Arsenal star Arshavin watches Real beat Barca in Euroleague basketball at The O2

Watching on: Arshavin (centre) watches the basketball at The O2

Andrei Arshavin set about looking for a new club by watching Real Madrid take on Barcelona… but he might be too short to play for either side.

The Arsenal forward was at the O2 to take in the El Clasico of basketball as Real Madrid pulled off a shock win over rivals Barcelona in the Euroleague semi-final, winning the contest 74-67 to seal their place in the final.

                 

It was a tight contest between the two Spanish giants in London but a game changing 17-2 run in the fourth quarter saw Madrid into the final on Sunday night, where they will face Olympiakos.

Felipe Reyes scored 17 points for Madrid ahead of Sergio Llull and Sergio Rodriguez with 13.

Marcelinho Huertas led the way for Barcelona with 19 points and Ante Tomic added 18 points and 12 

rebounds, but it was in a losing effort for the Catalan side.

              

In the other semi-final, reigning champions Olympiakos eased past Russian side CSKA Moscow 69-52 in a repeat of last year’s final.

Cheered on by a large Greek contingent inside the O2 Arena, Olympiakos seized the initiative early on and never let Moscow back in as they cruised to a comfortable victory by a 17-point margin.

Barcelona will play CSKA Moscow in the third-place play-off at 5pm on Sunday with the final between Olympiakos and Real Madrid due to commence at 8pm.

The last of Madrid’s eight Euroleague titles came in 1995, almost 20 years ago, when they beat Olympiakos in the final.