ATHENS. Barcelona won the Next Gen EuroLeague 2026 championship with a narrow 85-77 victory over Real Madrid in a tightly contested final decided in the closing stages. The Blaugrana side avenged their recent U League final loss and claimed the trophy for the first time in a decade.
Nikola Kusturica led the Blaugrana offensively with an outstanding performance of 20 points, 10 rebounds and a rating of 22, while Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, named tournament MVP, was once again decisive with 17 points, 6 rebounds and a rating of 19.
The final began following the same competitive pattern seen in recent Clásicos between the two teams: maximum parity, constant lead changes and plenty of young talent on the court.
Barcelona quickly found inspiration in Nikola Kusturica. The Blaugrana wing opened the game with two three-pointers and shouldered the offensive load during the opening minutes alongside Jakob Siftar, who was very active attacking the Madrid defense.
For Real Madrid, Gunars Grinvalds was the first to appear consistently, although Fabian Kayser finished leading the close of the first quarter with several high-quality plays to keep the Madrid side ahead (22-24).
The offensive pace dropped slightly during the second period and there Real Madrid found an important moment to shift the momentum. Madrid's zone defense began to trouble Barcelona much more and a 12-4 run allowed the Madrid side to turn the score around.
Osa Hadi and Egor Amosov took good advantage of that stretch, although Nikola Kusturica appeared once again to sustain Barcelona before halftime. The Blaugrana talent reached 11 points at the break and allowed the Catalans to go into the locker room slightly ahead (38-39).
After the halftime break, the parity remained absolute. Neither team could definitively break open the game and the score continued to move in minimal margins.
Barcelona then found good playmaking from Nil Poza, while Mohamed Keita began to take on a prominent role in attack with several important plays to keep the Blaugrana ahead.
In a game where every small advantage seemed decisive, Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje appeared in the final stretch of the third quarter to put Barcelona ahead heading into the final ten minutes (62-60).
The fourth quarter tilted in favor of the Blaugrana thanks to better management of crucial possessions and the leadership of their most important players.
Nikola Kusturica continued to punish offensively and Barcelona managed to control the pace of the game better in the key moments to close out the victory against a Real Madrid side that competed until the final buzzer.
Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, in addition to being crucial in the final, was named tournament MVP after leading the Blaugrana throughout the competition.
With this triumph, Barcelona claims the second Next Gen EuroLeague title in their history and crowns themselves champions a decade after their previous title.