BAL 2025: Petro Luanda go for back-to-back titles, Al Ahli Tripoli chase a first star
BAL 2025: Petro Luanda meet Al Ahli Tripoli in Saturday's final. The Angolans, the defending champions, are favourites
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The BAL 2025 final is eagerly awaited and promises to be a real spectacle. It pits defending champions Petro Luanda against Al Ahli Tripoli, who are playing their first final. The Angolans of Petro Luanda have a date with history. They could become the first club to win two titles in the Basketball Africa League, and in doing so the first team to retain the crown.
Al Ahli Tripoli, for their part, are the big surprise of this 5th edition of the BAL. The Libyans had never played in the Final 8 before this 2025 edition. Led in particular by Senegalese player Jean-Jacques Boissy, who has been a deadly shooter since the start of the season, they will try to make history by becoming the 5th club to win this tournament.
Souleyman Diabaté, the man for the finals
In this BAL 2025 final, one man could keep on writing history. That man is Souleyman Diabaté, known as Solo. The 37-year-old Ivorian, who plays for Petro Luanda, will appear in his 4th final in the 5 editions (a record). He already has two BAL titles in 5 seasons, having won one with Zamalek, and he could take the prize for the 3rd time and become the only player with three titles.
He is already, along with Michael Fakuade (Zamalek, Al Ahly), the only player to have won with two different clubs. And if he triumphs on Saturday, Diabaté will be the only player to hold three BAL trophies with three different clubs. Tip-off for the final is at 16:00.