The final four that the Euroleague celebrates this year in Belgrade will experience its first big highlight with the dispute of the second semifinal between Barça, first classified in the regular season, and Real Madrid, who finally finished in fourth position.
The Stark Arena will host this Thursday, May 19, 2022, starting at 9:00 p.m., a high-flying European classic from which the second Euroleague semifinalist will emerge. The first will be Anadolu Efes or Olympiacos, who will play the first semifinal starting at 6:00 p.m.
Barça and Madrid will thus write a new chapter in their legendary rivalry in an unbeatable setting. They say that it is the Barça team that starts as the favorite but in Barcelona nobody trusts a rival that has shown in recent weeks to have recovered its best version and who is also accompanied by the experience accumulated in recent years.
Barça faces the appointment as a small revalidation, Jasikevicius's team built with stars to try to impose a European hegemony that traditionally resists him despite adding his 16th appearance in a final four in Belgrade. Only CSKA surpasses him.
The azulgrana have the experience of last year in Cologne, when after beating Milan in the semifinals they ended up falling to Anadolu Efes in the final held in a completely empty Lanxess Arena due to the pandemic. At the moment they have eight finals between the European Cup and the Euroleague and in the Serbian capital they will seek to fight for the title for the ninth time.
On the part of Real Madrid, they play the trick of being covered despite having been one of the best European teams of the last decade. In fact, the one in Belgrade is the seventh presence in the final four of Pablo Laso, white coach, a fact that says it all.
This great semi-final between Barça and Real Madrid can be followed on television through DAZN and also live and online on the La Vanguardia website.
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