Final Four Stories: Barcelona 2010 with Xavi Pascual

By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net

In 2010, Xavi Pascual led Barcelona to the EuroLeague title in Paris, culminating a memorable campaign with victories over CSKA Moscow in the semifinals (64-54) and Olympiacos in the final (86-68).

More than 15 years later, the Catalan coach reminisced about those moments in an interview with Eurohoops and Final Four Stories by Stoiximan.

Pascual, who returned to the Barcelona bench last November, is once again coaching the club where he previously managed between 2008 and 2016, a period marked by that unforgettable EuroLeague triumph in Paris.

“The first thing that comes to mind is that it was a very special moment. We had a practically perfect season, undefeated in all phases of the EuroLeague. We had managed to overcome Real Madrid in a playoff that became complicated, losing the second game. We arrived at the Final Four probably as favorites. We also played very good basketball in the Final Four, a very competitive semifinal against CSKA and a final where we played extraordinarily against Olympiacos.”

Barcelona arrived at the Final Four in the French capital as the team to beat and fully justified that status on the court, with a very special moment during the grand final. “If I have to highlight one memory, it was the moment when President Laporta and players from the first football team—I remember Xavi, Piqué, Busquets, Bojan—came to support us in that final. It was a wonderful moment, where the entire Barcelona fanbase reacted. We were all very united at the club; it was a wonderful feeling to have that support.”

Once the EuroLeague title was secured, their second after the 2003 victory, the celebrations were in full swing, with moments that Xavi Pascual still remembers vividly: “I remember the hug with Juan Carlos Navarro, the hug with Pete Mickeal, and I especially remember the hug with Gianluca Basile. He had been chasing that moment his entire career and was in the final stretch. I remember that moment; we even shed a few tears. Of course, there was the hug with the captain, Roger Grimau, with everyone. But I remember those special hugs after winning most vividly.”

Although the EuroLeague title was the result of a level of basketball rarely seen before, there was also room for motivational and emotional moments. “We did something a little different before the first game. The night before, we made a very moving motivational video for the players. In the background, we had filmed all the families—some who were in Barcelona and others who weren’t—of all the players and staff members, and the families spoke, giving messages of encouragement and total support to their loved ones. It was very moving and beautiful to experience it all together.”

In such a high-pressure environment, Xavi Pascual also spoke about the need to find a balance between tactics and instinct. “There’s room for everything; basketball belongs to the players. The players’ instincts come into play in difficult moments of the game. Tactically, you can attack any situation, but the player might decide to play the other side of the screen, play a split, pass to a shooter… The player’s instinct is always the most important part of the game, even though, overall, being well-positioned tactically is very important. Both things are very important.”

The coach from Gavà also offered advice on how to approach such crucial matches as those in a Final Four. “It’s very difficult to give advice, but from my point of view, the EuroLeague has three different levels. One is the regular season, then when the playoffs arrive it’s a different kind of basketball, where everything becomes very tactical and you have to control your emotions very well and you need special experience to read things. And then the Final Four is another level, a level of maximum pressure where it’s very easy to lose focus. The hotels are full of agents, family members, supporters, and everyone else; it’s very difficult to lose concentration. Added to that is the special motivation, which also generates pressure, of all the participants. The advice I could give is to play as naturally as possible in every game they’re going to play.”