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Final Four
FC Barcelona: Aiming for one better

FC Barcelona: Aiming for one better

Final Four

10 May 20221 Min read

After coming so close to the title last season, losing to Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the championship game, FC Barcelona has its sights set on going one better this time around. In that quest, Barca has looked every inch a serious title candidate throughout the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign.

Ahead of his second season in charge, Barca head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius bolstered his options by signing rising star guard Rokas Jokubaitis and versatile Nigel Hayes-Davis from his former club Zalgiris Kaunas, shooting star Nicolas Laprovittola from archrival Real Madrid and big man Sertan Sanli from Efes.

The revamped roster immediately showed it was a force to be reckoned with, blasting ALBA Berlin 96-64 on opening night with all 12 players scoring and grabbing at least a rebound each in a fulsome display of all-around power. That scintillating start was the prelude to a six-game winning run, after which Barca never lost its position in the top two of the standings throughout the regular season.

That doesn't mean it was easy. Injuries to key backcourt stars Nick Calathes and Cory Higgins, along with the long-term absence of Alex Abrines, forced Barca into the mid-season recruitment of Dante Exum, while Jasikevicius also gave significant playing time to several young players to cover for various other personnel problems.

Despite those challenges, Barca invariably found ways to win. With forward Nikola Mirotic often to the fore – earning the league's MVP of the Month award for both October and December – the Blaugrana never lost more than two consecutive games and flexed the confidence and ability to beat the best, with two wins each against Efes and Real, both of whom would make it to the Final Four, too.

A run of nine straight victories between November and December followed by eight out of nine won early in the new year allowed Jasikevicius's team to wrap up first place in the regular-season standings with time to spare, finishing two wins clear of the chasing pack with a 21-7 record.

Brandon Davies, FC Barcelona
Dante Liman Exum, FC Barcelona
Sertac Sanli, FC Barcelona
Sergi Martinez, FC Barcelona
Rolands Smits, FC Barcelona
Nigel Hayes-Davis, FC Barcelona
Pierre Oriola, FC Barcelona
Nicolas Laprovittola, FC Barcelona
Alex Abrines, FC Barcelona
Cory Higgins, FC Barcelona
Kyle Kuric, FC Barcelona
Rokas Jokubaitis, FC Barcelona
Nicola Mirotic, FC Barcelona
Michael Caicedo, FC Barcelona
James Nnaji, FC Barcelona
Nick Calathes, FC Barcelona
Sarunas Jasikevicius, FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona celebrates

The fitness issues eased up ahead of the playoffs, with only Higgins sidelined for the team's series with FC Bayern Munich. Barca would need every weapon at its disposal to down the dogged German team over five grueling games, eventually finding a way to score against Bayern's outstanding defense in the second half of decisive Game 5, turning a 31-37 half-time deficit into an 81-72 home victory to secure a return to the Final Four.

Barca arrives in Belgrade with the third-best offense in the competition (81.4 points per game), ranked second in assists (18.2) and first in three-point shooting accuracy (40.1%). That offensive power is supplemented by a solid defense that allowed just 75.5 points per game, featuring particularly strong interior resistance (49.8% two-pointers allowed, second-best in the competition).

And perhaps most importantly, with the majority of the roster returning from last season's Final Four, there is also plenty of hunger to erase those bitter memories and ensure Barca leaves Belgrade as EuroLeague champion for the first time since 2010.