This Sunday, Granada has the great opportunity to seal its permanence in the First Division with a day in advance if it beats Betis at the Benito Villamarín. It will also maintain the category in case of defeat if Mallorca loses against Rayo Vallecano.
In one of the worst cases, Granada could also be saved if there were a triple draw with Mallorca and Cádiz or a quadruple match entering Alavés, at 37 points. He’s got it pretty good, but he can’t slack off.
It would not be the first time that the Granada team has achieved one of its great objectives, salvation or promotion, away from Los Cármeneyes It’s more. It can be said that this has become a small tradition.
Let’s start with promotions. The Granadans have managed to be promoted 13 times, six of them to the First Division. Only two of these occasions were in front of their fans, the first in 1934 against Malacitano (to Second Division) and in 2006 against Guadalajara (to Second Division B). We can see it in this link from Granada Digital.
We can mention as more interesting examples the promotion of 1968 to First, in Mallorca. The Balearic island experienced another boost to the elite (of course on the penultimate day) thanks to a goal from San Emeterio. In between, the promotion of 2011, after 35 years absent from the highest category, was held in Elche. The previous year Granada had risen from Second B to Second. Needless to say, the party was held far from home, in Alcorcón.
Last minute stays
If we talk about permanence among the greats, we can remember that the 2011-12 season was celebrated in Vallecas despite losing, the following year was celebrated in Valencia despite losing and because Zaragoza fell 4-0 in Heliopolis. In 2013-14 another salvation away from the lares (0-1 in Valladolid) In 2014-15 party in style for a 0-3 in Anoeta and the following year another victory as a visitor, 1-4 in Seville. These last two successes, needless to say, came on the 37th day of rigor.
The common denominator that we observe in this hurried study is that Granada has suffered to maintain the category except in the two seasons that Diego Martínez was in charge of his bench where he also achieved his historic classification for the Europa League reaching the quarterfinals. The arrival of Aitor Karanka has restored the enthusiasm for the team and the confidence of the stands towards a coach with very clear ideas and an optimistic but prudent speech. Granada has added eight points out of 12 with the man from Vitoria. Now he has to finish the job, as almost always, as a foreigner. Everything is possible outside of Granada.