IRUDEK Bidasoa Irún: a leader looking to make history

Fertiberia Puerto Sagunto return to playing at home at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion after the international break, welcoming IRUDEK Bidasoa Irún this Saturday from 19:00 in the ninth round of the NEXUS ENERGÍA ASOBAL League.

The red-and-white team go into the match after narrowly missing out on points (29-28) in their most recent fixture, when they visited Cajasol Sevilla BM Proin at the Centro Deportivo Amate. After going into half-time 18-12 down, they managed an 11-16 second-half run that allowed them to stay in contention until the end. They currently sit 12th in the overall table, with five points.

They will face an Irún-based side who are joint leaders of the competition alongside Barça, both having 16 points to their name. The Bidasoa team have won all eight matches they have played so far. In their most recent game, they came from behind against ABANCA Ademar León in the second half at the Palacio de los Deportes, securing a final score of 33-37.

Mario Nevado and Leo Maciel, with 53 goals and 69 saves respectively, are the competition’s fourth-highest scorer and fifth goalkeeper with the most interventions. Sergio Mallo outlined the characteristics of the opposing squad at the pre-match press conference: “They have the league’s best figures when it comes to long-range shooting. In addition, they have two centres who control the game with their pivots, very fast wingers and a defensive block that gives their goalkeeping plenty of security.”

Álex Mozas has been the Bidasoa club’s head coach since summer 2024. Last summer, they signed Niko Mindegia and João Magalhães on permanent transfers, brought Jakub Sladkowski back from his spell at Tubos Aranda Villa de Aranda and secured the services of Miguel Ángel Martín Duque until the end of the 2027-2028 season. All of them have replaced the permanently departing Rodrigo Salinas, Dariel García, Nacho Valles and Piotr Mielczarski, as well as the loan departures of Pol Quiroga and Asier Iribar.

The latter’s brother, Jon Ander Iribar, was also on loan, in his case at BM Contazara Zaragoza, but with the season already under way, they decided to exercise the recall clause.

The most recent meeting between the Valencian and Gipuzkoan sides at the same venue as this match, in Spain’s top handball division, dates back to December 2023. On that occasion, the visitors won thanks to a strong opening 30 minutes (13-17), in which they opened up a gap before establishing the final score of 26-32.

“We are going to give everything on the 40x020. Our supporters need to know that they are the indispensable support we need when we play at home. I encourage every one of them to come and enjoy some good handball. After a month, we are approaching the match with much more eagerness, even though our opponents are on the verge of achieving their best-ever start in ASOBAL,” added Diego Olba regarding the return to their home ground and the importance of the fans.

Supporters wishing to buy tickets to watch the match can do so in person or via the club’s website, using the following link: https://p.berrly.com/cbmpsg/events/19768/map. Tickets cost 15 euros for purchases made before Saturday. The match will also be broadcast live on the league’s OTT platform, ASOBAL TV: https://www.streamwayplus.com/es/asobal-tv.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.