His best scoring night in a Blaugrana jersey came against the team’s biggest rival: Real Madrid.
Jan Vesely’s dominance inspired Barcelona to victory in El Clásico
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3 Min lectura
Real Madrid simply had no answer for FC Barcelona center Jan Vesely in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s 36th edition of El Clásico this century. The Czech big man was unstoppable all night long and finished with a game-high 27 points as Barca came away with a much-needed 83-78 triumph.
There was little hope among the Barca fan base heading into a clash against the 16-1 Real, whose only loss came in overtime with the final play of the game against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Round 11. Barca, meanwhile, was coming off back-to-back 20-point losses. The picture was pretty bleak.
Yet, the Barca supporters came out in force and turned Palau Blaugrana into a fortress, with the arena being the loudest it had been all season. That meant that, despite a strong start by Real, the hosts trailed by just 4 (21-25) and 2 (45-47) points, respectively, at the end of the first and second quarters. During that time, Vesely had run Walter Tavares ragged and caused plenty of problems inside for Real’s backup center, Vincent Poirier.
Jan Vesely went to another level after halftime
Then, in the second half, Vesely was the main reason why Barca was able to regain the lead for the first time in a long time, even if Real did end the third quarter with its 2-point lead still intact, 60-62. Yet, it was in the fourth quarter where Vesely did the majority of his damage, scoring Barca’s last 7 points in a 9-0 run as the hosts opened a 69-62 lead. From there on, it was Barca’s game to lose.
Nikola Kalinic even extended the gap to double figures, 72-62, before Vesely moved to 25 points in the game by setting a 74-62 score. Following a scuffle between Real’s Sergio Rodriguez and Barca’s Nico Laprovittola, following the Argentine’s opening score of the quarter, a Vesely-led charge allowed the Blaugrana to take control of the contest.
Inevitably, there was a Real fightback as ex-Barca forward Mario Hezonja displayed his talent before Tavares cut the gap to 5 points, 80-75, with 2:09 minutes to go. But, a Laprovittola three with 1:24 left on the clock all but put the game beyond the reach of Chus Mateo’s squad, 83-75. Only a free throw and a two-point make by Dzanan Musa would follow, meaning Barca ran out as the 83-78 victor.
“After the December that we had, [it’s great] to beat Real Madrid, an almost unbeatable team, so I’m very happy for us and we just have to build on this,” commented Vesely in the post-game flash interview as he walked off the court.
Vesely’s best scoring night for Barcelona
Vesely is 55 EuroLeague games into his Barca career, but Wednesday night’s explosion of 27 points was his highest so far for the Blaugrana, beating his previous best of 26, which came in Game 2 of the playoffs last season against Zalgiris Kaunas.
Those 27 points also represented his third-highest scoring night in 331 career games in the EuroLeague, too. His highest-ever tally came on December 9, 2021, when he netted 32 points for Fenerbahce in an 80-86 win at Zenit St. Petersburg, and he also scored 31 points as Fenerbahce beat CSKA Moscow 93-95 on November 17, 2017.
Perhaps it is just being more comfortable in Barcelona or feeling more empowered in Roger Grimau’s system, but the 33-year-old has looked back to his best this season. The addition of Willy Hernangomez also may have provided a source of inspiration for Vesely, the 2018-19 EuroLeague MVP.
Just looking at his numbers, he has improved in terms of both points and rebounds this year, going from 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds last season to 12.5 points and 4.4 boards in 2023-24, and he has been arguably the EuroLeague’s best center through the first 18 rounds of the campaign. Vesely is making one hell of a case to be named to one of the All-EuroLeague Teams.
But, for Wednesday night at least, Vesely can bask in the fact that he has got Barca back on track with a vital victory in El Clásico. And there can’t be many better feelings than that.