Features
FRI 12.06.2015
Statistics are there to be broken; on the other hand, it always helps to have history on your side. These are the two opposing points of view that will be to the fore in the upcoming Liga Adelante play-off semi-final second leg between UD Las Palmas and R. Valladolid CF.
Las Palmas, who earned a1-1 draw at Valladolid's Estadio José Zorrilla, will attempt to make good on the first-leg result and the predictions based on past play-offs to reach the final and battle for a place in the Liga BBVA. Meanwhile, los pucelanos will be set on defying this scoreline and intent on claiming a victory to bring them the chance to fight it out to leave the Liga Adelante behind.
For after an opening leg that finished all square, los amarillos returned to the Canary Islands with an away goal that could be the key to Paco Herrera's men coming out on top. Las Palmas won't be relying on greater prospects of going through, but the figures certainly do favour them. In the four previous play-offs that have been held so far in the Liga Adelante, the semi-finals have begun with a 1-1 draw as many as three times. And on each occasion, the visiting side in the first leg qualified for the final.
The first time this happened was in 2011-12, when Hércules and Alcorcón drew 1-1 at the Estadio Rico Pérez. A goalless second-leg was then enough for the men from Madrid to reach that campaign's play-off final, although they were unable to go on and seal promotion. A year later, they would have the opportunity to make amends, but this time were on the other end of a one-all result. The side then coached by José Bordalás began at home against Girona FC, who came away with a draw at the Estadio de Santo Domingo before winning 3-1 at Montilivi.
And in fact the other 2012-13 play-off semi-final opener also ended up with the same scoreline. Current contenders Las Palmas were the home team in the first leg against Almeria, who pressed home a 1-1 away draw with a 2-1 victory in the return in Andalusia.
1-1 is therefore synonymous with success for the team who begin the tie on the road. And on top of that, all three of these encounters followed the same script: the visitors scored before the ten-minute mark, with the hosts later levelling up the clash in pursuit of a positive result to take into the second leg. This was a story that was also played out in the initial match-up between Las Palmas and Valladolid, as the side from the Canaries took the lead through Araujo in the 9th minute, before Hernán Pérez equalised in the 23rd.
So it's all to be decided in the return match at the Estadio de Gran Canaria. Two years and two unsuccessful play-offs later, los amarillos are in the hunt once more to go up to the Liga BBVA, against a Valladolid outfit out to show that numbers are just that: no more than numbers. In short, two perspectives ahead of a final before a final, from which only one club will emerge to continue their quest for promotion to the top flight of Spanish football.
© LALIGA - 2015