“It would be incredibly painful to see them win at home”: Basket Landes, finally a title at home?

The memories of this Prado de Bourges transformed into a post-covid sanctuary, so empty at the time of lifting, for the first time in the history of Basket Landes - for which Céline Dumerc still played -, the French champion trophy in 2021, are still well anchored in the memory of Julie Barennes, still today coach of "BL".

"It was a Final Four format, behind closed doors," the coach recalled on Thursday, on the eve of playing the decisive leg of the final against neighboring Tarbes on Friday evening (9 p.m., live on the L'Équipe channel). "We were playing a Montpellier team that had American Napheesa Collier, who was the favorite, and we approached this event with the carefree attitude of the underdog. That made the story so beautiful (72-64 victory). The one we will experience this Friday, while only the staff and management have remained since, is different but no less intense."

"Everything is in place to make the ending as beautiful as possible, with our audience necessarily giving us a slight advantage."

Between Berry's triumph and today, the Landaises have added three trophies to their collection (two French Cups and a Champions League match). Each time on neutral ground. For the first time, the club based in Mont-de-Marsan will have the opportunity to lift a Holy Grail—and at the same time, secure direct qualification for the Euroleague—in front of their fans.

"It's both pressure and a huge opportunity," said German center Luisa Geiselsöder. " We're home favorites, having tied the game at 1-1 ( 51-44 on Wednesday in the second leg ) and having finished second in the regular season (8th for Tarbes). Everything is in place to make the end as beautiful as possible, with our fans obviously giving us a small advantage."

On the other hand, seeing their rivals from Tarbes triumph on the floor of the Espace François-Mitterrand would be the kind of thing that would leave a lasting impression on last season's losing finalist (against Villeneuve-d'Ascq). "We'll have to rationalize," Barennes anticipates. "We're not talking about relegation or staying up, which implies putting the club in danger. We're the favorites against Tarbes. Yes, it would be incredibly painful to see them win at home, but we're well placed to say that it's not always the favorites who win in the end."