MADRID, 26 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Granada, Las Palmas, Alavés and Levante star in the battle of the last day of LaLiga SmartBank to return directly to the highest category of Spanish football, four teams separated by only three points and with a decisive direct confrontation between islanders and ‘babazorros’ which will be the great attraction of the weekend.
The championship comes to an end this weekend with day 42 and almost everything to be decided in the upper part of the table. Granada reaches this final ‘battle’ in the best conditions, at least qualifying, enjoying the lead with 72 points, so scoring against Leganés this Saturday would be enough, even if they lose, to return to ‘First’ after their brief passage of one season through the ‘silver’ category.
In addition, they will have the support of the Nuevo Los Cármenes Stadium, which has never seen a promotion for their team, since the six they have achieved in their entire history have been at home. The Nasrid team is experiencing a sweet moment in terms of results, undefeated (2W and 2E) in the last four games, in addition to reaching this last match without losing a single game at home. This must not generate an excess of confidence in front of a Leganés that does not play anything, but who have not managed to win this course.
However, all eyes will be on Las Palmas-Alavés, a final duel between the second and third place. The canaries (71) come to this match, whose winner will be left with the coveted prize of direct promotion, with a point advantage over the Basques (70). The two teams will experience a real ‘final’ that they face with confidence given the latest results.
Both Las Palmas and Alavés have not lost since April, although the performance of the yellows in their fiefdom has dropped in recent weeks, without winning since the end of February. The data for the people of Vitoria far from Mendizorroza is not much better, with a win as a visitor since March, although they usually fail very little in the Canary Islands fiefdom, undefeated in three of their last four visits.
A draw would only be worth Las Palmas, as long as Levante, the fourth involved in this fight for promotion, does not thrash Real Oviedo at the Ciutat de Valencia by a difference of five goals, since the advantage in this section of the Nasrids is of +5. The ‘granotas’ (69), the only one, would have many options to be a ‘First’ team without the ‘toll’ of the ‘playoff’ if they win by any result and Granada lose.
If they tie at 72 points with the Granada team and with the Canary Islands, the worst unemployed would be the Andalusian team for that ‘goal-average’ and Javi Calleja’s team would also be proclaimed champion. Levante, who beat the Villarreal subsidiary ‘in extremis’ on the last day but does not depend on himself to promote, will take refuge in his fiefdom, where he has only lost one game in the League in 2023, with five wins and three draws.
Two of these four teams will fall into a dangerous ‘playoff’, where Eibar (68) and Albacete (64) have already been waiting since the penultimate day, already fixed in a qualifying round that will start on June 3 and end on the 17th of the same month. . The ‘Armeros’, fifth classified, will face off with the team that ends in fourth place, now owned by Levante. Likewise, the ‘Mechanical Cheese’, sixth in the table, will play to advance to the final of the crosses with the third, which is now Alavés.
–SCHEDULE FOR MATCHDAY 42 OF LALIGA SMARTBANK:
-Friday May 26.
Real Zaragoza – Tenerife 21.00.
-Saturday 27.
Andorra – Villarreal ‘B’ 16.15.
Burgos – Lugo 16.15.
Albacete – Mirandes 18.30.
Malaga – Ibiza18.30.
Granada – Leganés21.00.
Huesca – Eibar21.00.
Las Palmas – Alaves 21.00.
Levante – Real Oviedo 21.00.
-Domingo 28.
Racing – Cartagena 16.15.
Sporting de Gijón – Ponferradina16.15.