Xavi Pascual’s Take on Barça’s Loss to Virtus Bologna
Xavi Pascual’s Post-Game Thoughts
After the unfortunate loss against Virtus Bologna, Barcelona’s head coach Xavi Pascual took to the press to dissect the game. Barcelona fell short with a score of 85 to 80. Here’s what Xavi had to say:
“First off, huge congrats to Virtus Bologna for snagging the win. We kicked things off like we were on fire, but after about 15 minutes, it was as if we hit a wall. Our turnovers handed them opportunities to score in transition, and they racked up 17 points off our mistakes during the first half.”
“In the second half, we just couldn’t find our groove. Every 50-50 ball, every rebound, it was like they had a magnetic pull on them—everything was going their way. Yet, we managed to bounce back a bit in the fourth quarter and actually had a shot at the win. At one point, we were ahead by one, but we shot ourselves in the foot with two big blunders: one was a silly foul on a three-pointer that we simply had to contest without fouling. Then, we made a poor choice with an offensive play, which was something we had been executing well earlier. Sure, Edwards got a bucket, and Punter had a chance but blew it. We missed those shots, and just like that, the game slipped from our grasp. The endgame was our moment to shine, but once again, we just didn’t close the deal.”
Pascual didn’t hold back when he spoke to Euroleague TV either: “I don’t know how many times we had layups only to lose the ball. It could have been a very different game! There was a phase where we simply weren’t playing well—too many turnovers and giving up easy points. We fought back, but then we missed three consecutive threes and, well, you know how that story ends—loss.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
1,565 | February 2026
