By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
Back in 2010, Pascual guided Barcelona to the EuroLeague title in Paris, capping off a remarkable campaign with victories over CSKA Moscow in the semifinal (64-54) and Olympiacos in the championship game (86-68).
More than 15 years later, the veteran coach revisited those memories in an interview with Eurohoops and Final Four Stories by Stoiximan.
Pascual, who returned to Barcelona’s bench last November, is once again leading the club where he previously served as head coach from 2008 to 2016 — a period highlighted by that unforgettable EuroLeague triumph in Paris.
“The first thing that comes to mind is that we had a practically perfect season, almost without losses in all phases of the EuroLeague. We managed to overcome Real Madrid in the playoffs, although things got complicated for us after losing Game 2,” Pascual recalled.
Barcelona entered the Final Four in the French capital as the team to beat and fully justified that status on the court.
“We arrived at the Final Four probably as favorites and managed to play really good basketball there. It was a very competitive semifinal against CSKA and then a final where we played extraordinarily well against Olympiacos.”
Still, for the experienced Spanish coach, one memory stands above the rest — and it didn’t happen on the court.
“But maybe, if I have to highlight one memory, it would be the arrival of president Laporta together with the football players — Xavi, Pique…”