Trento is wondering, and even Turk Telekom's defeat in the Turkish derby does not guarantee Buducnost a home field in the playoffs

When they embarked on new challenges in the Eurocup in early October, the Buducnost Voli basketball players expected many tough matches, but what they certainly could not have imagined was that Trento would be better than them twice, and Panionios once.

There were big wins, like against Besiktas and Turk Telekom in "Morača", but the three aforementioned failures could ruin the plans and all the good that Andrej Žakelj's team has done this season.

The "blue and white" "blowed" Chemnitz (97:81) on Tuesday night, and it seemed that with that triumph they had taken an important step towards 3rd or 4th place in the group, which would give them home field advantage in the playoffs, but then shocking news arrived from northern Italy - Trento demolished Besiktas and sent Buducnost to fifth place.

The club from the Trentino-South Tyrol region and the Podgorica team have the same result in the two rounds before the group stage (10-6), but since Trento defeated Buducnost both times, it is clear that they are better than each other and that if they do not make any mistakes until the end, they will be ahead of the Montenegrin representative in the standings.

What also doesn't go well for Andrej Žakelj's men is that Masim Kanćelijer's team will play those two games against Chemnitz away and Ulm at home - teams that are below Trento and Buducnost in the standings.

There was hope that the Turkish derby in the next round between Besiktas and Turk Telekom could open the door to one of the positions that secure the home field in the playoffs, since Buducnost is better than the club from Ankara on both sides, but Trento will have to ask themselves that question too.

In the event that the Italian team and Buducnost both win by the end, and Turk lose to Besiktas away and beat Chemnitz at home as expected, these three teams would end up with identical win-loss ratios. In that triangle, the best with three wins would be Turk, followed by Trento with two and Buducnost with one.

All of this would mean that the Turkish team would take the number three position, the Italian team fourth, and the team from Podgorica would finish in fifth place and would not have home-field advantage in the playoffs for another year in a row.

For Buducnost, it is first and foremost important to record victories against Ulm away and Burg in "Morača", and then to cheer for rivals Trento. Chemnitz celebrated in Italy in the first part of the season, and on home soil they have already demolished top rivals Besiktas and Burg, so perhaps in the next round they will open the door to the Podgorica team.

Otherwise, the road through the knockout phase will be hellishly difficult again when everything will be decided by one match away from "Morača".