The lowdown on the promoted golf equipment as Oviedo seal emotional top-flight return

The conclusion to the Spanish Segunda Division season, which dives deep into the scorching warmth of June, can usually be relied upon to serve up a dramatic finale because the tremendous traces between success and failure are laid naked.

The 2024/25 marketing campaign was actually no exception with a play-off last that was at all times assured to ship one of the romantic promotions we’ve seen this century, be {that a} return to the highest flight after 24 years for Actual Oviedo, or a first-ever season in LaLiga for unfancied Mirandes.

For a protracted whereas it seemed like it might go the way in which of the membership from Miranda de Ebro, a city of simply 37,000 individuals within the province of Burgos. A aspect largely consisting of loanees that was anticipated to battle this time period, had been on the point of a historic promotion underneath Alessio Lisci once they took the lead after simply 16 minutes on the Carlos Tartiere on Saturday, to go 2-0 up on mixture.

That they had alternatives so as to add to their tally too, however this might slowly flip into Oviedo’s fairytale and never theirs, with 40-year-old Santi Cazorla’s penalty simply earlier than the interval sparking a tremendous comeback from the Asturians who sealed promotion in additional time with a 3-1 win on the night time.

Inside 48 hours, Lisci has already left the membership and is ready to take cost of Osasuna, and Mirandes should shortly get round to the duty of appointing his successor and reconstructing a squad that will probably be naked skinny in a few weeks.

As for Oviedo and their followers, they might nonetheless solely be simply digesting what has occurred. A membership that sunk into the abyss of the Spanish fourth tier and the brink of extinction within the 2000s, will take their place in LaLiga once more when August comes round, one thing a complete era of their supporters has by no means witnessed.

The newly-promoted golf equipment in LaLiga 2025/26

Levante

• Place: 1st
• Factors: 79
• Scored: 69
• Conceded: 42
• Coach: Julian Calero

As tales of play-off heartbreak go, little compares to the plight suffered by Levante in 2023 once they had been denied promotion by a 129th-minute penalty from Asier Villalibre of Alaves within the second leg of a last that had not till that time produced a single purpose.

The Valencians would have been promoted because the higher-ranked aspect had that tie completed goalless. They may solely handle an eighth place end the next season, however the Granotes bounced again in model in 2024/25, with the summer season appointment of Julian Calero sparking a revival of their fortunes.

Calero will probably be a brand new title to anybody who doesn’t pay a lot consideration to the Spanish decrease leagues. At 54, the Madrid-born coach will get his alternative on the highest stage having labored his means up the leagues the old school strategy to a big extent.

He had 14 totally different stints as both a participant or coach at numerous golf equipment within the Comunidad de Madrid, earlier than branching out to take cost of third-tier Burgos in 2020. It was throughout a profitable three-year spell at El Plantio that he actually cast his popularity as any individual who might probably step up and lead one of many greater second-tier golf equipment, and after a yr in Cartagena, he has accomplished his regular rise to the large time by clinching promotion with Levante.

Whereas his Burgos sides had been usually defensively-minded, Calero oversaw a extra expansive Levante outfit that completed because the second-highest scorers within the Segunda Division behind solely an Almeria aspect that might depend on the appreciable abilities of 27-goal Luis Suarez, comfortably the league’s most harmful frontman.

They received extra factors on the highway than every other crew, and their use of 28 gamers all through the marketing campaign was the third-lowest within the league behind solely play-off runners-up Mirandes and Sporting.

In a league that invariably goes to the wire on the high, Levante held their nerve higher than their rivals by profitable 11 of their last 15 fixtures to clinch promotion again to the highest flight after three years within the Segunda Division.

Like several crew that comes up, they’ll want reinforcements in the summertime switch window, and we might even see Calero revert to sort to some extent with a extra defensive way of living on the highest stage. Even this season, his aspect’s common possession stats stood at solely 49.1% suggesting they’ll be glad to let their opponents have a lot of the ball subsequent time period, and so they’ll be hoping membership legend Jose Luis Morales has sufficient gasoline left within the tank to nonetheless make an affect on the break.

Elche

• Place: 2nd
• Factors: 77
• Scored: 59
• Conceded: 34
• Coach: Eder Sarabia

Elche’s method to each this season and their bid to keep away from the drop in LaLiga 2025/26 is more likely to be very totally different to that of Levante. Beneath the steering of Eder Sarabia, the previous assistant to Quique Setien at Betis and Barcelona, they’re very a lot a possession-based aspect with Los Franjiverdes having fun with a league-high 61.5% share of the ball this time period.

