In the BBL showdown, FC Bayern looks like the safe German champions. Then Alba’s faith returns. The result: a monstrous comeback.
In the end, Justin Bean sinks to the ground – his hands in front of his face and breathing heavily. Basketball players in yellow jerseys jump around each other’s necks in joy. Your opponents in red stare into space. Thousands of Munich residents stand in shock in the stands, with a few hundred Berliners between them attacking each other in disbelief. Did all of this really just happen?
The basketball players were ahead with 20 points Alba Berlin already back in Munich on Sunday. The fifth final game for the championship seemed decided, and the defense of the title by the overwhelming favorites FC Bayern was only a matter of time. Then Alba fought back. Thanks to another incredible comeback, the Berlin team won game five with 84:81 (27:47). They rewarded an undying fighting spirit with the most surprising championship in the club’s history.
The rival’s hall as a “place to be”
The two teams had around 40 hours to process the events from game four. The Berlin race to catch up, the Munich collapse, the ecstasy in the brutal heat of the Max Schmeling Hall. In Munich, on the other hand, the perfectly temperate SAP Garden makes you forget the humid 33 degrees of pre-summer. It is a symbolic image of FC Bayern’s self-image. Endless LED lights and well-padded seats for celebrities in the front row. A 320 million euro “place to be”.
Nevertheless, Bayern’s veteran Vladimir Lucic had philosophized before game four about how much he would like to celebrate the title in the rival’s hall. In the decisive game, this extra motivation belongs to the Berliners. And when Lucic trots onto the floor in the red light of the team introduction, the whistles of the Berlin fans under the hall roof drown out the Munich applause. It can start.
Alba starts well and then collapses
The start belongs to Alba. Jonas Mattisseck hits his first three and is running hot. When the Berlin native hits the third three-pointer, Alba leads 15:9. High up in the stands, FC Bayern’s video analyst jumps up screaming and punches his table. Free Mattisseck threes in the fast break were not part of the plan.
But today the people of Munich are finding answers. They are playing their best defense of the entire playoffs. The Berlin development players double their big man mercilessly. A tangle of arms in which Alba gets lost. Ten early ball losses symbolize the uncertainty in Berlin’s paralyzed offensive. The spandex in the suit of their wildly gesticulating coach Pedro Calles is experiencing its toughest test of the playoffs.
Alba rebounds poorly at the back and leaves Munich’s Andi Obst more free than ever before in this final series. J’Wan Roberts loses the battle against his reflexes for the first time and jumps on a throw deception. Bayern’s Wenyen Gabriel flexes his muscles and sends a scream to the roof of the hall that is swallowed up by clapboard. Alba only scored seven points in the second quarter and trailed 27:47 at halftime.
Alba coach Pedro Calles | Image: IMAGO/camera4+
“Faith and Trust”
The Berliners seem to be at the end of their strength in their 15th playoff game – also mentally. Knowing how big the chance of winning an actually impossible title is also pressure. “It’s going to be a relaxed evening today,” says a Bavarian journalist during the break, while Pedro Calles speaks to his players 50 meters away. “Faith and trust,” he later sums up what it was all about.
The Berliners have already won four do-or-die games in these playoffs with this approach. But today? At -20 in Munich? Impossible. After two minutes in the second half, Martin Hermannsson hit his first and only three-pointer of the evening. A nasty look at the prominent front row of the Garden. Something is happening. Roberts blocks Obst crashing into the backboard. It’s 48:56. Alba’s deficit is in the single digits, Obst is sagging his shoulders and Alba’s tireless fans under the roof are becoming even more alert.
“Stand up if you are Bavaria”
Is this the moment when the people of Munich start to think? A season without a title? With a team that is almost as expensive as the other playoff clubs combined? The Bavarians answered Alba’s rebellion coldly and led again by 17. “Stand up if you are Bayern,” shouted the heavily electrified hall announcer in the last break for what felt like the 17th time that evening. “Oh no,” sighs a woman in the better seats and remains seated with her friends.
And even though many other Munich residents stand up, the impression of half-heartedness that is certain of victory remains. Justin Bean, who was once again outstanding, opened the final quarter with a three-pointer. The Munich substitutes get a scolding from coach Svetislav Pesic for their colleagues’ mistakes. In the last game of his legendary, four-decade-long coaching career, the former architect of Alba’s promotion seemed at a loss, but also let down.
Bayern coach Svetislav Pesic | Image: IMAGO/Beautiful Sports International
Original Berliners become master makers
Pesic has to watch as two original Berliners become heroes of their youth club. Jonas Mattisseck and Malte Delow were 22 and 21 years old when Alba won its last championship in 2022, today Mattisseck is Alba’s captain and Delow is consistency personified. Delow hits the next three-pointer, Mattisseck his sixth of the evening. Then Delow again. In this phase, Alba is playing the team basketball that Alba has to play – and is leading 66:64. When Svetislav Pesic takes his time out, Alba’s substitutes sprint onto the floor. Towels swing through the Munich horror, adrenaline-charged Berlin upper bodies rattle together. Bayern shuffle towards their bench.
Half-hearted high-fives as a symbol of a team that doesn’t seem to be one. This fantastic final series now has the thriller that its fifth game deserves. Its dissolution is reserved for Alba’s third homegrown: Jack Kayil. In recent months, the 20-year-old has forgotten that Boogie Ellis, who was expected to be an exceptional player, said goodbye to Dubai in October after just six games. From now on, Kayil was allowed to let off steam. Today after 34 minutes there is a white zero behind his name on the scoreboard.
The hottest Berlin hand: Captain Jonas Mattisseck | Image: IMAGO/camera4+
A golden one Balls of confetti
But Kayil wouldn’t be a candidate for the NBA if he let that affect him. He first hits for three, then falls behind. He stands at the free throw line six times – and scores five times right in the middle of the now surging rumble of thunder behind the Bayern basket. Kayil also helps ensure that Munich’s offensive now hardly has any room to breathe. Alba now leads 84:81.
Obst gets a heavy throw to compensate – then another. A final rebound from Mattisseck, then Berlin ecstasy reigns in Munich. Justin Bean sinks to the floor exhausted, cries as he thanks Alba’s fans, who are also crying, and is voted the most valuable player in the final series. Martin Hermannsson shakes his head in disbelief, kisses his wife and, after the award ceremony, watches his son become a ball of golden confetti.
A quieter moment of disbelief: Alba’s MVP Justin Bean | Image: IMAGO/camera4+
“We are on top of the world”
Pedro Calles jumps to the beat of the humba and is overwhelmed by a flood of hugs. Congratulations for a much-criticized coach who has now achieved something special. At some point it gets hectic because the Berliners have to catch their train. It doesn’t matter that it ends up rolling into Berlin Central Station late. Between Nuremberg and Erfurt, Malte Delow’s shaggy playoff beard is shaved into a victory mustache. Around Halle an der Saale the silver cup becomes a chalice. And at some point Coach Calles gives a speech somewhere in the hallway among his standing players. “We are on top of the world,” are his last words. Then the roar and singing of his players take over.
The finale
- Mode: Best of five – whoever has three wins first is the German champion
Broadcast: rbb|24, June 22nd, 2026, 7:05 a.m. Audio: rbb|24, June 22nd, 2026, Ulli Knapp
