Valencia and Barça, rivals without the pillars of June

Valencia Basket reached June writing its best history. It won the Supercup and the League, with Jean Montero as MVP of the final series after averaging 23.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds. It was the culmination of a dream season that seemed to solidify a winning project. But the summer has dismantled much of that structure.

Valencia loses its pillars

The departure of Pedro Martínez to Real Madrid was the first blow. The coach who lifted that title left a difficult void to fill. But he was not the only one: Jean Montero, Brancou Badio, and Jaime Pradilla also left the club, recruited by leading EuroLeague teams. With them went the points, experience, and charisma that defined that squad.

The plan has been to maintain continuity on the bench with Xavi Albert, Martínez's assistant, at the helm of the first team. A decision that seeks to preserve the essence, although with a virtually new team. The club has brought in ten additions, including TJ Shorts, Mario Saint-Supéry, and Nikola Mirotic, who arrived this week after spending the entire summer without a team.

The departures keep coming. Nikola Mirotic is uncertain due to bureaucratic issues, as the player himself explained. Additionally, there are absences due to Neal Sako, almost ruled out after undergoing surgery for an inguinal hernia in July, and Jasiel Rivero, who did not play the last friendly matches due to physical problems. The club has also confirmed that Elias Valtonen will not continue, despite having played two friendly matches. Despite all this, Valencia enters the preseason undefeated, with victories against Casademont Zaragoza, Monbus Obradoiro, and Baskonia, and with Shorts established as a reference in critical moments.

Barça reinvents itself from scratch

The Blaugrana project is completely different. Designed by Xevi Pujol and led by Aleksander Sekulic, it has seen ten departures, incorporated eleven newcomers, and only retained four survivors. The goal is clear: physicality, youth, and versatility. The result is the most Americanized team with the least European experience in recent years.

Justin Robinson and Tyrese Martin stand out among the newcomers. Robinson, in fact, was named the best player of the Lliga Catalana, the first title of the Blaugrana season after coming back against Ilerna Lleida in the final. This creates a sense of optimism in the project, although injuries are already looming. The interiors Tosan Evbuomwan and Yoan Makoundou are out, and Darío Brizuela is uncertain after leaving the last friendly match with a leg contusion.

Context and expectations

Barça closed its centennial year with its third consecutive season without a title. It has not won this tournament since 2015, despite being a six-time champion in its history. This drought weighs heavily, although the changes made suggest a long-term strategy rather than immediate results.

Pre-tournament numbers place Valencia as the favorite. The ACB Bracket lists it as the favorite for 40.5 percent of users, with Barça immediately behind at 36.4. This means that almost 77 percent of the predictions favor one of these two. The winner will face the victor of the Joventut-Baskonia match on Sunday at 19:00, in a tournament where Real Madrid is missing for the first time in eighteen years and where all four coaches are debuting.

This Saturday at 21:00 in Badalona, Valencia and Barça will meet again. But they will be different teams from that final in June. One retains the hope of maintaining glory with new faces. The other seeks to break a drought with an almost total revolution. Both arrive with doubts, injuries, and unanswered questions. The tournament has just begun, but it already promises to be revealing.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Valencia y Barça, rivales sin los pilares de junio