In a thrilling encounter, a youthful Bidasoa side, with an average age of nearly 20 years and missing some of their key players, pushed Benfica to the limit in a match that the Portuguese team ultimately won in the final stretch. This was a relatively inconsequential game for a qualifying group that a Guipuzcoan team has already led into the quarterfinals of the European League. Bidasoa will now wait for their next opponent, while Benfica will contest a preliminary round in pursuit of a spot in the Final Four in Hamburg. However, with both teams having already secured their respective objectives before the match, this encounter felt more like an official training session.
The young Bidasoa players were outstanding in the first half, not only holding their own against the third-best Portuguese team but also dominating the game, thanks in large part to the exceptional play of Asier Iribar, who proved to be a constant thorn in the side of the Portuguese defense. Benfica, under the guidance of Jota González and with almost a full squad at their disposal, struggled to assert their supposed superiority and found it difficult to overcome the solid defense and the impressive goalkeeping of 18-year-old David Failde, who confirmed his promising future between the posts.
The Spanish coach of Benfica decided to take action in the 20th minute, with his team trailing 9-11 against a Bidasoa side filled with junior players, and called on his players to demonstrate the superiority that was expected of them. However, Bidasoa was on a roll and continued to dominate the game until the halftime break. The second half unfolded similarly, with the “Baby Bidasoa,” as their coach had termed them, continuing to find solutions to stay in the game against a superior opponent that didn’t manage to level the score (23-23) until there were only 15 minutes left to play.
The final quarter was tightly contested, as Bidasoa refused to give up on the win, and Benfica, wounded in their pride, fought back. Ultimately, Benfica’s experience and the outstanding performance of Hungarian player Hanusz paid off, allowing them to secure a hard-fought victory. The final score was a testament to the intense competition between the two teams.
The lineups for the match were as follows:
- Benfica: Capdeville, Palacksis (goalkeepers); Grigoras (3 goals), Miguel Sánchez Migallón (1 goal), Rahmel (6 goals, 3 penalties), Hedberg (2 goals), Cavalcanti (1 goal), Valencia (3 goals), Pagliotta, Hanusz (6 goals), Borges, Pereira, Taleski (3 goals), Fabio (4 goals), Ferreira De Carvalho (4 goals).
- Bidasoa-Irun: FaÃlde, Ander GarcÃa (goalkeepers); Alex Raix (2 goals), Wanba (1 goal), Gastaminza (2 goals), Asier Iribar (10 goals, 5 penalties), Furundarena (3 goals), Jon Ander Iribar (1 goal), Beraza (1 goal), Matheus da Silva, Jevtic (1 goal), Mikel Zabala (2 goals), Tao Gey-Emparan (1 goal), Julen Mujika (5 goals), Barreto (1 goal).
The Croatian refereeing duo of Ante Mikelic and Petar Paradina oversaw the match, issuing exclusions to Cavalcanti, Sánchez Migallón, Pereira, Zabala, and Furundarena. The score progression was: 3-3; 6-4; 7-9; 8-10; 10-13; 13-14; 15-17; 18-20; 23-23; 26-24; 31-27; 33-30.