Last Sunday, the Barcelona added before him Manresa their sixth consecutive victory in all competitions, a duel in which the Blaugrana looked like they had in the past, with a superiority and solidity that seemed inaccessible when Grimau And Penarroya busy … his bench. The key to victory was favored by the offensive performances of men like Punter, Brizuela or even Willy Hernangómez, who is finally starting to flirt with recovering the status of dominant player for which the Catalans made him one of the highest paid in Europe in the summer of 2023. However, there is a fact that has not gone unnoticed in the New Congost. The hosts, after adding just nine points in the final quarter, remained at 62 to their opponents’ 89, their lowest figure so far this campaign.
Three weeks ago, on November 23, the Gran Canaria suffered a similar fate and only reached 61 years of age, while December 7 was the Andorra the one who short-circuited and ended his match against the Catalans with a bad 102-71 on the scoreboard. Clues that elevate the work of Xavi Pascual, his triumphant return to the shield of his loves, the maestro of Gavá capable of reviving the Barca in record time (he has just completed a month in office) thanks to Unocerismo, a football mantra which consists of succeeding through defensive solidity, to keep a clean sheet. In professional basketball, of course, it’s impossible not to fit in, but Pascal showed that merging the rival offense in an era where more goals are being scored than ever is an atypical but very effective path to return Barca to the top flight.
The comparison with its predecessor shows the change in trend. Peñarroya, in the 15 games he coached this season before being eliminated after the embarrassing defeat against Girona (96-78), conceded on average 87.6 pointsand in seven of them the figure has exceeded 90. On the other hand, with Pascual, the Blaugranas only receive 72.8being the Olympiacosequipped with one of the most feared arsenals on the continent, the only one to have succeeded in overcoming the 80even if the defeat was inevitable (98-85). “We put a lot of emphasis on defense, we have a lot of video sessions and also a lot of plans prepared, three for each game, and that allows us to be versatile. When a team starts to get used to what we do, we change it so it goes crazy again,” he said. Brizuela after overthrowing the Greeks.
Barça, with Peñarroya, received 87.6 points on average. With Pascual, the figure fell to 72.8
The tactical richness and professionalism with which Barça faces the clashes have given new enthusiasm to the parish of Palauaware that in this campaign the possibilities of closing two years of drought in terms of titles have increased thanks to Pascual’s scenario. A roadmap which, however, was the same as the one that the club and supporters hated in 2016, when the coach was fired. It is true that only one Super Cup Over the past two years, this was the main reason for the coach’s departure, but from the noble zone of the team itself Barca It was argued that his style, with defense and controlled pace as its banners, had become an uninspiring weapon. “We people here get tired of everything and as these two seasons go by, people get tired of my figure. I understand that we have to change the model and start from scratch, surely in his place I would do the same thing and I respect that,” Pascual said in tears on the day of his departure.
The new orientation has nevertheless led to poor results, constant layoffs and a more than palpable inferiority compared to the the real Madridwho lived his golden age in terms of titles thanks to Pablo Laso. Georgios Bartzokas, Sito Alonso, Roger Grimau and Joan Peñarroya never found the key, and only Sarunas Jasikeviciuscourtesy of the brief but euphoric step of Svetislav Pešićmanaged to build a block worthy of the circumstances. Today, Barça has traveled back in time, it has once again given itself to Pascual to sharpen its fangs which, not so long ago, were feared and respected throughout Europe.
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