AXA FC Barcelona team profile
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 Winterthur FC Barcelona comes off a season of transition with ambitious intentions of being a top contender again in every competition the team plays during 2007-08. That comes as no surprise, knowing that Barcelona has won seven of the last 13 Spanish League titles, and in the spring of 2003 conquered a triple crown - victories in the Spanish League, Spanish King's Cup and, above all, the Euroleague Final Four. The club's first continental title was won at Palau Saint Jordi in Barcelona before its home fans and stands as the brightest moment in club history, as Dejan Bodiroga, Gregor Fucka, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Juan Carlos Navarro and coach Svetislav Pesic made it possible. And that is despite a long and storied history. Over the years, Barcelona had already clinched several European trophies - such as Saporta Cups in 1985 and 1986, the Korac Cup in 1987 and 1999 - to go with its national success. In 2001, Barcelona celebrated the 75th anniversary of its basketball team, with another measure of that success being 19 national cup victories, the first four coming way back in the 1940's. Add to that 14 Spanish League titles, all but one of them coming after 1980, and 14 more second-place domestic finishes.
2006-07 RESULTS | Euroleague | R. Season | 9-5 | Top 16 | 4-2 | Quarters | 1-2 |
| Spanish League | R. Season | 23-11 | Playoffs | Finalist | Cup | Champion |
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But until 2003, Barcelona had one vacancy in its trophy case. The team had reached the Final Four as many as seven times before, and lost another continental final in 1984, so the euphoric relief that came with its 2003 Euroleague victory in front of nearly 17,000 fans remains a fresh, joyous memory that the team hopes to repeat. Even when Bodiroga earned MVP honors and became the big hero for most Barcelona fans, other like Nacho Solozabal, Chicho Sibilio, Epi, Audie Norris, Arturas Karnisovas, Sasha Djordjevic or head coach Aito Garcia Reneses worked hard for many years to finally watch their team reach its biggest glory. Since then, Barcelona has only returned to the Final Four once, in 2006, losing against eventual champion CSKA Moscow in the semifinals. The 2005-06 season was a truly rare on in which Barcelona did not raise any trophy at all, but the team bounced back by lifting the Spanish King's Cup trophy last season. In 2006-07, Barcelona made it to the Euroleague Quarterfinals Playoff but lost against Unicaja 2-1 in dramatic fashion. The club also returned to the Spanish League finals, but archrivals Real Madrid won the series 3-1. That is just a guarantee that its hunger for the next one is even greater as it looks ahead to 2007-08, as Barcelona has always been competitive and will once again fight for every title this season.
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Euroleague.net
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