had to crack down internally ten days ago by dismissing Frenchman Thomas Heurtel and American Trey Thompkins from the group, a "technical decision" and "final", explained the technician.

The advantage of the field for the most successful club (10 coronations) will not be a useless help against Maccabi Tel Aviv to try to join the Final 4, which Real did not play last year, beaten in the match 5 by Efes in quarters.

Defending champions Efes Istanbul were weighed down by a very complicated start to the season (six defeats in eight matches), but the Turkish club managed to snatch their ticket to the play-offs thanks to their sixth place, where the awaits Olimpia Milan for the most open quarter.

For the first time since 2011 and only the second time since 2002, no Russian club will be present in the Final 4 since following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army Euroleague basketball (which manages the Euroleague and the Eurocup) has excluded Russian clubs from its competitions, including CSKA Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Kazan in C1.

© 2022 AFP