The regular season of the Spanish Basketball League AKB started on September 28, 2022 and will end on May 21, 2023. In the regular season, 18 teams will play each other twice, and as a result, they will play 34 rounds. Then the top eight will form the quarter-final pairs, and the teams will start the knockout stage.
Bookmakers believe that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the main favorites for the champion title of the elite basketball championship in Spain. Also in the top four for the title are Valencia and Baskonia, but the likelihood of them winning gold medals is low. Nevertheless, the current AKB league promises to be interesting. Bets on this event are accepted by Uzbekistan bookmekers.
Barcelona
The Blue Garnets last won the league title in the 2020/2021 season. Last year, Barcelona lost to Real Madrid in the final series with a score of 1:3. Also, at the start of the current championship, Sarunas Jasikevicius’ wards lost to their most important rival in the Super Cup. In overtime, the Catalan team turned out to be weaker – 83:89. The current championship of “leopard” began with an away defeat from Gran Canaria. However, by the sixth round, the Blaugranas defeated the Basque Country, Fuenlabrada, Manresa, Tenerife and Valencia in turn.
The brainchild of Joan Laporta has a powerful squad and is quite able to get gold medals. The only opponent capable of disrupting the Barça’s plans is Real Madrid. However, Jan Vesely and partners can impose a fight on the representative of the Spanish capital.
RealMadrid
Wards Jesus Mateo are the current champions of Spain. The Madrid club started the current season quite well and suffered only one defeat in six starting rounds. After victories over Girona, Obradoiro, Unicaja and Joventut, the “white-violet-gray” lost on the road to Baskonia – 82:88. Then the representatives of Madrid met with Fuenlabrada and won resoundingly – 91:69.
The “creamy” should not have problems with reaching the playoffs. And Real Madrid is able to reach the final. The only opponent that can beat the most titled basketball club in Europe is Barcelona.
Valencia
The guys of Alex Mumbru won only once in the six starting rounds of the domestic championship in regular time. In regular time, Valencia defeated Real Betis, and in overtime, Joventut and Obradoiro. At the same time, the Pitmen lost to Bilbao, Murcia and Barcelona. Despite the instability, the brainchild of Pablo Martin is able to get into the strongest eight. But it will be difficult for the Valencians to get far enough into the playoffs.
Taking into account the instability of the “bats”, the maximum of the “orange-blacks” looks like the semi-final stage.
Basque Country
The team from Vitoria-Gasteiz is a competitive team. At the same time, after the championship of the 2019/2020 season, the Basques slowed down. In the second and third rounds, the White-Red-Blacks lost to Barcelona and Tenerife. However, then the “red bulls” added and won against Zaragoza, Real Madrid and Bilbao, which allowed them to be in the top six.
Wards of Joan Peñarroya are able to go far enough. However, based on the composition of the Basque Country, the brainchild of Jose Kereheta is not able to impose a fight on Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Our forecast
With all the advantages of Barcelona, the Madrid club has a more experienced squad, which for the second year in a row can get ahead of the Catalans. So, most likely, the gold medals will go to the “creamy” ones, and the silver ones to the “bars”. Valencia and Baskonia are unlikely to be able to compete with the giants of Spanish basketball. But getting into the top four of the strongest “bats” and “red bulls” is within their power.
