Who will advance to the Finals of the Champions League?
The Basketball Champions League Final Four semifinals will be played on Thursday in the Palau Municipal D’Esports in Badalona, and while we have clear favourites in both games, the Final Four format usually is in the advantage of the ‘’underdog’’ teams, and we can see some surprises in this tournament.
In the first game, we will have a clash between Rytas Vilnius and Tenerife. The Lithuanian team won both groups they played in before advancing to the playoffs. First, they won Group A, where they competed against Heidelberg, Promitheas and Legia, and then they topped Group I against Galatasaray, Le Mans and Hapoel Holon. In the playoffs, Rytas won two very hard-fought games against Nymburk, first a 7-point win at home and then a 1-point win in the Czech Republic in Game 2 after a strong fourth quarter performance. If Rytas lifts the trophy, it would be the first time a Lithuanian team has won the BCL. Meanwhile, Tenerife is a BCL specialist, as the team from the Canary Islands already won the trophy twice (including the first edition of the BCL) and they also played the final on two other occasions. This season, they won Group D, where they had to play against Tofas, Trapani and Bnei Herzliya. Then, they competed in and won Group L against Nymburk, Gran Canaria and Trieste, while in the playoffs, they faced Galatasaray in a series that had to go to a decisive Game 3. After two very balanced games, Tenerife comfortably won Game 3 at home and advanced to the Final Four. On Thursday, Tenerife is the clear favourite: they have a very experienced roster, they have experience in BCL Final Fours, and the game is played in Spain.
In the other semifinal, we have another Spanish team that is the favourite to advance: Unicaja Malaga looks to win a three-peat in the BCL, after lifting the trophy in 2024 and 2025. To advance to the title game, they will need to defeat AEK Athens, a task that will not be easy. Malaga easily won its first group stage, while in the second group stage, it finished with the same record as Joventut Badalona (4-2), but they had the head-to-head advantage. In the playoffs, the Andalusians eliminated Alba Berlin to advance to the Final Four. AEK won Group F and then Group J to advance to the playoffs, where they defeated Joventut Badalona in probably the toughest playoff series. The Greek team took advantage of the home court: they lost by over 20 points in Badalona but won both their home games, and they have a chance to win the BCL again after their success in 2018, when they defeated Monaco in the Final.
Imre Halasz
