The clear 37:23 at Pfadi Winterthur was Bidasoa Irun’s second group phase victory - and they took all points against the same opponent after the 32:28 on home ground. One week after their unlucky 28:29 home defeat against Wisla Plock, the Spanish runners up easily won at the Swiss champions in a postponed match from round 4.
While Pfadi remain on two points, Irun consolidate the fourth position with four points. But sides now have five matches on their account. Irun have the next chance to grab more points on Thursday in another postponed match against Wisla Plock.
GROUP A:
Pfadi Winterthur (SUI) vs Bidasoa Irun (ESP) 23:37 (12:17)
- The victory at Winterthur was Irun’s third-highest win in their long European Cup history below the 39:23 against Sävehof in the 2019/20 Champions League and the 38:17 at Arkatron Minsk in the 1/16 finals of the Cup Winners Cup.
- The 2:1 was the last advantage for the hosts before Irun turned the tide easily with a 16:10 lead after 26 minutes.
- Pfadi lacked efficiency in attack against a strong Bidasoa defence - and every mistake was punished immediately.
- Finally, the crucial period was an impressive 8:0 run of the visitors from 19:14 to 27:14, including their first double-figured lead.
- The most significant margin was four times 17 goals between the 34:17 and the 37:20, 12 Irun players were on the score sheet.
- Best Pfadi scorers were Hendrik Schönfeldt and Kevin Jub with five goals each, Jon Azkue Saizar netted seven times.
A centre back on fire
Since 2013, Jon Azkue Saizar has been part of Bidasoa Irun’s squad, and in the Spanish Asobal league the 27-year-old had already proved his strength as a scorer: In his first season at Irun he netted 148 times, and in the 2020/21 season, he was one of Bidasoa’s best scorer with 122 goals. Now the centre back is en route to his personal highest score in European competitions. After his seven goals against Winterthur - and his season-high six goals each at Plock last week and in the first leg against Pfadi, Jon Azkue Saizar now is on 25 group phase goals in the European League. Until now, his highest score was 33 goals in the 2019/20 season.
We are very happy with our game and the win. It was difficult for us because of the Covid situation, but we played a clever offense – we have seen the best version of Bidasoa today. The key in the second half was to keep following our game plan and to stay consistent. In Spain, the teams usually don’t play seven against six. We need to adapt to this in EHF European League Men.
