Valencia Basket faces a historic challenge tonight (8 PM) in its debut at the EuroLeague Final Four, held at the OAKA Arena in Athens. The 'taronja' team will compete against Real Madrid in the second semifinal, following the match between Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe. Despite having lower budgets than their rivals, the main strength of the squad coached by Pedro Martínez has been its scoring potential and a fighting spirit that has brought them to this stage for the first time in their history. Neither the coach nor any of the players have prior experience in this phase, placing them before a unique opportunity to make history.

Since the current Final Four format was established in the late eighties, only one club has managed to win the title in its debut: Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas in the 1998-99 season. That team, coached by Jonas Kazlauskas and with Tyus Edney as the Final MVP, defeated Ettore Messina's Virtus Bologna (82-74) and Olympiacos in the semifinals (87-71). Zalgiris was also the last team to reach a Final Four with rookie coaches and players, which occurred in 2018 with Sarunas Jasikevicius, who lost in the semifinals to Fenerbahçe. This precedent underscores the magnitude of the challenge for Valencia Basket.

Facing them, Valencia Basket will encounter teams of high caliber. Real Madrid, despite the injury absence of Tavares, boasts key players like Mario Hezonja (averaging 12.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game) and Trey Lyles (averaging 13.1 points per game). In a hypothetical final, the 'taronja' could face Olympiacos, the regular season leader with 26 wins, spearheaded by the season's MVP Sasha Vezenkov and Tyler Dorsey, or Fenerbahçe, which relies on the solid performance of Wade Baldwin IV, Talen Horton-Tucker, and the veteran Nicolò Melli.