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Pascual could get the boot

The shock of getting eliminated in the quarterfinal of the Cup of the King shook things in Barcelona, and there are loud rumors about the coach being replaced. The pressure is huge, and the stakes even bigger in this match

Real and Barcelona can only settle with a title, that's common knowledge. Or worst case scenario, playing the final and losing to their biggest rival. Getting eliminated in the quarterfinal, however, isn't allowed, so Barcelona were shaken quite a bit last week after Bilbao outplayed them in the Cup of the King quarterfinal. The coach Pascual took the blame:

- I did everything wrong. From the starting five, to the substitutes to the tactics. I take full responsibility.

Realistically, Pascual is to blame for the defeat, but not as close as he made it seem with this statement. The rumors of him being replaced were very loud, there was supposedly even an interview arranged with Plaza from Unicaja, but so far, it's only empty talk.

- If someone thinks that four titles, three cups, four supercups and an Euroleague in this seven seasons are not enough, then I can't fight that.

The club are obviously not happy with the season so far, and part of that lies in the Euroleague, where Barcelona have to win today because a negative score would jeopardize even passing the group, which would be the end of Pascual, obviously.

- The pressure is there, especially in case we lose because we wouldn't be in a good situation. But we have to fight in front of our fans. We're playing against a team who've beaten us in the last four matches, so we have to change something.

The critics were the loudest about the defense that Pascual made Barcelona's trademark, and which seemed nonexistent lately. Maybe bringing Joey Dorsey from Galatasaray will help, he should cover the injured Lawal. He's the center who can play both the defense and the rebounds, and he already played in Barcelona, so he can adjust quickly. Maybe his arrival will finally make Ante Tomić play better, who's in a crisis that doesn't look like it could end soon.

The second target of the criticism is "La Bomba" Navarro. His days seem to be over, and the team can't cover for him defensively anymore. Every bit of creativity will be necessary today because Barcelona will face the best defense in Europe, and without Tomić and Navarro playing their best, they can't have any hopes. Barcelona were beaten four times in the last five duels against Olympiacos, and they couldn't score over 73 points once.

When Olympiacos started this phase by beating Barcelona and Laboral, they couldn't even guess that they'll win only one in the next five matches. True, this is the deadliest group, but Olympiacos compromised a lot by losing to Brose and Zalgiris, who are theoretically weaker than them. The defeats in Madrid and Moscow did make sense.

As expected, the group is very evened out and the nuances will decide. Olympiacos are coming to Barcelona today, whose score is also 3-4, and a win would get the Greeks advantage, with 2-0 in the matches against Barcelona. That would be a great basis before the last six rounds.

- In a situation like this one, every match is like a final. We know Barcelona are dealing with their problems, but we're not bothered by our opponents, even though we respect them - Spanoulis said.

This will be a duel between two top defensive teams, and considering how important the match is, we can expect a big fight for every point. Olympiacos crushed the Catalonians at the beginning of Top 16, limiting them to only 62 points, and they'll try to force their rhythm today, as well.

- We know it's going to be hard. Like us, Barcelona didn't get the results they wanted in the first round either. They're playing at home and the pressure will definitely be on them. We have to stay focused - Sferopoulos said.

Since new players had to be registered before this match, there's been a huge search for the reinforcements in the paint in the last days. The American Warrick's been brought, who played over 500 NBA matches (9.4 p, 4.0 r per match total), and his last acquisition was in Australia.

- The playoff ended last week and I'm in a good form, I'm ready to help Olympiacos mentally and physically -Warrick said. 

Warrick won't be able to play this match yet, though. Papanikolau will get the right to play the Euroleague starting today. He already played a few championship matches (11 points in the easy win against Koroivos on Monday, 4/8 from the floor). Olympiacos have been playing without the injured Young for some time, and Lojeski will also stay out for a few more days, as well.

Barcelona and Olympiacos definitely counted on getting through to Final Four but they are both 3-4 half way through this stage. They are in danger since who ever loses this game will drop into spot 6. Oly and Barca played 4 games in the quarterfinal last year and none of them finished with over 144 points. The first head-to-head in Greece finished with 136. This is a clash between two very good defenses when both are in a tough situation and both need a win. I therefore don't expect any kind of an efficient game. Granted, Barcelona have 5 overs in 8 home games but among those are games with Khimki, the blow-out against Karsiyaka and the less important meeting with Zalgiris in the first stage. The last game with Zalgiris that was marked by great shooting (92-86) and the one against Stelmet which finished with 150 points. They got limited to 140 against in the Kuban game but Kuban have one of the top defenses in Europe. The game against PAO here finished at 120 points. Besides, Barcelona had 11 games with over 150 points in the 12 until QFs home and then the two against Oly stayed at 130 and 139.

Olympicaos have 6 overs in 9 away games but against CSKA, Real, Efes ad Laboral twice. The only opponents that aren't so offense-oriented are Cedevita. Their game in Milan finished at 137 and the one against Limoges 143 even though that one was more important. Olympiacos' game style is well known, especially away and we can expect them to bring the pace down and limit the home team to about 70 points. Barcelona can respond in the same manner and I think this will definitely stay at under 150 points.