Fertiberia gets through the Palau ordeal

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto lose 46–25 to Asobal’s unbeaten leaders. The red-and-whites get through the difficult experience at the Palau against one of Europe’s best teams and are already thinking about their next match, on 2 November, against Benidorm, which will be the Valencian Community derby.

The red-and-whites tried to hold their own during the opening minutes at the Palau. The bottom side did not play like one against the leaders. In goal, young academy player Guillermo Martínez had a good game, stopping some top players from European competition. Jaka, Mirallave and Jordi Manero stood out in attack. The home side’s counter-attacks came in waves and highlighted the disparity between the two teams.

After the match, coach Vicent Nogués said: “We tried, and we started well, but little by little our turnovers and the intensity Barça bring to every match, combined with our very long injury list, meant that the Barcelona side moved ahead on the scoreboard and gradually pulled away. The feelings have been good; there were moments when we played very well. We scored 25 goals, which is no easy feat here. It is a shame that a counter-attack in the second wave is enough for them to win the match.”

MATCH DETAILS:

Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto: Guillermo Martínez, Jaka (7), Nacho Mirallave (5), Leo Querin (3), Camacho, Adrián Ribes, Guillermo Corzo (3), Iñigo Celorrio, Toni Alegre, Dija Cruz, Alex Tello (2), Ángel López, Jordi Manero (5).

Scores by period: 3–3, 7–3, 9–5, 13–5, 16–7, 21–10, 26–11, 30–15, 34–17, 38–21, 41–25, 46–25

Referees: Ignacio Pascual and Carlos Luque. Jaka was excluded for Fertiberia BM Puerto Sagunto and Albert Pujol for Barça.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.