In the 28th round, Barcelona hosted Real Madrid on the legendary “Blaugrana” court. The victory went to the home team by 85:79.
This was the sixth El Clasico of the season, and in the previous five matches, Real Madrid won four times. With such a balance of power, they won the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey, which further inspired the Catalan team because their arch-rivals had already taken two trophies from them.
Real Madrid started the match much better and took a 7:3 lead, but then Barcelona dominated the game. An initial 13:0 run continued on the wings of Nicolas Laprovittola and Ricky Rubio to a somewhat incredible 21:2 lead, with the Catalan team leading 27:13 after ten minutes of play.
Sergio Llull’s entry from the bench sparked Real Madrid’s revival as he hit two consecutive three-pointers, followed by Dzanan Musa, reducing the deficit to single digits by halftime (42:33). However, Barcelona still had a 12-point lead heading into the second half.
Real Madrid’s biggest weakness at the start of the game, their three-point shooting, improved in the third quarter. Four long-range shots quickly melted Barcelona’s lead. Llull continued his excellent rhythm, Facundo Campazzo joined in, and the home team’s lead narrowed to just 57:54. Barcelona managed to maintain their lead through Tomas Satoransky, leading 64:58 heading into the decisive period.
Real Madrid, led by Hezonja, reduced the deficit to one point and had two chances to take the lead, but Laprovittola and Jan Vesely restored a significant six-point lead (69:63). With five minutes left, Walter Tavares fouled out, moving to the bench. Barcelona capitalized on their opponents’ nerves through Vesely, and Vincent Poirier earned a technical foul, giving the “Royal Club” a seven-point lead (78:71), which proved enough for victory in the end.
The winning team was led by the inspired Argentine Nicolas Laprovittola, scoring 25 points with five assists. Jan Vesely and Ricky Rubio added 11 points each, with Vesely also grabbing eight rebounds, including four offensive ones. On the other side, Gabriel Deck led with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Dzanan Musa also scored 14 points.
Real Madrid now has a record of 23-5 in the Endesa League, Unicaja is second with an identical record, while Barcelona has 19 wins and nine losses.