Garcia Robledo was born only 15 kilometres away from Granollers, in La Llagosta, but went through the star-studded youth system of the Spanish squad, and went on to feature for big names like Paris Saint-Germain Handball, HBC Nantes, OTP Bank-Pick Szeged and FC Barcelona, having played in four different countries.
But the left back, who won the silver medal at the EHF EURO in 2016 and 2022 and the bronze medal in 2014 with Spain, always found Granollers calling back. Now in his third stint at his local team, Garcia Robledo is enjoying life and playing handball like he was in his prime.
“It feels very special to be back here, I always had my eyes on returning to Granollers and finish my career here. Having the chance to play for a competitive team, which qualified for the quarter-finals of the European League, makes me even happier, because I am not ending my career in some obscure place,” says the 39-year-old Spanish left back.
Indeed, Fraikin BM. Granollers have been one of the top sides in this season’s EHF European League Men, albeit on a roller-coaster of form, with the obvious missteps here and there.
In the group phase, they won all five of their matches at home, but only added one more win in their away matches. Eventually, they finished third in their group and set up a crunch game against Danish side Skanderborg-Aarhus in the Last 16 phase.
There, Granollers’ excellent home record was obliterated. But there was a caveat. After leading by as many as nine goals, Skanderborg-Aarhus could only settle for a two-goal win, but they were still the favourites in the second leg, taking into account the Spanish side’s abysmal away form.
“We had some chances, because we finished the first leg with a 5:0 run and I think we were not as well prepared from a psychological standpoint for that game. But in the second leg, we knew we had it in us and we really delivered an excellent game to progress to the next phase,” says Garcia Robledo.
Garcia Robledo, who is also Granollers’ captain, scored six goals in a 30:25 win, leading his side to the quarter-finals, where the Spanish side will face a crunch doubleheader against SG Flensburg-Handewitt, one of the big favourites of the competition, who will also host the EHF Finals Men.
Asked what Granollers need to do to progress to the business end of the competition by beating Flensburg, the Spanish veteran replies without taking a breath: “A miracle.”
Coming from Garcia Robledo, who has seen it all, playing for 14 seasons in European competitions, including four of them in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, it might sound like a tall order for Granolllers.
But joking aside, Flensburg are definitely favourites for this tie, especially as they have the best average number of goals scored per game in this season of the EHF European League Men.
“I think it is quite difficult to do it, I would rate Flensburg at 80% to qualify and us at 20%. There are many things that have to go our way, it needs to be a perfect storm to qualify. We need to be at our top in defence and have a very good attack, without many missed shots,” says Garcia Robledo.
“When they really get going, it is almost impossible to stop them, so we need to be prepared for every scenario.”
However, if Granollers are to stand a chance, they will surely need Garcia Robledo to quarterback the whole thing, as he is, by far, their top scorer this season, with 68 goals, his best-ever season in European competitions in terms of goals scored.
Yet the 39-year-old left back is more than just a scorer or Granollers’ captain. He is also acting as a mentor for two of the most exciting Spanish prospects, Jan Gurri Aregay and Bruno Reguart Massana, winners of the gold medal at the M20 EHF EURO 2022 with Spain.
“I also had mentors earlier in my career, like Jose Luiz Perez Canca, there was also Davor Cutura early in my Granollers years, therefore I know how important it is to have a person to look up to. Of course, me and Jan or Bruno are from different generations, but we all play the same sport,” says Garcia Robledo.
“There are 20 years between us, but they have so much quality, they have everything they need to get better and better and become excellent players. We are all friends, we are all a team and this is what is the most important.”
