A battle at the top of the Spanish league: Iberostar Tenerife hosting F.C. Barcelona
In Round 20 of Liga Endesa, Tenerife will receive the visit of Barcelona Lassa, in this round’s derby. The home team are currently on 4th position with a 13-6 record, while the opposite team are 1st in the league with a 15-4 record, same as 2nd place, Real Madrid. In their last meeting, Barcelona smashed at home Tenerife with a 103-71. In that game, all 12 players used by Coach Pesic scored points, at least 4 apiece.
For Tenerife, this game came in a very good moment for them, because they won 8 of their last 10 games. They show a very good basketball and some solid defensive skills which will make Barcelona’s attempt to get the win here even harder. In their last game, at home, they played against VEF Riga in Basketball Champions League, but was a game without any history, because Tenerife was already qualified for the next round, while Riga is in the last place of the group, with only one win from 13 matches. The hosts used all their players, which gave their starting five a little more rest before this encounter. They also recorded 14 steals and forced Riga to make 19 turnovers. The main contributors were: Sasu Salin (20 points in 13 minutes), Lahaou Konate (12 points and 4 steals) and Marcelinho Huertas (12 points and 6 assists).
Like their opponents, Barcelona is in a very good form, winning their last 5 games in a row in all competitions. Those wins came after an unpleasant time for them when they lost four times in their previous 5 games. Now everything seems to settle down in Blaugrana and the victories will continue to come. In their last game, they received the visit of Zenit St. Petersburg, but as expected, Barcelona did not have any problems in securing the win thanks to their offensive appetite. Now that Thomas Heurtel is back, they have a very good player in PG position and all the problems that surrounded that position seem gone by now. The main contributors were: Kyle Kuric (21 points and 4 assists), Malcolm Delaney (21 points) and Nikola Mirotic (15 points in 17 minutes).
This game will put face to face two teams that are in very good shape and well-rested for this game. It should be a nice encounter, but in the end, I expect a win for Barcelona, because they have a better roster and very good options offensively. If they want to win, Tenerife must defend very well and must take advantage of their shots.
Photo: Euroleague
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
