Friday night, FC Barcelona (4-0) will face Zenit St Petersburg (3-1) on what will be a special day for both clubs. The Palau Blaugrana will pay tribute to the 2010 Euroleague champion team before the game.
Monaco Basket
FC Barcelona
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Fenerbahce Istanbul
Maccabi Tel AvivBefore the upcoming game, Sarunas Jasikevicius deeply praised Zenit's project.
"They are now a Playoff team. They have a solid project with important people in the front office, on the bench, and also on the court. They will go even further", he began.
"They are a bit different without Pangos and Will Thomas, but newcomers are doing great so far, so it won't be easy at all," admitted the Lithuanian mastermind.
Jasikevicius also said that he expects his players to show desire and progress in the upcoming game.
"It's a typical Pascual's team, really well prepared and with different ideas for each game, clear ideas, and a lot of patience. If they do not have an easy shot, they use Baron or Loyd. We want to attack their weaknesses", Saras said.
"My players should be motivated to show again that they are better. We have talked these days about our last games. We did not play as we should. Zenit is one of the best organized teams in the EuroLeague. We will suffer", assured Jasikevicius, who was coached by Xavi Pascual early in the last decade.
Nikola Mirotic, who struggled in the last Playoff series against the Russian powerhouse, said: "We can rest and disconnect a little bit, this is good. Zenit is a really demanding team, physical and well-coached. We need to play aggressively and with a good mentality.
On the other half, Xavi Pascual expressed his thoughts before the game.
"It’ll be a very difficult game for us. We’ll try to be concentrated defensively and offensively, try to be in the game."
The Spanish head coach reminded that Barca is still unbeaten this season.
"Barcelona hasn't lost a game in Spain and in the EuroLeague yet. It shows that it’s one of the best teams in Europe, probably the best team. They play in the same style as they played the previous year," Pascual concluded.
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