Barça 74-78 Crvena Zvezda: Victory eludes

The second half of the Euroleague season begins with a defeat for Barça as they went down 78-74 against Crvena Zvezda in the Palau Blaugrana. Important contributions from Metu and Punter were not enough to avoid the loss in a game in which the Serbians took the win in the final seconds to leave Barça on nine wins and nine defeats in Europe. 

The number10 returns

Metu marked his return to action with two three pointers early on to give the home side a 1-0 lead. However, Crvena Zvezda roared back to take the lead at 11-10 with 11 unanswered points of their own. Joan Peñarroya's team were punished for losing the ball and went in 4 points down at 19-15 at the end of the quarter. 

In the second period the game turned into a tight affair as neither side was capable of opening up a gap on the scoreboard. Vesely notched up 4,000 points in the Euroleague with his first basket of the game as Barça fought back from 32-25 down to go in at half time just a point behind at 35-34.

Equal contest

With Satoransky directing play, Barça managed to gain a slight advantage in the third quarter and a three pointer from Brizuela allowed them a 59-56 lead going into the final quarter. That lead became five points at 61-56 but Crvena Zvezda never allowed it to grow and the Serbians came back to lead 66-65. 

A three pointer from Dos Santos in the closing moments and a loss of possession by Punter condemned the blaugranes to defeat in their last home game of 2024. All that remains now is the away trip to Real Madrid in the league on Sunday in the league. 

MATCH STATS 

Barça, 74
Crvena Zvezda, 78

Barça: Satoransky (7), Punter (13), Anderson (2), Vesely (9) and Metu (16) -starting five- Parker (), Juan Núñez (-), Abrines (5), Parra (3), Neto (-), Hernangómez (7) and Brizuela (6)
Crvena Zvezda: Miller-McIntyre (6), Davidovac (7), Kalinic (12), Bolomboy (8) and Daum (11) -starting five- Canaan (-), Mitrovic (-), Petrusev (17), Giedraitis (2), Nedovic (6) and Dos Santos (9)