Barça will face Unicaja from Malaga and Real Madrid against Valencia in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, to be held from February 16 to 19 at the Palau Olímpic in Badalona, in a draw that determined that the two great teams of the Spanish basketball, protagonists of the last two finals, will not be able to meet on this occasion.
The draw for the quarterfinals, held this Monday at the Badalona Center Internacional de Negocis, determined a Canarian duel between the Gran Canaria of the Brazilian Marcelinho Huertas and the Argentine Nicolás Brusino and the Lenovo Tenerife of the Uruguayan Bruno Fitipaldo, while the Joventut of the Dominican Andrés Feliz , host of the competition, will play the pass to the semifinals with Cazoo Baskonia.
In the semifinals, the winners of the Barça-Unicaja/Real Madrid-Valencia matches will be measured; as well as the teams that win in the clashes between the two island teams and the winner of the Joventut-Cazoo Baskonia match.
The Copa del Rey in Badalona will start on Thursday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m. with the match between Real Madrid’s Argentine Gabi Deck and Valencia Basket, which has the Cuban Jasiel Rivero as one of its stars, in which it will be the It is the second time in history that both teams meet in the quarterfinals of the Cup. The only precedent was two years ago, with a Madrid victory,
That same Thursday, at 9:30 p.m., the current champion, Nico Laprovitola’s Barça, will debut the title defense against Brazilian Augusto Lima’s Unicaja Málaga, in what will be the sixth time that both teams meet in quarterfinals. of end. In all the previous ones Barça won.
The Canarian derby between Lenovo Tenerife and Gran Canaria, an unprecedented match in the Copa del Rey, will be played on Friday 17 at 6:30 p.m., while at 9:30 p.m. Joventut Badalona will face Cazoo Baskonia, a real classic in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.
The Verdinegros and the Azulgranas have met seven times in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, with six victories for the Basques and just one win for the Catalans.
The draw meant that the two greats of the competition cannot repeat the last two finals, won by Barça, since if they overcome their respective quarterfinal matches they will see each other in the first semifinal on Saturday (6:30 p.m.). The second semifinal will be played at 9:30 p.m. and the grand final on Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Before the draw, the president of the ACB, Antonio Martín, predicted a Copa del Rey “very open for surprises” already in the quarterfinals, and that nobody was going to be “happy” in the pairings, given that the eight participating teams “had a hard time qualifying.”
Martín highlighted “the warmth and involvement” of the Badalona City Council for the Cup to be held in Badalona, something that the mayor of the city, Rubén Guijarro, described as “historical justice” since the last time it was held in Badalona was in 1985, with victory for Real Madrid against Joventut.
The groups of the Endesa Mini Cup, played by players aged 13 and 14, were also raffled this Monday and will be held from February 15 to 19 in the Llefià pavilion with the final at the Palau Olímpic.
UCAM Murcia Redexis, Valencia Basket, Real Madrid and Real Betis Baloncesto will play in group A, while in group B will be Joventut Badalona, Gran Canaria, Unicaja Andalucía and Barça. The first two classified of each group will play the semifinals.
Source: EFE
