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feb 17 2026We analyze the Copa del Rey trajectories of the eight head coaches at Valencia 2026, as well as the tournament's historic trophy record
The Copa del Rey basketball tournament is not decided on the court alone. From February 19-22, the Roig Arena will witness a true battle on the sidelines, where, of the eight head coaches, six are Spanish and two are Italian. A combination with a distinctly Mediterranean flavor that will accompany this edition of the tournament. They will face off against coaches with very different trajectories, from debutants in the competition to authentic historical references of the Copa.
The 8 head coaches will be supported by 22 assistants, forming coaching staffs of great international richness: 16 Spanish, one Scottish, one Argentine, one Montenegrin, one Greek, one Serbian, and one Hungarian.
Regarding the historic ranking of most Copa del Rey titles won, Pablo Laso continues to lead with six titles, followed by Aíto García Reneses with five and a total of twelve finals disputed. Several participants in the Valencia 2026 edition have already been champions previously, and multiple times at that: Xavi Pascual (3), Ibon Navarro (2), and Sergio Scariolo (2).
On the other hand, Pedro Martínez and Txus Vidorreta will seek to win a crown that slipped away by a whisker in the finals of Vitoria 2017 and Badalona 2023, respectively. Sito Alonso could return to a semifinal, something he already achieved in the 2016, 2017, or 2022 editions. And, finally, Dani Miret still has yet to open his winning record in the tournament, just like Paolo Galbiati, who is the only debutant.
XAVI PASCUAL (Barcelona)
The Gavà native returns, a decade later, to a tournament in which he has been champion on three occasions as head coach (2010, 2011, and 2013), and once more as an assistant to Dusko Ivanovic (2007), whom he now pursues in the historic record. Xavi Pascual holds the honor of being the most decorated coach of this edition; this time, he will count on the help of a coaching staff made up of Íñigo Zorzano, who was already present in the 2013 title, Óscar Orellana, and Albert Oliver.
It will be his ninth Copa del Rey as Barcelona's head coach, with a record of 16 wins and 5 losses in 21 games coached.
TXUS VIDORRETA (La Laguna Tenerife)
It will be the 10th consecutive Copa del Rey, and 13th overall, for Txus Vidorreta. It's worth putting these numbers in context, as only two coaches have strung together more Copa del Rey finals: Pablo Laso with 11 (2012-22) and Dusko Ivanovic with 12 (2001-12). The Montenegrin himself went on to coach a total of 13 finals, a figure that Vidorreta now matches and which is only surpassed by the 15 that Pedro Martínez will accumulate and the 23 of Aíto García Reneses.
Also counting editions prior to the ACB, Lolo Sainz coached Copa games in 17 consecutive editions: from the 1975-76 season to 1992-93 (with Real Madrid and Joventut Badalona). Aíto, for his part, accumulated 14 uninterrupted appearances: from 1976-77 to 1989-90 (Círculo Católico de Badalona, Joventut Badalona, and FC Barcelona).
In total, Vidorreta has coached 20 games in the competition across five different teams. His record is 8 wins and 12 losses, with his best result being the Badalona 2023 final, when he fell by just three points to Unicaja. Juan Carlos Rivero, Ignacio Yáñez, and Argentine Juan Manuel Gatti will complete the black-and-gold bench.
DANI MIRET (Asisa Joventut)
At 40 years old, Miret will once again be the youngest head coach at the Copa del Rey. He was also the youngest in the previous edition, when he fell in his debut in the quarterfinals to a Unicaja team that would go on to become champion. Earlier, during his time as an assistant in Badalona 2023, he came just short of the grand final after Abromaitis's now-historic block. Aleix Duran and Albert Cañellas will complete the green-and-black coaching staff.
SERGIO SCARIOLO (Real Madrid)
12 years later, the Italian master returns to the knockout tournament as the oldest head coach and with the challenge of winning the trophy that slipped away from him in 2001 with Real Madrid. No head coach has managed to become champion of a final with three different teams. Scariolo's count stands at two so far, as he achieved it with TAU Cerámica precisely in Valencia (1999) and with Unicaja against his current club, Real Madrid (2005). Both Dusko Ivanovic (TAU Cerámica and Winterthur FC Barcelona) and Aíto García Reneses (FC Barcelona and DKV Joventut) also stopped at two.
It will be the eleventh Copa del Rey for the 64-year-old coach, the fourth at the helm of the white team, with a global record of 9 wins and 8 losses in 17 games coached. Luis Guil, Lolo Calín, and Montenegrin Stefan Ivanovic will work alongside him.
IBON NAVARRO (Unicaja)
The defending champion faces his fifth Copa del Rey as head coach, and fourth consecutive with the Málaga team, with an outstanding record in the competition. That's 7 wins in 9 games, including a perfect record in the decisive game (2 of 2). In fact, only four coaches have better records in finals: Chuchi Carrera (100%, 3-0), León Najnudel (100%, 2-0), Sarunas Jasikevicius (85.7%, 6-1), and Pablo Laso (81.8%, 27-6).
Ibon Navarro will be accompanied on the Unicaja bench by Alberto Miranda, Paco Aurioles, and Serbian Andrija Gavrilovic.
PEDRO MARTÍNEZ (Valencia Basket)
The Valencia boss, one of the great masters of the sidelines, only needs this title to complete his ACB resume. He came within a basket of achieving it nine years ago. Curiously, it will be in Valencia 2026 when Pedro Martínez will serve as the home coach in a Copa del Rey for the first time in his career. That is, in his 15th edition and 35 years after his debut. Only Aíto (23) has more finals disputed.
On most occasions, the Catalan coach has competed in the tournament with rosters that, a priori, were not favorites for the title. He has rarely been a top seed in his participations: he qualified as 4th in 2013, 1st in 2016, 2nd in 2017, 3rd in 2025, and 2nd in this 2026.
This will be his fourth Copa del Rey at the helm of the Valencia bench after having competed in the tournament with seven different clubs. His global record is 3 wins and 14 losses. Now he will be accompanied by Xavier Albert, Juan Maroto, and Hungarian Adrian Kovacs as assistant coaches.
PAOLO GALBIATI (Kosner Baskonia)
First Copa del Rey for the Italian in his first season at the helm of an ACB bench. Galbiati arrives at the Roig Arena backed by solid performance that has materialized in Kosner Baskonia's return to the tournament three years later.
The Basque team presents the youngest coaching staff of this edition. Paolo Galbiati, who turns 42 on February 20, will be supported by assistants Pablo Pin (43), Xabier Aspe (30, the youngest at the Copa), and Scottish Jack Burgess (36).
SITO ALONSO (UCAM Murcia)
Thanks to UCAM Murcia's best first half in Liga Endesa, Sito Alonso reaches his ninth qualification for a Copa del Rey. That's more than double what the team he coaches has. Both the university team and the 50-year-old coach dream of playing their first final in the tournament.
To date, the Madrid native's record in the Copa is 3 wins and 8 losses after having coached five different clubs. His assistant coaches for this occasion will be Lucas Pérez and Greek Dimitrios Tsesmetzis.
