Iraola, back to the past

Rayo de Iraola will visit Anduva this Saturday, a very special place for the Basque coach. That stadium became his home last season, that of his debut on a LaLiga bench, and Mirandés was the team that crowned him as the revelation coach and the youngest in the category. Iraola printed his style on this newly promoted and managed to rewrite the history of the club, finishing the course in a meritorious eleventh place and become a semifinalist of the Copa del Rey, after leaving in the gutter, nothing more and nothing less, than three Primeras: Celta, Sevilla and Villarreal. It was the second time wild boarsIn their 93 years of life, they reached the semis.

His good work at the head of Mirandés made him highly valued last summer and his name appeared on the agendas of a large part of the Second Division teams, although eventually the franjirrojos ended up taking the cat to the water. Iraola has clear ideas regarding the game and objectives. Rayo, his Rayo, has led one matchday (2) and has been in the playoff spots for eleven more (4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 and 20). In addition, the Vallecanos stand as the strongest venues in the category, with 25 points, a record that only Espanyol is able to match.

The Rayista team is fourth in the League and is still alive in the Cup. So the Usurbil coach has improved his numbers last season at this point. The franjirrojos —with ten victories, four draws and six defeats— have six points more than that of Mirandés —with seven, seven and six— and, although they score less than the rojillos (22 for 25 goals), the number of goals conceded has plummeted (15 for 29, almost half of those received during their time in Miranda). And is that that defensive security is being one of the engines of the Vallecanos.

Earrings from the sky

One of the big concerns for the game will be the weather. Snowfall is expected at the time of the meeting (on Saturday, at 4:00 p.m.) and a temperature that would oscillate between zero degrees and one below zero. The franjirrojos will have the dismissal of the sanctioned Advíncula, who will be replaced by Mario Hernández on the right side. Beyond that, no big changes are expected in Iraola's eleven.