The countdown to the Final Four in Malaga 2023 is already in its final phase. This coming Friday, May 12, the semifinals of the four-way event for the title of the Basketball Champions League 22/23 will begin. Lenovo-Hapoel Jerusalem and Unicaja-Telekom Bonn are the two semifinals from which the names of the two finalists will come out that on Sunday 14 the continental title will be played at the Martín Carpena Palace.
About to start the Final Four, the question that all fans are asking is Who is the favorite to lift the European title? The truth is that any of the four teams that have reached this Final Four are capable of doing so. Each one has real options and it will be small details that will finally decide the name of the definitive champion.
He Telecom Bonn It is, perhaps, the one with the least name in Europe of the four finalists. But be careful with the Germans, leaders of the Bundesliga ahead of Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich and with a curious fact in this BCL: they have not yet lost a single game away from their court. They have lost two losses this season in the BCL and both came in front of their fans in Bonn. Be careful with them, they play good basketball, they have a very balanced squad and they will arrive in Malaga with very little pressure, with a lot to gain and very little to lose. If he ended up being the champion, it would not be a major surprise either.
He Hapoel Jerusalem He started the season last October as one of the favorites to be in the Final Four and over the months they have shown that those expectations were real. It is true that away from their hellish environment their competitiveness seems to drop, but at Carpena they will be very well supported this weekend with a crowd that will be the largest of the qualified teams, not counting the host Unicaja. Be careful with Hapoel, a team with an important nucleus of North American players capable of beating anyone, in any circumstance.
He lenovo tenerife He was the rival to be beaten by all when the season began and he will also be this next “weekend” in Malaga. They are the current champions of this FIBA Champions League, they know how to play this type of competition and they have an even better team than the one that gave them the title last year in the Final Four in Bilbao. With a veteran squad that has fought a thousand battles, pressure won’t be a problem for them at Carpena.
Unicaja: host and aspiring to everything
He Unicaja they had to win the European place in a Qualifying Phase in September. Since then, he has played high-class basketball that has allowed him to win the Copa del Rey and have a very placid path in Europe, being group champion in the first phase, group champion in the Rourd of 16 and winning on the road their quarterfinal playoff duel against UCAM from Murcia quickly. He is the host of this Final Four and his good sporting moment allows him to be in all the pools as a serious contender for what would be his first continental scepter in FIBA territory.