Tuesday. Evening. It's not too late at all, but the streets of Barcelona are empty. A lonely cleaner hoses the asphalt of Catalonia Square. By a series of boulevards descending to the port past the majestic statue of Columbus, you can study the female population of the city: in addition to flocks of girls suffering from insomnia, merchants and tourists indifferent to the local idols, you will not meet anyone. On the picturesque promenade there is silence altogether - only the sea wind is tangled in the wide leaves of palm trees and flocks of herrings splash in the lights of the bay under the unusual wooden bridge Rambla de Mar.
The buzz of real life comes only from the numerous beer service sets - and even then only from those whose owners took care of the presence of large plasma television screens. There really can not break through.
Finally: a small port restaurant, lost in the narrow streets at the post office, in which only a dozen Catalans are sadly watching the last 20 minutes of the Liverpool match. They can be suspected of inability to hurt: even chic moments they meet only with quiet "oohs". The explosion after a goal by Gudejonsen is like a juicy cherry in the middle of a fresh cake. The waiter brings beer just when the television crews just started a series of repetitions. And on gracias, as if mocking, he answers: "No, thank you!" The final whistle - and visitors silently disperse. The owner waits for the last of the customers to finish their beer and pushes the blinds on the door, as if closing the football season for Barcelona. The streets are becoming even more deserted. Only a group of young people - either indifferent to football, or quickly switching to other pleasures of life, hang out late at the door of Hard Rock Cafe.
Today, Barcelona really needs to be distracted - after all, both local basketball clubs continue to fight in the Euroleague Top 16. True, we will be more interested in what is happening in Badalon - a suburb of Barca, perched on the right bank of the Besos River. The local “Hoventud” remains a serious contender, despite a major defeat in Moscow. “The main thing is to force your opponent on the pace of the game,” said CSKA head coach Ettore Messina the day before.
The Italian specialist, indeed, will have to be more difficult. He needs to take care of Theo Papaloukas, who slightly injured his leg in a duel with Sibirtelecom-Lokomotiv and on Monday trained on an individual program. But the army team will again have David Vanterpool on the bench - the American undergoing rehabilitation procedures was taken to maintain team spirit. Friendly David, as usual, did not go into details about the question of his own health. "Getting better," said the title of the Beatle song Vanterpool. And it pleases.
The MVP of February in the Euroleague Matyazha Smodis was barely let through the border at the Barcelona airport - on the control I did not like the slight damage to the Slovenian's EU passport. Helped out by almost the whole team - it turned out. Parted with smiles. Now it’s important to take Matyazha back. It is desirable along with a victory that will practically ensure CSKA first place in the group. By the way, this same tour will most likely decide whether the army team will again fly to Spain in April. To deprive Muscovites of this opportunity, Taugres, who meets with Maccabi, should take care. Looking forward to the evening.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH, Barcelona