Valencia Basket has chosen continuity following one of the most successful campaigns in club history, promoting longtime assistant Xavi Albert to head coach on a two-year contract, the club announced Tuesday.
The 38-year-old replaces Pedro Martinez, who departed to become Real Madrid’s head coach after leading Valencia to its first EuroLeague Final Four appearance and the 2026 Spanish League championship.
Albert steps into the role after spending the past three seasons on Valencia’s first-team coaching staff. He initially worked under Alex Mumbru during the 2023-24 campaign and briefly took over as interim head coach for 11 games, making his EuroLeague coaching debut against Partizan on April 12, 2024. Over the last two seasons, he served as Martinez’s lead assistant as Valencia developed into one of Europe’s elite teams.
Valencia finished the 2025-26 EuroLeague regular season with a 25-13 record, good for second place behind only Olympiacos.
The playoff run included a dramatic five-game quarterfinal series victory over Panathinaikos. Valencia dropped the opening two games in Athens but responded by winning three straight, including an 81-64 victory in Game 5, to secure the club’s first-ever EuroLeague Final Four berth. The season ended with a 105-90 semifinal loss to Real Madrid, while Olympiacos defeated Madrid 92-85 in the championship game.
Albert inherits a roster that has undergone significant offseason changes following that breakthrough season. The departures include starting point guard Darius Thompson, leading scorer Jean Montero, forwards Braxton Key, Jaime Pradilla and Xabi Lopez-Arostegui, guard Sergio De Larrea, and head coach Martinez.
Thompson averaged 9.0 points, 3.1 assists and shot 40.2% from three-point range across 44 EuroLeague appearances before signing with Olimpia Milano. Montero leaves after leading Valencia with 14.4 points and 4.8 assists per game in EuroLeague play.
Valencia has added Gonzalo Corbalan and forward Dylan Osetkowski as it begins reshaping the roster under Albert. Additional reinforcements are expected after the club lost several rotation players from a team that also captured the Spanish League title.
Albert’s connection to Valencia extends well beyond the senior team. He joined the organization in 2012 after working as a youth coordinator at Ros Casares Valencia and has coached multiple academy squads. His achievements include guiding Valencia’s U18 team to the adidas NextGen EuroLeague qualifying tournament title in 2018 and leading the club’s second team to the Spanish third division finals in 2022.
His résumé also includes success with Spain’s national youth teams. Albert coached Spain’s U17 squad in 2020 before leading the country’s U16 team to the 2023 European Championship gold medal.
