Debacle.

You can follow the Barcelona – Crvena zvezda Meridianbet match live on Sportal.

So much anticipation, so many announcements for the final tournament, only for it to end in a complete collapse. And in the season's most crucial game, no less. A game that apparently no one bothered to tell the Crvena zvezda players and coach was the most important of the year.

For 38 rounds, Crvena zvezda was a potential playoff contender. There were highs, even reaching the top of the table at one point, but it all ended painfully. "Painful" might be the best word, alongside "debacle," to describe Zvezda's performance in their season-defining match.

Everything comes down to 40 minutes. After 38 rounds of intense struggle, one game in Catalonia determines your EuroLeague season. A season for which you neglected the ABA League, making a trophy win seem like an unrealistic scenario right now. And then you go and fall apart, like never before. Though, perhaps not "never before" – Zvezda hasn't looked like a playoff team for a while. The painful reality check came in Spain, where their season couldn't be salvaged. Playing away against Real Madrid, and then Barcelona, teams that know how to play these high-stakes games.

If we were to start an analysis now, probably not even 10 articles would be enough to describe everything that went wrong at Crvena zvezda. The ultimate outcome is the fact that Zvezda has been playing very poor basketball for some time now.

Since the return of Tyson Carter and Hasheem Rivera, who were forcibly inserted into a team that was functioning well without them, Zvezda has been unrecognizable. Of course, Carter and Rivera aren't to blame for this collapse, but it was precisely their minutes that disrupted the team's hierarchy. Jared Butler started playing less, as did Ognjen Dobrić – it's truly incredible that he didn't get a single minute in Palau Blaugrana, and Donatas Motiejunas also got sidelined.

Admittedly, even he, after two brilliant months, might not have had a huge impact on the team's play from Mali Kalemegdan, but he certainly influenced the locker room and team spirit – it was always a joy to watch him, despite being the oldest, jump for every point and good play by his teammates.

Even those from whom much was expected vanished. Jordan Nwora showed that Luka Banki's words were wrong when he called Jordan a player not suited for this level, but he also demonstrated that he lacks the quality to lead his team to the top. What can be said about Chima Moneke, someone who talks a lot but delivers little? Perhaps not statistically, but in every other aspect, Moneke proved he couldn't back up his words, which even predicted a Final Four appearance in Athens.

Others didn't fare much better, and Sasha Obradović most of all.

Obradović has been struggling on the Zvezda bench for some time now; after the crazy November streak ended, he hasn't been able to find a rhythm, both in substitutions and rotations, and this all culminated in Palau Blaugrana.

Despite everyone realizing that there were too many players in rotation, Obradović stuck to his guns. And it's not as if Crvena zvezda plays at a pace like Paris, which demands quick player changes on the court.

Carter was once again on the court for significant minutes, and the former Unicaja player even started the second half, despite contributing nothing in the first. The same goes for Nikola Kalinić, who hasn't had a role in this team for months. What can be said about Ognjen Dobrić, who is already a familiar story – a captain who decides games, then gets no opportunities for weeks.

The truth is that Saša Obradović did not select this team. All the players were already there when he arrived, with the added fact that Butler only started playing a few weeks after the Serbian strategist took over the red and whites.

And it must be said that it was the former Monaco coach who turned the season around. He gave the fans and management hope that this Zvezda could reach the quarterfinals, and even the Athens tournament, which everyone had dreamed of for so many years.

However, Zvezda disappeared when it mattered most. Poorly timed form, bad luck in some matches, victories by direct competitors – it was a fine line that could have sent the red and whites' season in a different direction. Since it didn't, it seems Obradović himself didn't handle some key moments and decisive matches optimally.

A large number of players are under contract for next season, and with additional selections, Zvezda will surely build a team worthy of fighting for the quarterfinals and the final stages once again. From this season, Obradović has a lot to learn and apply to next year, when Zvezda, without a doubt, will once again have the highest ambitions. 

VIDEO Shengelia "rubs it in" Crvena zvezda's face, Saša Obradović can't hide his fury