Slovenia qualified for their first final ever and secured at least a silver medal by beating reigning European champions Spain on Thursday, while Serbia defeated Russia in the other semi-final on Friday. Slovenia thus had one more day to recuperate.

While Slovenia are fielding what is arguable the best national team ever, also featuring naturalised American Anthony Randolph, the European basketball powerhouse Serbia are significantly depleted as a number of their major stars cancelled the appearance.

Slovenian assistant coach Rado Trifunović said immediately after Slovenia's opponents in the final was determined that "I don't want to be arrogant, but we really have great chances of winning considering our performances at this tournament".

But he warned about the tough Serbian defence and three players - their best player and playmaker Bogdan Bogdanović, the "friendly giant" Boban Marjanović and the "silent workhorse" Vladimir Lučić.

Serbia head coach Aleksandar Đorđević respects Slovenia very much, but says that gold medal is the goal. "Both teams are deservedly in the final. The team with a better defence will win. We have been dreaming this trophy and we must not stop."

"Slovenia has strong athletes under the rim, they are playful, secure, lively and their fans give them self-confidence. They are an undisputed favourite in the final," Đorđević said, putting some pressure on Slovenia.

Slovenian fans are flocking to Istanbul in thousands to see the final match live, and the record from Belgrade in 2005, when around 5,000 Slovenians supported their team in the third-place match against Greece, is in serious danger.

Several pubs in Ljubljana will meanwhile be screening the game on big screens, while fans will also be able to watch the game in the Bežigrad cinema free of charge.

Slovenia is slightly favoured to win the final match according to the odds offered by major betting sites.

Regardless of the colour of the medal, Slovenia will become the smallest nation to win a medal at the EuroBasket, beating Lithuania, which has some 800,000 people more than Slovenia (2 million).