FC BARCELONA LASSA (SPAIN)

Founded in 1926
Team colors: blue, cardinal, yellow
Honors: Spanish National League (1959, 1981, 1983, 1987-1990, 19951997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), Spanish National Cup (1943, 1945-1947, 1949, 1950, 1959, 1978-1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013), Spanish Supercup (1988, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015), Euroleague (2003, 2010), Saporta Cup (1985, 1986), Korac Cup (1987, 1999), FIBA Intercontinental Cup (1985)
Arena: Palau Blaugrana (capacity – 7585)
President: Josep Maria Bartomeu
Official website: www.fcbarcelona.com

Where to watch

LIVE: Match! Igra (19:55; replay — December 30 at 08:55 and 00:35; December 31 at 18:30 and 02:25), Match TV (replay — 01:00), EuroLeague TV, Sportbox.ru
Text online: EuroLeague website

GAME NOTES

Charles Jenkins and Rakim Sanders played together during the 2015/2016 season for Olimpia Milan.

Stefan Markovic and Victor Claver were teammates at Valencia during the 2011/2012 season.

Markovic was also a teammate at Valencia of Barcelona point guard Pau Ribas during the 2012/2013 campaign.

BC Khimki head coach Georgios Bartzokas coached Barcelona last season. Much of the current Barcelona roster played under him last season.

Petteri Koponen returns for the first time to BC Khimki where he played for four seasons, from 2012 to 2016. He helped the team win the 2015 EuroCup together with Tyler Honeycutt, Sergey Monya, Ruslan Pateev and Egor Vyaltsev. He was also a teammate there with Marko Todorovic and Alexey Shved during the 2015/2016 season.

Victor Claver played for BC Khimki at the end of the 2014/2015 season, but was not registered and did not win EuroCup. Like Koponen, he was also a teammate of Honeycutt, Monya, Pateev and Vyaltsev.

Claver not only played under Coach Bartzokas last season at Barcelona, but also at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar during the 2015/2016 season. That season he was also a teammate of current BC Khimki forward Andrey Zubkov. They all helped Lokomotiv reach EuroLeague Final Four together.

FC Barcelona Lassa forward Adrien Moerman and BC Khimki swingman James Anderson were teammates at Darussafaka Istanbul last season.

Tyler Honeycutt and Thomas Huertel together played for Anadolu Efes Istanbul last season.

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Georgios Bartzokas, BC Khimki head coach:

“It will be one more difficult game; the last one in the first round and we want to finish it as best as we can. Barcelona is in a difficult position. I have to admit that they have offensive talent; it’s a team with a very good roster. You cannot see that from the current standings but on a good day they can beat everybody. We need to put everything in this home game and play hard defense against their great offensive players. Also, we need to control the rhythm of the game”.

Marko Todorovic, BC Khimki center:

“Playing against Barcelona means extra motivation for every team and everyone because it’s one the biggest, if not the biggest clubs in Europe. This season they don’t have luck and their EuroLeague record is not good but they have good players and a really good coach. I think, they will find the way to go out from this situation. I hope, it will be not against us. I had two good years in Barcelona, especially my first season that was amazing experience because I met very good people. There I improved a lot as a player and also as a person”.