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, 2018), 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 (21:55), Match TV (replay — 00:30), 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 played for BC Khimki 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 of 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:

“Right now, we have six players with problems; three of them are not going to play, and three others are questionable. In morning practice we’ll see if they will be able to play. So, this is not a normal situation for us, but of course we don’t keep our luck in our hands because it depends on the other results; what spot we’ll finally achieve. Anyway, we’ll try with the players we have to win over there. Barca has talent, this is for sure. Whenever they play without pressure, they proved that offensively they can score and create. There is no doubt that they have talent and players who know basketball. At the same time, we need to play our game. Basically, we need to play good defense because if we allow them to play their game, it’s obvious they can score a lot. That’s it. Good defense and concentration will decide. Let’s try to win, no matter the circumstances, and finally see what place in the ranking we’ll have”.

Marko Todorovic, BC Khimki center:

“For them this game is not as important as it is for us because our main goal is to finish at the best position we can. So, if we win this game maybe we will improve our place. Also, the importance of this game measures the fact that this is the last one before the playoffs. We want to play well. I used to play in Palau some games against Barca, but of course, for me it’s always special [to return to Barcelona], because Barca became my first professional team, but we are professionals and now must protect the colors of other teams. We must stay focused and try to win the game”.