BELGRADE (Serbia) - For the fifth time in European basketball competition history, two Spanish clubs have reached a title-deciding game.

It's also the second time this  occurs in the eight seasons of the Basketball Champions League so far. The first time around, in 2022, Lenovo Tenerife triumphed against BAXI Manresa at the Final Four in Bilbao.

Shermadini and Tenerife defeated Manresa in the previous all-Spanish Final of the BCL

Tenerife are back once again in this second all-Spanish affair, in Serbia, but Unicaja also have also prior experience of defeating compatriots in a major European Final, as they outlasted Valencia Basket in the EuroCup Final in 2017.

The previous two all-Spanish Finals on pan-European level were in 2008, when Joventut Badalona defeated Akasvayu Girona in the ULEB Cup Final in Turin, Italy; and in 1999, when FC Barcelona held off Adecco Estudiantes across the two-leg FIBA Korac Cup Finals.

How did they get here?

Unicaja defeated UCAM Murcia 80-74 in the Semi-Final on Friday, powered by their great second-half shooting in a game which their coach described perfectly by saying, "we had to beat two teams, UCAM Murcia and Unicaja Malaga."

Ibon Navarro was referencing the ghosts of last season's Final Four, when Unicaja finished fourth in Malaga.

Tenerife meanwhile held off a late Peristeri bwin rally in the other Friday clash, claiming a 97-93 win in the highest-scoring Semi-Final in BCL history. Coach Txus Vidorreta praised Kyle Guy and Marcelinho Huertas for bouncing back after what he called a bad last practice session just before arriving in Belgrade.

What worked well in the Semi-Finals?

The second half on Friday saw Unicaja knocking down 11 three-pointers and turning the game upside down after Murcia's drop defense held the green and purple team to a horrible 0-for-6 shooting before the break.

It only took one shot to open everything up for Unicaja. Murcia head coach Sito Alonso said that Nihad Djedovic's banked-in three-pointer changed the dynamics of the game completely, and all of a sudden Unicaja started making all of their shots from deep.

 
They finished the game on 11-of-25 from beyond the arc, more than enough to secure them their first ever ticket to the BCL championship game.

Tenerife usually have a system revolving around three figures: the point guard, the shooting guard and the center. We saw them defeat plenty of teams with their Huertas - Salin - Shermadini core over the course of the last years, but now there is a new sheriff in town.

Kyle Guy has taken over and he set a new BCL scoring record in a Final Four game, as the triple-headed monster finished with 82 of Tenerife's 97 points on Friday.

To keep it simple putting the ball through the hoop when it mattered most is what worked well for Tenerife in the Semi-Final.

What could be a problem in the Final?

Unicaja struggled with Murcia's deep drop defense, and that could also be the game plan for Tenerife's bigs.

The problem for Unicaja could be another cold shooting half. Murcia failed to break away to a double-digit lead at the half, but Tenerife's experience is unmatched and it's hard to see them not punishing an Unicaja cold stretch, if that happens again.

For Tenerife, the problem could be the other guys. Unicaja went 12-deep in the Semis and outscored Murcia's bench 42-27 to provide a much-needed spark from the second unit. If Tenerife's roster outside of the big three pile up a mere 15 points, they could be in for a long day in Belgrade.

What is the key matchup?

Just a month away from his 41st birthday, Marcelinho Huertas picked up the MVP of the Season award for the first time in his BCL part of the journey. The phrase "not slowing down" doesn't do him justice, because he already flirted with a triple-double against Peristeri.

Marcelinho will face another Star Lineup First Team member in Kendrick Perry. The Unicaja point guard is not putting up insane numbers per se, but his demeanor has been incredible all season long. He is a true leader of this team, and every layup, assist or pull-up three-pointer he makes, seems to ignite the rest of the team.

They have faced one another on eight occasions previously and Perry is up 5-3 so far , reaching double digits in six of those matchups and averaging 14.8 points per game against Tenerife.

Have they faced off before?

It has evolved into a rivalry of sorts over the past two seasons. Tenerife and Unicaja faced off in last season's 3rd-Place Game in the BCL, with the former taking an 84-79 win, but Unicaja could say they had the bigger win because they had defeated Tenerife 83-80 in the Copa del Rey Final, just three months prior.

We could split the head to head in two phases: The first one from 2019 to 2022, when the new Tenerife core was established and they went 4-1 against Unicaja until Ibon Navarro took over. Since 2022, Unicaja own a 5-4 edge over their rivals from the Canary Islands, including winning the four of their last five battles.