MUNICH (Germany) - It all comes down to this as Bilbao Basket and PAOK mateco meet to decide this season's FIBA Europe Cup champions.
Bilbao hopes to become the first team to win the competition from the Qualifiers, while PAOK will aim to lift their first continental trophy since 1996.
Let's delve into the long road to the Finals for these two teams.
Bilbao Basket vs PAOK mateco
First Leg: Wednesday, April 16 - 20:00 CET (Bilbao, ESP) Second Leg: Wednesday, April 23 - 19:15 CET (Thessaloniki, GRE)
Form guide: The road to the FIBA Europe Cup Finals has been slightly different for both teams. Bilbao's journey has been longer than PAOK's as they needed to advance via the Qualifiers, where they comfortably saw off Lithuanian outfit Neptunas Klaipeda.
Bilbao conceded just 60.6 points in the Regular Season - winning all six games before a 5-1 record in the Second Round.
The Spaniards tasted defeat in the second leg of their Quarter-Final against Tofas Bursa, but thanks to a mixture of a 12-point first-leg victory, along with an aggregate-winning three from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman in Türkiye, they sealed their place in the last four.
Bilbao were left reeling from a 77-58 loss in France against JDA Bourgogne Dijon, and still found themselves 15 points behind on aggregate with 10 minutes remaining. Then, the most improbable comeback occurred, with Bilbao outscoring Dijon 41-16 to win 97-68 on the night and 155-145 overall, advancing to the Final.
Meanwhile, PAOK has faced challenges of their own in the FIBA Europe Cup this season. They had one blemish on their Regular Season record, a heavy loss away to FC Porto, but recovered to win five straight games, before topping Group M with four wins out of six.
They drew the first leg with Fribourg Olympic in Switzerland before prevailing for a six-point victory on their home floor - where they have lost just once.
That sole defeat for PAOK came in the first leg of the Semi-Finals against Cholet Basket, but they recovered to overcome the French side, 90-88, in overtime of the reverse fixture to win by a single point on aggregate.
Key Matchup: Frank Bartley (PAOK) vs Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (Bilbao)
Frank Bartley has been a solid presence all season long. He produced a game-winning performance in the second leg of the Semi-Finals against Cholet Basket - going 8-of-13 from three-point range and posting 29 points in their decisive win to punch PAOK's ticket to the Finals.
In truth, Bartley has been doing that all season long; averaging 14.8 points on 42 percent from the field. The American also pulls down 4.4 rebounds, while dishing out 4.0 assists per game. Bartley has registered double figures in all but two games in PAOK's run to the Final and will be at the top of Bilbao's scouting report.
After a relatively low offensive contribution in the latter stages of the Regular Season and Second Round, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman has shown exactly what he can do in helping lead Bilbao to the Final.
The Saudi Arabia international hit 24 points, plus the game-winner against Tofas Bursa in the second leg of the Quarter-Finals, followed by a 19-point showing against Dijon in the second leg of the Semi-Finals. Abdur-Rahkman is second in scoring for Bilbao with 11.0 points and 3.2 assists per game.
X-factor: Watch out for Bilbao's Thijs De Ridder in this series. The Belgian forward leads the team in several categories, including efficiency (14.9), points (11.8) and rebounds (5.3). On the other hand, Jackson Kreuser has been finding his feet with PAOK.
Two versatile forwards who can run the floor, shoot from long-range, and wreak havoc under the basket, the matchup between these youngsters on the big stage will be exciting to witness.
At just 22 years of age, De Ridder has led Bilbao from the front. His sublime off-ball movement has led to easy scores, mixed with a three-point shot, which he can hit when in rhythm. Kreuser has been delivering in recent games for PAOK, and with similar styles of play, this will be an interesting matchup.
Did you know: In the 10th season of FIBA Europe Cup, the current Finals mark the very first time that a team from Spain and Greece have reached the showpiece game.
Italy have had the most number of teams in the FIBA Europe Cup Final with five appearances - including an all-Italian clash in 2018 pitting Reyer Venezia against Sidigas Avellino. Teams from France and Germany have each appeared three times.
FIBA