Xavi Lleonart enjoyed the perfect send-off to his incredible career with Real Club de Polo with a Spanish men’s title as they beat Atlètic Terrassa 2-1 at the Estadi Municipal Martí Colomer in Terrassa.
Ramon Sala’s team has proven to be the most consistent of the entire season. They won the regular season with two games remaining, defeated Junior 3-2 in the Final Four semi-finals, and in this final match, they did the same against a combative Atlètic.
It was Lleonart who opened the scoring, converting a penalty stroke that Guillemo Fortuño had won with a brilliant individual move. The match had been very even up to that point, but the Barcelona club had the better chances.
Atlètic grew into the game and they were level just before the end of the third quarter. With 15 seconds left, they made two passes from midfield into the opposing box, and Quim Malgosa pounced on a ball to beat Luis Calzado.
The final period became a duel between Pol Cabré and Luis Calzado who blocked the Atlètic player’s shots four times.
Then, with three minutes left, Fortuño passed the ball down the right wing to Arnau de Bruijn, and the ball crossed the goal line.
The video umpire ruled out a goal because the ball touched his body before scoring but a penalty corner was awarded instead for earlier danger; Benedikt Schwarzhaupt step up to score the winning goal for El Polo.
Lleonart said afterwards: “I don’t think sport is fair, it’s not romantic, but you always learn things, and today is a dream come true for me.
“I never thought of today as my last game, but rather another final where the goal had to be achieved. I’m very happy for this team that has been fighting end to end and we’ve finally gotten over the disappointment and achieved what we wanted.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but finishing it like this leaves me fulfilled. I’ve kept going as long as I could, with more desire than physical strength.
“Mentally, I’m ready to continue, but my body isn’t able to support me and we have to be smart at this point and make way for the great stars coming up behind us, with whom we’ll have a brilliant future.”
Both Polo and Atlètic Terrassa will play in next October’s EHL KO16.
