2023 Euroleague Final Four: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Preview, Odds, Lines, Prediction, Picks

El Clasico, between Barcelona and Real Madrid, takes place in Kaunas, this year’s 2023 EuroLeague Final Four venue. Two Spanish powerhouses meet in the semis of the top European basketball competition, with Barcelona being a slight favorite. Blaugrana was better than Zalgiris in the Top 8 stage, while Real defeated Partizan after a scandalous fight in Madrid, that changed the course of the entire series. 

• Barcelona Odds -125
• Real Madrid Odds +120
• Spread Barcelona -3.5
• Over/Under 160.5

Here is the preview for the second 2023 EuroLeague semifinals Olympiacos vs. AS Monaco.

Preview

Barcelona (-125) rolled over Zaligris in the Top 8, beating the Lithuanian team 3-0. Sarunas Jasikevicius beat his former team and is now back home to Kauno Arena, where he previously led Zalgiris. Barcelona will have the sympathy of the home fans because of Saras, that’s for sure. 

After securing the Final Four, Barca played three more events, all in the domestic ACB league where they beat all three rivals, scoring at least 90 points. The victims of Jasikevicius’ team were Fuenlabraa, Obradorio and Baskonia. 

The top player of this crew is the former NBA star, Nikola Mirotic, who scores almost 16 points per game with 61.1% for two and more than 40% for three. The next best scorer is Nicolas Laprovitola with 10.5 points, while several other players have between six and 10 buckets, which is the biggest advantage of this team – that offensive diversity. 

Real Madrid (+120) didn’t deserve to pass Partizan in the previous round, but the Spaniards beat the Serbian team outside the court, with mind games and a little bit of help from the EuroLeague management. Those who followed the series know what we are talking about. 

However, we need to point out that in Game 5, the Madridians came back from an 18-point deficit, which needs to be respected no matter all the other circumstances. 

The team has the best defender in the EuroLeague, Walter Tavares, who is the dominant force in the paint. That’s why Real tops the total rebounds and blocks per game categories. Tavares averages 10.9 points, 6.6 boards and 2.2 blocks. The former Brooklyn Nets’ guard, Dzanan Musa, scores 15.2 points throughout the season and is the top scorer of this unit. 

Latest News

Cory Higgins is out for Barcelona, probably until the end of the year. Jan Vesely is questionable, with the starting center having problems with low-back pain. Nikola Kalinic had issues with his shoulder, but is ready for Real.

Guerschon Yabusele is out, being suspended after his savage assault on Dante Exum following Game 2. Gabriel Deck is injured and out for the season, while Vincent Poirier remains questionable. 

Head to Head Games

These teams met five times this year, and Blaugrana leads 3-2. 

Real was better in Supercopa, 89-83, then Barca responded in EuroLeague, 75-73. Barcelona was better in Madrid in ACB League, 78-87, and Real beat the rivals in the EuroLeague, also in Madrid, 91-86. The most recent meeting was in April in ACB League where Barcelona ended up on the winning side, 97-82.

Predictions

As stated, Real wasn’t even supposed to be here, and without their two top power forwards, Yabuselle and Deck, they have nothing to hope against Barca, who is much better. Even if Vesely doesn’t play, Barca will have the upper edge, because Real needs to play zonal defense, and Barca scores more than ten threes per game. 

Pick: Barcelona wins -120

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