Who will join Unicaja and Tenerife in the semis of Copa del Rey?
Yesterday the Gran Canaria Arena in Las Palmas hosted the first two games of the Copa del Rey Final Eight and we are already had the first surprise exit in the competition.
The first game of the day was played between Unicaja Malaga and Joventut Badalona. It was a tight game until halftime as the teams were tied 42-42 after two quarters, but after the break, the team from Andalusia managed to score 58 points and comfortably won the game with a score of 100 to 83. This was an expected result as Unicaja has a great season in the ACB League and the BCL too and they are one of the biggest favourites to win the Copa del Rey.
The unexpected happened in the second game of the day where Tenerife beat Barcelona and sent the Blaugrana home already in the quarterfinals. Barca had a great game start and took a 10-point lead after the first quarter. This was however the only quarter they won as Tenerife slowly started to get back in the game. The team from Catalunya lost control of the game in the last quarter and the absence of Kevin Punter who got injured in the 3rd quarter was key. Soon-to-be 42-year-old point guard Marcelinho Huertas was the player of the game and he proved that he is still a top player in Europe even at his age.
Today, we will see the other two quarterfinals, and there will be some interesting matchups. The first game is Real Madrid against Manresa. While Manresa has a good season both in the domestic league and the BCL and Real is struggling a bit in the EuroLeague, the Blancos are still the clear favourites in this encounter.
The second quarterfinal of the day should be more balanced. Valencia has a very solid season so far and they look like a team that could win every competition they play in this season, but Gran Canaria is the host of this tournament and they will certainly want to reach at least the semifinal where they could play an epic game against Real Madrid in front of their home crowd.
Imre Halasz
Photo credit: Eurosport
