FC BARCELONA (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, 2019), 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! Strana (19:55, replay at 04:10), Match TV (replay at 01:10), Match! Igra (replay at 21:50), EuroLeague TV, matchtv.ru
Text online: EuroLeague website

GAME NOTES

Victor Claver played for Khimki at the end of the 2014/2015 season, but was not registered and did not help the team win the EuroCup. He was also a teammate of Sergey Monya and Egor Vyaltsev.

Svetislav Pesic worked in Dynamo Moscow in season 2007/2008 with Sergey Monia.

Alexey Shved and Brandon Davies played together for Philadelphia Seventy Sixers in 2014.

Dairis Bertans, Janis Timma and Rolands Smits play for Latvian National team..

Sergey Karasev, Andrey Desiatnikov and Kyle Kuric were teammates in Zenit St Petersburg in season 2017/2018.

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Rimas Kurtinaitis, Khimki Moscow Region head coach:

“If we are speaking about roster and budget, FC Barcelona is the strongest team in Europe, and everyone considers them to be the favorites not of a single game, but of the EuroLeague generally. We do not think in such categories. We need to play every game and prepare for each one. Barca also has not only good, but bad games. They have a very big, uncomfortable guys for us with Mirotic and Tomic, as well as Davies, who last season was the leader of Zalgiris Kaunas and repeatedly became the MVP of the rounds in the EuroLeague. So, we will face a very serious opponent, but we play at home, where we have a good energy and our own style. We are strong enough to fight with FC Barcelona and win. We are okay; Alexey Shved has returned to our system. He creates very good situations both for our shooters and for himself. We have some small injury issues, but we will try to solve these problems by Friday. We are preparing for the fight, and the game will be tough, as it was many times this season”.

Jonas Jerebko, Khimki Moscow Region forward:

“We have to keep protecting our home court and concentrate on us. FC Barcelona has a lot of good players and a good coach. They play well as they are a good team. We have to come out and play our game, really starting from our defense. We have to lock in defense, and our offense will come. They have a very talented player in Mirotic, who is good on both ends of the floor. He plays hard and he is obviously a great scorer, so we need to keep an extra eye on him because he can score from anywhere on the court”.

Dairis Bertans, Khimki Moscow Region guard:

“We are okay and have a fighting spirit. We have lost three road games in a row and now have no right to lose in front of our fans. We are ready and have to win. FC Barcelona is a very good team with good players and good coach. At the same time, they also have weak sides, and CSKA showed this last week. We have watched video and will try to find their weak sides, using their game with CSKA as an example. At home we are playing really well and will try to continue this streak”.