Features
WED 25.03.2015
The Liga Adelante is not just about its big-name clubs; or at least, that's what the table indicates ahead of matchday 31. A total of five teams are battling it out for the top two places in the quest for automatic promotion, an illustration of the quality in the division – and this has left sixth place up for grabs among a chasing pack of outfits of another type, dominated by its evenness, consistency and the dream of a shot at a place in the Liga BBVA next year. As many as six clubs are six points or fewer off the play-off positions, a list of contenders that includes CD Leganés and UE Llagostera, two of the newly-promoted sides in Spanish football’s second tier this season.
Leganés boast their best record in the Liga Adelante since 1997
Leganés are without doubt one of the major revelations of the campaign. They sit in eighth place on 41 points, and are just five away from the team in sixth, R. Zaragoza. On matchday 30 of the competition they beat the current leaders, Real Betis, and continue to climb the table. It had been nine years since the side now coached by Asier Garitano last played in the Liga Adelante, when the Madrid-based club ended the 2003-2004 season in nineteenth place and were condemned to relegation.
Los pepineros had spent ten years in the Liga Adelante before suffering the drop, a decade in which their best finish was a commendable eighth place, the precise position they occupy right now. With a 12-point cushion separating them from relegation, Leganés are aiming to carry on looking up the table and to bid for a play-off berth that brings with it the chance of a spot in the Liga BBVA next year.
The meteoric rise of Llagostera
Llagostera’s story is, if at all possible, even more special. The club from Catalonia are in their first ever campaign in the Liga Adelante, having played in the regional Segunda Territorial division exactly ten years ago.
Llagostera have won seven promotions in the last ten years
The side currently led by coach Lluís Carrillo have 40 points, are eleventh and lie just six points away from the promotion play-off positions. And Carrillo’s arrival in the dugout has been one of the key factors in revolutionising the team’s season: his appointment has seen Llagostera move away from the drop zone, picking up five wins and two draws in their last seven games.
So after seven promotions, the club are out to make history once again, this time by rising to the Liga BBVA in what would be their eighth promotion in eleven years.
© LALIGA - 2015