It was a swap between Biosca and fellow goalkeeper Kristian Pilipovic, who moved the other way to Kadetten Schaffhausen, as everything worked out excellently for both goalkeepers, with Biosca settling in perfectly in his new surroundings.
“Having three other Spanish players in the squad and a Spanish coach in Xavi Sabate was a big, big help. I was friends already with Abel Serdio and Niko Mindegia, therefore I fit in immediately, there was not much of an adaptation period and this transfer worked out excellently for me,” says Biosca.
“We always hang out, but the language spoken in the locker room is English, so we are all on the same page. It is an excellent club and I feel very welcome and very good here. I even learnt the basic words in Polish.”
“It was inspiration”
Indeed, the Spanish shot-stopper was nothing short of superb for Plock, a team that earned a last-gasp berth for the play-offs in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League and went on even further, sealing an unexpected quarter-finals ticket, after a crazy comeback against HBC Nantes.
Biosca played his part – a huge role, in fact – in the second leg against Nantes, after the first one ended in a stalemate, 32:32. After the first half of the game in Nantes, Biosca had eight saves and finished the game with 11 saves, for a 29% saving efficiency, as the quarter-finals spot was going to be decided on penalties.
With 10 penalties shot, only one was missed and it was Biosca who stopped fellow Spanish player Kauldi Odriozola, handing Plock their first-ever quarter-finals berth in the European premium competition.
“I would lie to say that it was preparation to stop Kauldi’s shot. I know him very well, but for penalties, I knew that their main takers were Valero Rivera and Aymeric Minne. Therefore, we prepared for them, both in open shots, like we did for all players, and in penalties. But here, when I stopped the penalty, it was inspiration,” says Biosca.
It was an unbelievable achievement for Plock, which had missed out on featuring in the quarter-finals four times, being eliminated in the play-offs in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. Yet this time around, with Sabate at the helm, they really outdid themselves, providing the biggest surprise so far in this season’s top flight.
Another shock on the cards?
The next opponent is a true powerhouse, one of the favourites to win the trophy and a shoo-in on paper for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4. SC Magdeburg have impressed this season with their excellent attacking prowess, scoring at a rate of 32.3 goals per game in the group phase.
Plock have already played against them and lost in the first match, in Germany, 33:27, but recovered and sealed a crucial win for their push to qualify, 25:24, on their home court, in a sold-out ORLEN Arena.
“We have already won against Magdeburg, but we know it is going to be a difficult tie and they are the favourites to progress to the next phase of the competition. Should we qualify, it would be something amazing, something that this club has not experienced in their history, therefore we want to do some good games against Magdeburg, but we must be close to perfection,” says Biosca.
“We are finetuning our preparations now, for me, as a goalkeeper, I know it will be hard, because they have a very good attack, some excellent scorers, which have proved themselves both in the Champions League, but also in the Bundesliga. But we won against them, so we want to do it again and for us to have a chance, we need to win at home, in the first leg.”
Of course, Biosca will be crucial in this doubleheader, were Plock to produce another surprise and become only the second Polish team in history to secure a berth for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4. In the home game played in the group phase, Plock had an astonishing game from their other goalkeeper Marcel Jastrzebski, who stopped 19 shots for a 44.1% saving efficiency.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old, who played for Barça, Abanca Ademar Leon and Kadetten Schaffhausen before signing for Plock is upbeat, as anything above this quarter-final is going to be a bonus.
“It would be amazing to progress to the FINAL4, it would be a crowning achievement for us. But there is still a long way to go,” concludes Biosca.
