Four Spanish clubs set their sights on the BCL title

“Everyone wants to win it; the level is incredibly high”: the line captures the ambition surrounding the four Spanish clubs entering a new Basketball Champions League (BCL) season. Joventut, Surne Bilbao Basket, UCAM Murcia and Unicaja are setting their sights on the trophy after Rytas Vilnius won the Final Four in Badalona. Spain has won six of the competition’s first ten editions.

The BCL is beginning its 11th season. Established among the leading competitions on the continent, it also maintains a sporting principle built around performance and merit. The four Spanish representatives therefore begin a new European campaign with lofty aims in a competition whose level of competition is described as rising year after year.

At UCAM Murcia, Kaiser Gates makes the target clear: “We want to win the BCL; that’s our objective.” He also points to the depth of the field and the competition’s development. The quality of its participants and the BCL’s growing stature are among the aspects he highlights.

Luke Petrasek of Surne Bilbao Basket shares that ambition. “The BCL has an incredible reputation throughout Europe,” he says. Bilbao enters this European season after its success in the FIBA Europe Cup. Petrasek believes that experience could provide a useful foundation for tackling a more demanding competition.

For Joventut Badalona, Eli Ndiaye sums up the trophy’s appeal: “The BCL is a competition everyone wants to win.” The club is also approaching all competitions with ambition. “For me, everything is a challenge. I came to the Penya to try to win everything and compete at the highest level. The Supercopa, the BCL, the ACB… everything we can win. I’m ready for every challenge,” he says.

Another comment points to the expectations surrounding the team and Ricky Rubio. “I’m very motivated and hopeful about what we can achieve. There are things I can’t control, but I can enjoy basketball. And here, with Ricky, we all know how great he is: a tremendous player who can change games,” the player says.

Unicaja also begins the campaign with its recent results to draw on. The club won the title in 2024 and 2025, then finished third last season. Willy Hernangómez is approaching the competition with enthusiasm: “Everyone tells me wonderful things about the BCL.” The centre points to the quality of the field and notes that Unicaja won two titles in a row before narrowly missing out on a third consecutive crown last year.

In Málaga, Hernangómez hopes to help extend that success. “We want to start well, keep growing and improving and, hopefully, win it again for our fans.” He says he is happy, highly motivated and eager to help the team and his teammates. With Bilbao’s European experience, the ambitions voiced at Murcia and Joventut, and Unicaja’s recent momentum, the four Spanish clubs begin the new campaign with the same goal: to contend at the top of the BCL.