MIES (Switzerland) - Eleven months ago, Lenovo Tenerife and BAXI Manresa were in arguably the best Basketball Champions League game ever played, with coach Txus Vidorreta leading his team to the trophy in the 2022 Final in Bilbao. In April 2023, Tenerife and Manresa will play each other at least twice in their best-of-three Quarter-Final series.

How did they get here?

While a 9-3 record isn't the best in the BCL this season, two of Tenerife's three defeats came when they had already secured their spot in the next round. In fact, their defeat to UCAM Murcia was in effect painless as they protected their head-to-head advantage, which allowed them to win their Round of 16 group.

Tenerife are on a 12-game winning streak at home in this competition, the longest in the club's seven year history with the BCL. They also won four straight games against Manresa, and seven of their last eight matchups.

BAXI Manresa hold a 7-5 record this season, proving there was some drama to their campaign. They edged out SL Benfica to win their Regular Season group, before fighting back on the last Gameday of the Round of 16 to erase Rytas Vilnius' double-digit lead and finish ahead of the Lithuanian club in the standings, on point differential.

Manresa earned the last Quarter-Finals ticket, and it's all been so close for them every time they board the plane in this competition. Six of their last eight road games were decided by margins of five points or less, including the thriller in Istanbul against Bahcesehir college, when Jerrick Harding won the game.

What's their biggest plus as a team?

Pick your poison. Lenovo Tenerife's offense has always been praised but, for the sake of this matchup, let's talk defense: Tenerife allow their opponents just 68.8 possessions per game, the lowest number in the entire BCL, and they hold their rivals to 102.1 points per 100 possessions, earning the best defensive rating in the League.

On the other end, they are shooting 47.9 percent from the field, also the best mark in the BCL, and they knock down 10.8 three-pointers per game, the highest average among the eight remaining teams, on a  39.7 percent success rate.

Meanwhile, BAXI Manresa are the fourth-best passing team this season, dishing out 19.4 assists per game, behind only Unicaja, Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon. Manresa are the second fastest team of the season, with 75.5 possessions per game, so it will be a clash of pace.

Manresa have especially been successful on the road this season. They won their first four games, then lost to Telekom Baskets Bonn, before also falling in Vilnius, but that 96-95 defeat could be counted as a win because they protected their lead from the first matchup. Road warriors against the best home team of the season, in another clash of styles.

What's their biggest minus as a team?

Both teams could do a better job on the glass. Lenovo Tenerife grab just 65.8 percent of all available rebounds under their rim, which places them among the bottom five teams in the BCL this season.

The problem for Manresa is that they are even worse, with a defensive rebounding percentage of 64.3. The team that resolves that part of the game better will be packing their bags to another Final Four.

What's their biggest international success?

Before the start of the BCL, Lenovo Tenerife played just six international games, in the 1977-78 and 1988-89 FIBA Korac Cup. Since the birth of this League, Tenerife became a force to be reckoned with, collecting two BCL titles, with another Final and two Quarter-Finals appearances to their name.

Tenerife also picked up three FIBA Intercontinental Cups along the way, including the most recent one, held in February 2023.

Manresa were a more prominent team in terms of European appearances, especially through the 1990s when they were a part of the FIBA EuroLeague in 1998-99, qualifying as Spanish champions. Reaching the title game last season was their biggest international success.

What's the key matchup?

Jaime Fernandez doesn't get enough recognition for how much of a threat he is on this Tenerife roster. The 29-year-old is enjoying his role off the bench, averaging 9.2 points in just 16.2 minutes per game, earning the trust for the big plays down the stretch, including a last second game-winner at the buzzer in Bilbao to put Lenovo Tenerife through to the Quarter-Finals.

With 250 points scored in 24 Liga Endesa games this season, he's on pace to have his best domestic scoring season since the 2018-19 run with Unicaja.

As clutch as Fernandez is, Jerrick Harding matches that on Pedro Martinez's roster. The 24-year-old had 22.0 points in 22.0 minutes per game over the last three Round of 16 games, earning a selection to the Team of the Month in the BCL.

He is even more impressive in Spain. At 16.1 points per game, he is currently the top scorer of the Liga Endesa, putting up 41 points against Real Betis on March 18.

Have they met before?

Lenovo Tenerife won their only international matchup, the aforementioned Final in Bilbao last season, 98-87.

In the Spanish top division, they faced each other 19 times, Tenerife winning 13 of those games. There were nine games played in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife winning seven of those. The last Manresa road win in Tenerife happened back in November 2015, before the BCL was even born.