The week of two fixtures gets off to a flying start with a derby

This Wednesday, Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto host Balonmano Servigroup Benidorm at the Pabellón Port de Sagunt, from 20:00, in the postponed match corresponding to the fourteenth round of the Men’s Silver Honour Division, suspended in December because of the red alert issued by AEMET.

The red-and-whites arrive after convincingly beating BM Contazara Zaragoza (34-25) last weekend, a victory that allows them to remain in the promotion play-off places for the Liga Nexus Energía ASOBAL for another week. They currently occupy fourth place with 24 points. If they take points against the Alicante side, whether through a draw or a win, they will climb to second in the table, overtaking both Fundación Agustinos Alicante and UBU San Pablo Burgos 2031, the latter having played one fewer match, specifically the sixteenth-round fixture against the Benidorm side.

Opposing them will be a Balonmano Servigroup Benidorm side who have recorded two draws in their last two fixtures, both against teams involved in the fight for survival. They drew at home with Cisne Colegio Los Sauces (26-26) in their final match before the Christmas break and also drew away to Confía Base Oviedo (28-28) after the competition resumed. The Alicante side are seventh in the overall table with 20 points, just one point outside the places that grant access to the promotion play-off for the highest level of Spanish handball.

The most recent meeting between the two sides dates back to last September’s pre-season, when they also faced each other at the Pabellón Port de Sagunt. On that occasion, Balonmano Servigroup Benidorm won by the narrowest of margins (25-26), with an Abdoulah Modi goal after time had expired.

“It is a very important fixture. The squad’s focus when working must be on preparing every match in the best possible way, emphasising that the group improves day by day and that this is reflected on the court,” says Paco Ruiz when discussing how the dressing room approaches a week of two fixtures, as on Saturday they will visit Club Balonmano Alcobendas at the Pabellón de Los Sueños, from 18:30.

After finishing bottom of Liga ASOBAL in the 2024-2025 season with 19 points, the Benidorm side quickly set about building a squad with the aim of returning to the elite of national handball, under the direction of their new sporting director, Iván Nikcevic. Serbian Marko Krivokapic (the father of our former goalkeeper Luka Krivokapic), who took charge in March of the previous season, renewed his contract and began the season alongside Alejandro Cutanda, who replaced Isidre Pérez.

Relegation brought significant departures, including Nacho Valles, Tommaso de Angelis, Joao Bandeira, Krystian Witkowski, David Roca and Pepe Oliver. Despite this, the club managed to retain key players such as Lucas Moscariello, Juan Carlos Sempere, Pablo Vainstein, Leo Alonso, Ramiro Martínez, Daniil Zhukov and Hugo Vila. In terms of arrivals, high-quality reinforcements included David Mach, Pol Roy, Diego Pérez, Carlos Fernández, Marc López, Abdoulah Modi and former Portuario goalkeeper Samuel Ibáñez.

A couple of months ago, the club announced the termination of one of its new signings, Feliciano Nunes, due to bureaucratic problems, replacing him with Uros Ostojic on loan. This January, the first-team coach, Marko Krivokapic, departed, with his then assistant Alejandro Cutanda taking over, as did pivot Lucas Moscariello, whose departure was covered by the arrival of Ferrán Prieto. In addition, they will be without Ramiro Martínez, recently crowned champion of the 2026 South-Central Tournament with the Argentina national team.

Fans wishing to purchase tickets for the match can do so in person or via the club’s website. Tickets will cost 12 euros for purchases made before Wednesday: www.cbmpuertosagunto.com/entradas/.

The club’s physical shop will also reopen, with a gift included for the first people to purchase a product.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.