Why Real Madrid need a miracle to beat Barcelona / News - Basketnews.com

BasketNews expert Augustas Suliauskas argues that this year Barcelona have such an advantage that Real Madrid will need a miracle in the upcoming semifinal. Barca have a big advantage in the paint and seemed to learn from the last year's mistakes, which could be crucial in Friday's matchup.

Credit: Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

NoGuerschon Yabusele, noGabriel Deck, noVincent Poirier. The frontcourt ofReal Madridis bleeding, and so are the chances of them moving forward.

Oh, but we are back to single-elimination format again, and if there's a team that might go on a crazy run to steal the game, look no further thanChus Mateo's squad. Partizan Belgrade fans could co-sign on this.

However, Barcelona look like a clear favorite here after sweeping Zalgiris Kaunas in the quarterfinals. Madrid, on the other hand, has many questions to answer.

Who is going to guardNikola Mirotic? Should they double him, knowing that his primary defender will probably be lighter and not as strong as him? How to answer Barca's counters againstEdy Tavaresprotecting the paint?

ForSarunas Jasikevicius, the key factors are clear. They must limit transition opportunities, solve Tavares' catches inside the paint & slow down Madrid's pick-and-rolls withSergio Rodriguez,Sergio Llull, andDzanan Musa.

Let's look at examples from the most recent El Classico's to understand how tomorrow's semifinal will shape up.

Stopping Nikola Mirotic

Everybody in Europe knows that post-ups are a huge part of Barcelona's offense. According to InStat play type data, in 14 head-to-head matchups during these two seasons, the Catalans used it on almost 12% of their possessions, while other teams against Madrid used it for only 6% of the time.

Their best player, Mirotic, excels there as well. Expect Saras to

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