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Catching the last train

Neither Milano nor Barca could imagine doing this badly in EL this season. Reaching the playoffs is now just a hope for both teams but as long as there is a chance, they will fight for every win

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Milano won the Italian Cup trophy even though they were without Kruno Simon. His absence was not visible on their game, it might have even helped a bit as they ended up playing great defense throughout the three games, which has eventually seen them clinch the title. 

They now need to find a way to do as well in Euroleague. In that competition, Milano have the worst defense with 88 points allowed per game. That is, among other things, why they are so far from the playoffs now:

- Maths still gives us a chance but realistically, we are far from playoffs. We lost 3 or 4 games narrowly but we now want to win all the remaining games to get experience for the next season - Repesa said.

He might say that they want wins for experience but the truth is, they will try hard as long as there is any chance of getting through to playoffs. They beat rather respectable opponents (Darussfaka, Olympiacos and Galatasaray) in the last three Euroleague games to show they are still very much alive:

- Playing Euroleague is a privilege and we'll fight until the end here. We played very well lately, we beat Efes and played a close game with Real. 

Milano will probably be without Kruno Simon again. McLean and Kalientis suffered minor injuries in the Cup but they should play today. 

The team they are to face today is no doubt a legendary one but they seem to be everything to make us forget that this season. Barcelona are really not doing great in Euroleague, especially away where they are on an 8-game losing run. 

- We need to fight the best we can in every game. Our approach has been much better in the last few games. The defeats keep on happening because we are constantly without key players. That is something we need to deal with. 

Keeping track of injured players at Barcelona is really not easy anymore. Ribas and Lawal have been out from before, Navarro just underwent surgery, Doellman and Perperoglou are out. Luckily, at least guard Oleson will be back today.

In spite of all the injuries, Barca still have some very impressive names on the roster. Bartzokas needs to find a way of improving offense which is the worst in Euroleague. They went over 80 points just once in 11 EL away games. Luckily, that was in the last game. Facing the worst defense in EL could definitely be a chance for Barcelona to improve that.