The Spanish Xavi Pascual Russian basketball abandoned on Tuesday after five and a half years as a coach of the Zenit San Petersburgoto which he led to his first league title.
According to the club on its website, Pascual leave the Zenit at the end of his contract after winning the regular league, but falling before him Cska in the 'playoff'.
“Thanks from the heart, Xavi! Thanks for the golden pages written together!“, says the statement
He Zenit He made an offer of renewal to the Spanish coach, as Efe could know, but he rejected it, without knowing the reasons for the moment.
The team led by Catalan came to put ahead in the tie for the title before the CSKA (2-1) The best of seven games, but the Russian Army as a whole and gave no option to the Zenit (2-4).
The defeat was even more painful because the Zenit He won the regular league with only five losses in 44 games, which served to Pascual To get the award for the second time Best coach of the year in Russia.
The domain of Zenit It was such during the regular league that chained 25 consecutive victories, a historical record that could not be crowned with the title.
Pascual He directed the former Tsarist capital team in 308 parties -65 in the Euroleague- with a balance of 215 victories.
The Catalan, who arrived in Russia in 2020, won the league with the Zenit In 2022 and was last season in third place, but he won the Copa.
Although Russian clubs pay better salaries than Europeans, due to war in Ukraine Zenit Do not dispute European competitions since 2022.
