MIES (Switzerland) - It's extremely rare for the exact same roster and coach who win a title together to stay at the same team to defend it the next season, but this rare occurrence is what Hereda San Pablo Burgos are going to experience in May, when they depart for the BCL Final 8 in Nizhny Novgorod.

The same group of players - with the sole addition of Maksim Salash - that conquered the 2020 BCL crown in Athens last September, will be called upon to retain it in Nizhny under the guidance of the same head coach, Joan Peñarroya.

It would be tempting for the reigning BCL champions to start thinking beyond the Quarter-Finals, where they were drawn against Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon. But coach Peñarroya made it crystal clear on Saturday, the day after the Final 8 draw, that it has not even occurred to his team to think of anything past the Israeli purple-gold side.

Despite the fact the two teams have never crosses paths, Holon's reputation precedes them and they have already earned a great deal of respect from the Spanish coach.

"First of all we're only going to think about Holon and nothing else, no other team beyond that," Peñarroya said.

"To be honest, I still don't know that much about them at this point, but it just so happens that I have heard very, very good things about them during this season.

"They are a team that has a vertical style of play, they have very dangerous players, and we're evidently talking about a team that is doing very well in both the BCL and in their domestic league."

Burgos and Holon were drawn on the same side of the bracket as Lenovo Tenerife and SIG Strasbourg, which gave rise to media buzz about the prospect of an all-Spanish Semi-Final. Peñarroya though would have none of that.

"When the time comes, we will see how this game goes and what happens," the Burgos coach said.

"I was asked about [a potential clash in the Semi-Finals with] Lenovo Tenerife, but the truth is that both ourselves and Tenerife would have to win [in the Quarter-Finals] in order for that clash to take place.

"Here [in the Final 8] you can never ever disregard any opponent, it's as simple as that."

Holon head coach Stefanos Dedas meanwhile was not really surprised by the result of the draw.

"We are used to tough assignments in the BCL this year. We were drawn in the same group with AEK in the Regular Season, last season's finalist. Then in the same group as Karsiyaka, Tofas and Brindisi in the Play-Offs, two top Turkish teams and one top Italian team," Dedas told championsleague.basketball.

"So it comes as no surprise that we've drawn the reigning BCL champions in the Quarter-Final. They have the same roster that won the trophy at 99%, so we are obviously aware of how tough this game is.

"But at the same time we have shown that we can play well against anybody, not only in the BCL but also in the Israeli league against Maccabi Tel Aviv or Hapoel Jerusalem.

"Burgos are a very good team, but we are used to playing against that level of teams. We will do our best to justify our reputation in this season's BCL as the team that plays beyond its budget."