Strasbourg or Pinar Karsiyaka, Unicaja’s first rival in the Round of 16 of the BCL

The greens will be framed from January 23 in the Group I of the next phase, with three other rivals that have yet to be defined. Yes, it is now official that one of them will be o the French SIG Strasbourg or the Turkish Karsiyaka Pinar. Whoever of the two ends up as champion of Group E (there is a minimal mathematical option of a quadruple tie in that group at the end of the group, but it is virtually impossible for that clash of results to occur).

Pinar Karsiyaka, possible rival of Unicaja in the Round of 16. BCL

Everything to be decided in Group E

With the last two rounds remaining, the Gauls and Ottomans have a balance of 3-1 in the standings and have also equaled their individual average., after the 80-65 of France and the 87-72 of the match played in Turkey. Pinar has to go to play at the German Oldenburg field and finish the league also at home against Ilimane Diop’s Ostende. For its part, Strasbourg will also have to go to Ostend and will end up hosting the Germans from Oldenburg on their home field. It seems that the Gauls’ calendar makes them somewhat favorites to be Unicaja’s rival in the next continental league, but…

Regardless of the sporting level of one or the other, the truth is that Logistically, the clear preference is for the rival to be Strasbourg. And Pinar Karsiyaka plays in Izmir, a town in the Asian part of Turkey, almost 3,000 kilometers away from Malaga, relatively close to the border with Syria and, of course, without a direct flight from the capital of the Costa del Sol. Sun.

From Malaga to Izmir there are almost 3,000 kilometers, but without a direct flight. The opinion

The second phase will be very hard

It must be remembered that the configuration of the 4 groups of the Round of 16 has already been determined since last summer’s draw. And Unicaja must face the aforementioned champion of Group E and two more teams that overcome their play-in tie in the second group (the winner of the duel between the second in group C and the third in D and the one that wins from the cross between the second from G and third from H).

Although it’s early, Lenovo Tenerife, Cholet, Tofas Bursa or the Greek PAOK are teams that could also be with the Costa Soleños in this Group I of the second phasewhich looks like it’s going to be very hard for the Ibon Navarro boys.

The SIG Strasbourg players celebrate a victory with their fans. BCL

Only the 16 best

The second phase of the BCL with the 16 teams still in competition will start on January 23. The first two finishers from each of the four groups will be those who access the quarter-final play-off prior to the Final Four, whose venue has yet to be defined. The group champion will have home field advantage in the best-of-three quarter-final duel. The four winners of that quarterfinal tie will be the ones who will play in the Final Four next May.

2023-12-07 09:15:41
#Strasbourg #Pinar #Karsiyaka #Unicajas #rival #BCL