Regal FC Barcelona comfortably dispatched of Greek side Olympiacos, 86-68 to become 2009/2010 Euroleague Champions in Paris, France.
Juan Carlos Navarro was named Final Four MVP – as the danger-man hit 21 points, to lead all scorers for the winners. As they lead from midway through the first quarter and never looked back.
“All our hard work has paid off. We did a very good job and I am happy for my team mates.” Said Navarro.
Olympiacos settled for runners-up and will feel disappointed that they did not contribute more to what was, mainly, a one-sided contest.
Veteran, Theo Papaloukas was gracious in defeat, saying: “Barcelona was a better team today and they deserve the win and this title. We had to chase them from a very early stage and it hurt us.”
After trading buckets early, Barca went on a 15-5 run midway through the opening quarter to effectively kill the game off as a contest. Olympiacos from then were always playing catch-up.
The Greeks showed glimpses of coming back later in the second quarter through Papaloukas and Ioannis Bourousis. But the Catalan giants were always a step ahead and a sneaky Ricky Rubio steal off Papaloukas for the lay-up extended Barca’s lead to 13 [43-30]. Barcelona would lead at half-time by 11 [47-36].
Midway through the third quarter, Papaloukas narrowed the gap to 52-47, but Barca, again showed their class and ran in eight straight points and widened the gap at the end of the quarter to 14 [64-50]. Making the fourth period almost a non-event.
Barcelona center, Fran Vazquez hailed this win as one of the best moments of his career – stating: “ We worked hard for this. We deserved to win the Euroleague title and managed to do it. This is one of the best moments of my career – if not the best.”
John Hobbs for talkbasket.net – in Paris.
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