The preseason progresses and with it the demands of the tests to which the different teams are subjected. Two weeks before the start of the Endesa League, the Catalan League This weekend appears as the first test of importance for the new versions of Barça, Joventut, Baxi Manresa and MoraBanc Andorra.
La Lliga, which this year will take place in the pavilion Nou Congost de Manresa, will raise the curtain today Saturday with the dispute of the two semifinals. The first will face Barça and Joventuta from 19:30 hours, while the second will be played by Baxi Manresa and MoraBanc Andorra (21:45). The latter start as current champions of a tournament in which in recent years they have managed to discuss the supremacy of Barça, with two of the last three titles.
None of the four teams arrive at the Nou Congost with the machinery perfectly greased but surely the rehearsals will remain in the background if the matches arrive tight in the second half.
“We face the Catalan League with great enthusiasm and although it does not have the stature of the rest of the championships, it is important to win it to get a good feeling”, he pointed out yesterday Alex Abrines. According to the Barça forward, it is the “first title of the season and for us it is important”.
The Barça comes to the duel after winning his first two friendlies, the first against him MoraBanc Andorra (81-72) and the second against him Limoges (83-47). Same preseason balance as the Joventut, winner of his duels against MoraBanc Andorra (84-71) and Baxi Manresa (84-73).
The Barça faces the game without one of his reinforcements this summer, the Turkish pivot Sertac Sanli, with a cleft in the thumb of the left foot, while the Penya has significant casualties due to injury of Ferran bassas and Before Tomic. “Our goal is to keep growing. We have to be very competitive, we cannot lose that, try to be the best Joventut possible ”, the technician pointed out yesterday Carles duran.
The other semifinal will test the current champion, the MoraBanc Andorra, before the renewed Baxi Manresa, who has lost in his three preseason friendlies but will try to take advantage of the home court factor in the return of the fans to the stands.
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Fans return to the stands a year and a half later
The dispute of the Catalan League will mean the return of the fans to the stands of the Nou Congost after a year and a half of absence due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last time that the Manresa pavilion hosted an audience was on March 7, 2020 in a match against Betis on matchday 23 of the Endesa League 19-20. This reunion will still be held with limitations, those set by the CSD and which will restrict access to this weekend’s matches at the Nou Congost to 1,500 fans who must submit a responsible statement