Barcelona defeats EuroLeague leader Real Madrid in El Clasico
Barcelona defeated EuroLeague frontrunners Real Madrid 83-78 in El Clasico basketball showdown on Wednesday. Czech center Jan Vesely led Barcelona with 27 points, a pivotal contribution to the home victory at Palau Blaugrana.
cumhuriyet.com.trBarcelona's Nicolas Laprovittola contributed 14 points, Nikola Kalinic added 13, and Jabari Parker scored 10. For Real Madrid, Bosnian forward Dzanan Musa topped with 19 points, while Croatian Mario Hezonja, a former Barcelona player, scored 16.
A critical moment came in the fourth quarter when Kalinic's three-pointer pushed Barcelona to a 72-62 lead, a gap Real Madrid couldn't close for the remainder of the match. This win brings third-place Barcelona to a 12-6 record, while Real Madrid, despite the loss, remains the EuroLeague leader with a 16-2 season record.
Close behind Real Madrid, Italy's Virtus Segafredo Bologna stands at 13-5 after defeating Bayern Munich 85-83 late Wednesday.
In other matches, Spain's Valencia Basket overcame Turkish club Anadolu Efes 93-88, climbing to ninth place with ten wins in 18 games. Anadolu Efes, the 2021 and 2022 champions, are experiencing a challenging season, now 15th in the standings after their 11th loss in 18 games.
Wednesday's games also saw Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz narrowly beat Panathinaikos 75-73, alongside the highlighted matchups.