Attica 21 Hotels OAR Coruña, a wounded opponent before the Christmas break

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto travel to Galicia this weekend for their final fixture of 2025 before the Christmas break. It will be the fifteenth round of the Men's División de Honor Plata, away to Attica 21 Hotels OAR Coruña on Saturday from 19:00 at the San Francisco Javier Pavilion.

The red and whites arrive after more than a week of rest, following the postponement last Sunday of the Valencian Community derby against Balonmano Servigroup Benidorm at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion, due to the red alert issued by AEMET in Valencia province. Days earlier, they picked up one point (28-28) against Blendio Sinfín and two more (23-27) against Trops Málaga during the week, in the postponed match from the competition's ninth round. They are third with 20 points and, depending on the result in A Coruña, will go on holiday in control of their own destiny as they seek to reclaim top spot in January.

The Coruña side, meanwhile, welcome the Valencians perhaps at their worst point of the season, having suffered two consecutive defeats for the first time. They endured two tough setbacks against Anaitasuna (38-29) at La Catedral and against Blendio Sinfín (26-31) at home this week, in the postponed eighth-round fixture. These results have seen them drop down a league table they led a few weeks ago. They are currently fourth with 18 points, just below the side from Puerto de Sagunto.

The Galician team have returned this season to the second tier of Spanish handball after several years trying to achieve promotion from Primera Nacional. They finally did so last May, when they hosted the Promotion to Plata phase and recorded a win (29-28) against Handbol Sant Joan, a draw (24-24) against another team competing in the division this season, BM Contazara Zaragoza, and a resounding 42-26 victory over La Salle in Sunday's decisive match.

Fernando González, the architect of promotion and current first-team coach and technical director of the organisation, remains in charge of the project. In June, they began announcing what the new squad would look like: nineteen players in total, comprising eleven who stayed and eight who joined the project. Among the five departures were Portuguese player Diogo Martinho, Brazilian Marley Wallace Fernandes and the retiring Kevin Dacosta. The goalkeeping department is well covered by the renewal of Israel Marín and the signing of Mile Mijuskovic, both of whom have ASOBAL experience. The standout signing was Álex Chan, joined by players such as defensive specialist Álex Malid and right back Gabriel Navarro, among others.

It will be a very special match for another of their signings, pivot Sergio Torío, who was our player last season and will face his former team-mates for the first time since leaving.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.