Sarabia has loved a reasonably spectacular redemption story this season, bouncing again from the sack at Andorra in March of final yr once they had been backside of the Segunda Division.

That wasn’t sufficient to place Elche off appointing Sarabia on an preliminary one-year deal final summer season, and the 44-year-old has greater than repaid the religion that the membership confirmed in him by delivering automated promotion on the first try.

It did take a while for Sarabia to work his magic nonetheless. Elche misplaced three of their opening 4 video games which was hardly the perfect begin for a person who got here with one thing of a degree to show within the first place, however progressively his squad purchased into his method, and the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero quickly was one of many hardest grounds for visiting groups within the Spanish second tier.

With a 71% house win ratio and the division’s greatest defensive document, Elche seemed like robust automated promotion contenders from the halfway level on, and regardless of struggling back-to-back defeats on matchdays 39 and 40, they recovered to win their last two video games, sealing promotion in model with a 4-0 win away to Deportivo La Coruña on the ultimate weekend.

Sarabia has since signed a recent two-year deal, and so they’ll be hoping {that a} clear taking part in model and id could be the recipe for fulfillment once they retake their place on the LaLiga map for the 2025/26 season.

Actual Oviedo

• Place: third (play-off winners)
• Factors: 75
• Scored: 56
• Conceded: 42
• Coach: Veljko Paunovic

After an in depth brush with promotion in 2023/24 once they had been defeated by Espanyol within the play-off last, Actual Oviedo supporters had maybe much more motive to be optimistic heading into this marketing campaign than followers of Levante and Elche who had failed to succeed in the highest six.

The Asturians have been there or thereabouts in the appropriate half of the Segunda Division for a lot of the final decade, however backed by the second-highest house crowds within the league (23,318 on common in the course of the 2024/25 season), there was a rising sense that they had been getting nearer to securing that long-awaited return to the highest flight.

Luis Carrion had taken them nearer than every other Oviedo boss since their relegation from LaLiga in 2001, however his departure to take cost of top-flight Las Palmas created a emptiness final summer season that was crammed by Javi Calleja.

The 47-year-old’s reign was removed from a catastrophe, however the membership’s hierarchy opted to make a change in March after a run of only one level from 4 video games left them in peril of dropping out of the highest six.

Step ahead Veljko Paunovic, a former Atletico Madrid participant, and the ex-coach of Chicago Hearth and Studying, in addition to two golf equipment in Mexico, to rise to the problem of getting Oviedo’s promotion push again on observe.

The Serbian boss made an on the spot affect, profitable his opening recreation towards Malaga and main his new crew on a 10-game unbeaten run to shut out the common season. It could have been sufficient for automated promotion had outcomes gone their means elsewhere on the ultimate matchday, however such type ensured Los Azules had a spring of their step heading into the play-offs.

Confronted with a powerful Almeria aspect that includes plenty of gamers who’re clearly able to working at the next stage, Oviedo obtained their marketing campaign off to an ideal begin with full-back Nacho Vidal the unlikely two-goal hero in a 2-1 win in Andalusia.

A Cazorla free-kick practically lifted the roof off the Carlos Tartiere within the second leg, as Oviedo squeezed by means of with a 1-1 draw, and regardless of dropping the primary leg towards Mirandes within the last, Paunovic’s aspect in the end had sufficient to seal the deal again on a magical night time in Asturias.

Cazorla’s miraculous story has inevitably captured the creativeness of the Spanish and worldwide media over the previous 48 hours. The previous Arsenal and Villarreal man is now a promotion winner along with his boyhood membership on the age of 40, greater than 20 years after his preliminary departure from the then cash-strapped membership that was on the point of monetary spoil, and practically 10 years on from the beginning of the horrendous damage issues that threatened to finish his profession.

Few would begrudge Cazorla or Oviedo their day within the solar, and their presence will certainly mild up LaLiga subsequent season. Identified all through Spain (a rustic the place comparatively few followers are likely to journey to away video games) for his or her robust visiting assist, Oviedistas will journey in good numbers wherever they go subsequent time period having lastly accomplished the lengthy highway again to the promised land, having endured some very darkish instances alongside the way in which.