FC Barcelona came away with an 86-88 win over ALBA Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Thursday evening, which improved its record to 8-3, good enough for second place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings. One of the keys to the victory was the way in which Barca's key players came to the fore at various points during the night.
Barca's star power was evident against ALBA

Nikola Mirotic, the 2021-22 EuroLeague MVP, made his first appearance of the season and finished with a game-high 19 points, including some crucial free three throws to secure the win. Two-time EuroLeague champion Cory Higgins also had 7 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to help wrap up the result for Barca.
With Mirotic finally on the court with the likes of Higgins, Nicolas Laprovittola and summer additions Tomas Satoransky, Nikola Kalinic, Jan Vesely and Mike Tobey, Barca fans were finally able to get a glimpse of what their team could look like at full strength. Satoransky and Laprovittola both got into double digits for scoring with 11 and 16 points, respectively, but they also dished a respective 5 and 6 assists.
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Head coach Saras Jasikevicius will be keen for his team to show a better level of concentration moving forward – ALBA twice came back into the game after being down big – but at least he will be able to envisage his Barca team with Mirotic now available. Barca has won six of its last seven games, and the return of last year's EuroLeague MVP should make them one of the teams to beat in the remainder of the regular season.