Basketball: A look back at the Paris-Barça match (79-90) – Ferplei

A great match from Willy for Barça in Paris

The Spanish pivot stands out against a struggling Paris, allowing the Blaugranas to move closer to Euroleague play-in

MADRID, 3 (EUROPA PRESS) Barça won (79-90) on the Paris Basketball floor this Friday on the occasion of the 19th day of the Euroleague, thus putting an end to a difficult period at the start of year 2025. Thanks to a decisive performance from Willy Hernangómez, Barça is back in the race for the ‘Top 10’.

Joan Peñarroya’s team won this victory against an opponent who was also in search of landmarks, but who had recently occupied first place in the competition. The Parisians showed great offensive qualities with players like TJ Shorts (20 points), Maodo Lo (18) and Nadir Hifi, even if their three-point skill was lacking (7 out of 30).

After a series of three defeats in the last four matches, Barça took some time to take control of the match despite multiple chances. The best of them turned out to be Willy, who put in a remarkable performance in the absence of Jan Vesely, who was injured at the last moment. The Spanish international totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds, reaching an evaluation of 30, thus taking the leadership of a team lacking external efficiency.

While this wasn’t Willy’s first big performance this season, this game was one of the few where Peñarroya gave him meaningful minutes. The Madrid pivot quickly shone, while Barça was not very effective on long shots. Tiago Splitter’s aggressive rotation did not bear fruit, but the Barcelona collective was able to compensate.

In their rotations, however, the Catalans did not manage to sufficiently capitalize on the Parisian weaknesses, who still managed to score two three-point baskets before halftime to reduce the gap (36-40). This boost was, however, ephemeral, Barça continuing to dominate the match, in particular thanks to Willy who inflicted a hard blow under the circle with a score of (50-64).

Three-point shots from Kevin Punter and Jabari Parker found a response to a new Parisian revival, but the accelerated pace of the local game briefly threatened to restart the match, thanks to Hifi and Lo. However, Chimezie Metu supported Willy well starting the last quarter, and the Spanish pivot secured the advantage again (72-76) to help his team conclude the victory with the help of Tomas Satoransky.

The disorder was ultimately fatal to Paris which has won only one of its last seven meetings, in all competitions. After two consecutive defeats in Europe, Barça is recovering and now has 10 victories, getting closer to the ‘Top 10’ and the ‘play-in’ zone, while Paris stagnates in 11th place.

TECHNICAL SHEET.

–RESULT: PARIS BASKETBALL, 79 – BARÇA, 90. (36-40 at half-time).

–TEAMS.

PARIS BASKETBALL : Shorts (20), Ouattara (3), Ward (13), Jantunen (2) and Hayes (6) –quintette initial–; Malcolm (-), Hifi (14), Cavaliere (-), Sy (3), scratch (-), Lo (18).

BARCA : Satoransky (12), Punter (12), Abrines (6), Parker (11) et Fall (4) –initial quintet–; Brizuela (3), Anderson (2), Hernangómez (23), Metu (13), Núñez (4).

–PARTIALS: 19-25, 17-15, 19-25, 24-25.

–REFEREES: Radovic, Nikolic and Attard. Without exclusions.

–PAVILLON : Accor Arena.