Fenerbahçe 88-74 Barça: Defeat in Turkey
Barça are coming back empty handed from the Ulker Sports Arena, where they lost to Fenerbahçe mainly due to a very poor first half. Brizuela was outstanding as they fought well to make amends in the second, but it just wasn't enough in the end.
So not the best start to a busy week in which the team also visits Panathinaikos and then has a league derby with Joventut Badalona coming up at the weekend.
This is one of the toughest away arenas in the competition, and inspired by former Barça guard Nick Calathes becoming the all-time EuroLeague leader for steals, Fenerbahce ended the first period already +12. Not the start Barça wanted.
Both sides scored at a similar rate in the second period, meaning by the end of it, Barça were twice as far as behind as they were when they started it, the score now standing at 46-25.
Defiant comeback
It wasn't looking good at all, but it was time for the 'Basque Mamba' to start strutting his stuff. Brizuela, supported well by Willy Hernangómez and Oscar Da Silva, led the Barça reaction as they finally worked out how to break through the Fenerbahce rearguard. The blaugranes won the third period 32-16 and that valiant effort had got them back to within five going into the final period.
A Jan Vesely score closed the gap to just three. A game that had almost looked lost now looked very winnable indeed. But just when they were most in trouble, the home side found a new edge. Inspired by five uncontested points from Wilbekin, the Turks surged again. Barça, meanwhile, seemed to have lost their scoring touch, and were further penalised when Laprovittola was fouled out of the game.
So near, but so far, and despite their amazing battle back into contention, Barça ended up losing by 14.
MATCH STATS
Fenerbahçe, 88.
Barça, 74.
Fenerbahçe: Tyler Dorsey (4), Nick Calathes (13), Nigel Hayes-Davis (12), Dyshawn Pierre (3), Johnathan Motley (9), Scottie Wilbekin (18), Sertac Sanli (2), Georgios Papagiannis (0), Tarik Biberovic (12), Amine Noua (2), Marko Guduric (13), Yam Madar (-).
Barça: Tomas Satoransky (9), Nicolas Laprovittola (11), Nikola Kalinic (5), Jabari Parker (4), Jan Vesely (4), Oscar Da Silva (2), Dario Brizuela (18), Ricky Rubio (8), Willy Hernangómez (9), Alex Abrines (4), James Nnaji (0), Rokas Jokubaitis (0).
Periods: 23-11 / 23-14 (46-25) / HT / 16-32 (62-57) / 26-17 (88-74).
Referees: Matej Boltauzer, Joseph Bissang & Luka Kardum.