With the 2026 Basketball Champions League now behind them, Unicaja has one clear objective left this season: securing a spot in the Liga Endesa playoffs. Although the team fell short of a third consecutive continental crown, a third-place victory over Tenerife helped restore some competitive morale—including the “Duarte case” resolution. The three-day event in Badalona shook the club, but now all focus must shift to the final and most important chapter of the 2025/26 campaign.
**Focus on the Liga Endesa**
The European chapter is closed, and the players return to an ACB league where plenty of work remains. Unquestionably, the season has been plagued by misfortune for the Malaga side. Despite these setbacks, they have consistently remained among the coveted top eight positions that grant access to the fight for the national title.
**Playoff Calculations**
This Sunday marked the first day Ibon Navarro’s squad could have fallen out of the playoff race, which begins on June 2. Unicaja currently sits on the edge in 8th place with a 16-13 record, tied with their closest pursuer, Surne Bilbao Basket in 9th. In the event of a tie, the head-to-head average between the two sides favors Unicaja. Bilbao has played one more game, as Unicaja still has a postponed match against Joventut due to video board issues—an opportunity the Basques failed to capitalize on this weekend. The “men in black” lost to Lleida 90-81. That means, despite everything, Ibon Navarro’s men remain masters of their own destiny. The road ahead isn’t easy, but their direct rivals don’t have much friendlier schedules, and the eighth spot looks a bit closer today than it did 24 hours ago.
**Schedule**
In fact, Unicaja is hot on the heels of Joventut (28 games, 17-11, 6th) and Tenerife (29 games, same record, 7th). Both will play their postponed head-to-head match on May 30 at 21:00, a fixture that was originally scheduled for this weekend but delayed due to Tenerife’s BCL participation. That game guarantees that at least one of Unicaja’s direct rivals will drop a win along the way.
With no time to waste—having landed at Malaga Airport on Sunday at 14:10—the green-and-purple team is already focused on Thursday’s 19:00 clash in Burgos, followed by a trip to Murcia on Sunday at 12:30. Before returning to Badalona on May 26 to resume the second half of the suspended game against Joventut, Carpena will host Breogán. Then comes the season finale against Baskonia—hopefully just a comma before the playoffs.
**Competitive Obligation**
Five finals lie ahead, which could not only determine playoff qualification but also help climb the standings to avoid facing Real Madrid. Missing out on June competition would be a sporting, emotional, and image disappointment—even after winning the Intercontinental Cup, securing the Copa del Rey with room to spare, and finishing Europe with a bronze. Two very different scenarios, perhaps unfair—that’s sport.
The pencil is in Unicaja’s hands; we’ll see what they write.
