A week that could be historic for Catalan basketball

BadalonaCatalan basketball has a double historic date this Wednesday. Asisa Joventut, who has the possibility to qualify to play in the final four in Badalona, visits AEK Athens in the third and decisive game of the Basketball Champions League quarterfinals. Spar Girona, for its part, begins against Umana Reyer Venice its historic participation in the Final Six of the Women's EuroLeague. In addition, Barça plays against Bayern Munich on Friday a key match that closes the EuroLeague regular season.

La Penya has a do-or-die game in Athens (6:30 PM, Esport3), for which Dani Miret recovers Guillem Vives, who already played in Manresa on Sunday, and hopes to have Simon Birgander for a few minutes, who is willing to push himself. Ante Tomic's presence is ruled out. "We are in good dynamics, we have recovered players and in the locker room we know we have a great challenge ahead of us and that we can do it. We have a great desire, we want to play the final four in Badalona. We are going to Greece to win the game. Our best version involves being brave and having confidence in ourselves. We will go to pressure them and go for everything from the start, to give 100%," says the coach.

Referees Wojciech Liszka, Gatis Salins and Boris Krejic concentrate many of the looks, as both teams consider their criteria key. "We know the importance of the game. Motivation and concentration are at their maximum. The final four has been a team objective since day one, and even more so since we knew it would be played in Badalona. On a personal level, it is one of the most important games I have played in my career," says Ludde Hakanson.

Major challenge in Zaragoza

For its part, Spar Girona will debut in the final phase in Zaragoza playing a match of maximum demand against Umana Reyer Venice (5:30 p.m., Esport3, Mediaset Infinity and Movistar). The Girona club expects a significant presence of Catalan fans at the Pavelló Príncep Felipe, where the Final Six will be held.

Despite the confirmed absences of Arica Carter and Marta Canella, due to injury; the impossibility of using Axelle Merceron, who was not registered in time, and the physical problems of Chloe Bibby and Laura Quevedo, Spar Girona faces the challenge with great enthusiasm. If they overcome the tie, the Girona team will play the semifinals on Friday against Fenerbahçe Opet, the great favorite for the title. On the other side of the draw, Casademont Zaragoza, which has three Catalan players (Mariona Ortiz, Laia Flores and Helena Oma), will face Basket Landes. The team that wins will face Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring in the semifinals.

"Playing the Final Six with this team is a dream. I would like to represent the project of Uni Girona and Catalan basketball in the best possible way. We have a lot of enthusiasm. We have prepared the match in the best possible way thanks to the resilience of the players. Venice is a team that has talent and creativity, but also physicality. The Italian players, who are internationals, give it discipline," adds Roberto Íñiguez, coach of Spar Girona.