Spanish Second Division "A": LaLiga2, 2022-2023

[AlanK]

The Drop after the completion of Jornada 38

18. Villarreal "B"-----------46 points; +41-47 Next hosts Sporting.
---------------------------------------------
19. Málaga---------------40 points; +33-39 At Ponfe.
20. Ponferradina----------36 points; +32-50 Hosts Málaga.
21. Ibiza-----------------29 points; +31-60 Hosts Albacete. Has already dropped
22. Lugo-----------------27 points; +23-51 Hosts Andorra. Has already dropped

[AlanK]

Well, LaLiga is off this weekend, except for the final of the Copa del Rey. However, the league that hardly ever sleeps, LaLiga2, has a full slate of games from Friday to Monday, to wit

Fri. 5 May 2100 Alavés 1, Granada 1 #4 hosts #2; each has 65 points. Granada beat Alavés 3-1 in the Nuevo Los Cármenes in Dec. Granada is the home team with the best record in LaLiga2, but they've been awful on the road, with a record of 4-4-11. Alavés has the second-best home record in LaLiga2. Today's winner will take over first place, at least for awhile. At 20', penalty awarded to Granada, as the Alavés goalie fouls Ununi, who converts the pk at 22'--0-1. Halftime in Mendizorroza. Granada is atop LaLiga2--can they hold onto first place in the second half At 59', Sergio Ruiz of Granada sees a second yellow, and it's Katy bar the door Things are getting a wee might rough . . . And at 66', Luis Rioja scores the tying goal for Alavés--1-1. At 85', penalty in favor of Alavés for a handball after VAR review. At 87', Granada's goalie saves Salva Sevilla's pk. At 88', Rubén Duarte of Alavés sees a second yellow. And 1-1 is the final score after six minutes added time. Granada is in second place, tied on points with Alavés but has H2H advantage. Eibar remains in first place and Levante is now fourth.

Sat. 6 May

1615 Mirandés 1, Racing 1 Mirandés has climbed to mid-table, eight points shy of the last playoff spot. Racing is now seven points and three places above the drop. Raúl gives Mirandés the lead at 3'; Juergen ties it at 42'--1-1 is the final score.

1830 Leganés 2, Huesca 1 #17 hosts #14. At 7', Karrikaburu gives Lega the lead--1-0. Juan Carlos ties for Huesca at 39'--1-1, now at the half. At 94', Yacine Qasmi converts a pk to give Lega the win--2-1 the final.

1830 Tenerife 1, Levante 0 Tete is in mid-table, "sin pena ni gloria." Levante is in third place; should Alavés-Granada end in a tie, Levante would take over the league lead with a win here. Update: indeed, Alavés-Granada tied, leaving Eibar atop LaLiga2, and leaving Levante with the chance to go top Scoreless first half in the Heliodoro. Tenerife has looked a bit better. . . . At 53', Nacho assists Enric Gallego, who heads in to give Tenerife the lead--1-0. At about 74', Soldado of Levante misses a great scoring chance . . . And Levante misses a great chance to take over the lead of LaLiga2; they''ll fall to at best fourth place and, depending on the result of Eibar vs Las Palmas on Monday, they could fall to fifh place.

Sun. 7 May

1400 Villarreal "B" 2, Sporting 0 #18 hosts #15. The Mini-Sub wins on goals by Ontiveros--pk at 39'--and Carreira at 85'.

1615 Ibiza 0, Albacete 5 Ibiza has already dropped mathematically; el Alba is in the last playoff spot, and will remain there unless they lose and Cartagena wins. El Alba is the first team in the top six to have won a game in this jornada--suddenly they are within striking distance of all five of the teams ahead of them. Goals by Fran Alvarez at 29', Dubasin at 38', Monu Fuster at 47', Higinio at 81', and Maikel Mesa at 91'.

1615 Ponferradina 2, Málaga 0 #20 hosts #19; both are in the drop with slim chances of avoiding the drop. Ponfe and Málaga are not dropped as of yet, but darn close thereto. Yuri scored both goals for Ponfe, at 76' and 86'.

1830 Lugo 2, Andorra 2 Lugo, already dropped, hosts mid-table Andorra. Señé makes it 1-0 at 7'; Bover ties at 13'; Alberto scores the 2-1 at 77'; Iván Gil ties it at 85'--2-2 the final.

1830 Oviedo 2, Zaragoza 1 Oviedo is four places and three points ahead of the 13th place maños. Viti gives Oviedo the lead at 38'. Bermejo ties at 57'--1-1. Oviedo wins it in extremis: Masca scores at 92'. After a lackluster season, Oviedo is actually in a position to make it to the playoffs, but they're seven points back of the last playoff spot. Five wins in a row can do that for you

2100 Cartagena 0, Burgos 0 full time. #7 hosts #8. Scoreless tie in Cartagonova.

Mon. 8 May 2100 Eibar 0, Las Palmas 1 Eibar leads LaLiga2 at the kickoff of the jornada; Las Palmas is fifth, but only 3 points back of Eibar. This is the last game to be played in this jornada, and here's how it shapes up. A tie would leave Eibar in first place in LaLiga2; Las Palmas would remain three points off the pace. A win for Eibar would leave them four points ahead of both second-place Granada and third-place Alavés. A win for Las Palmas would leave the Canaries in first place on H2H over Eibar. Up-tempo from the get-go; Las Palmas had more possession, but Eibar had the best scoring chances. Jonathan Viera, arguably the best player of Las Palmas, had to go out injured at 38'. Can either team break through Yes, indeed At 51', Sandro Ramírez is fouled outside the area; he takes the free kick and Luca Zidane, in goal for Eibar, gets a hand on the shot but can't keep it out--0-1. Right now, Las Palmas leads LaLiga2. Eibar comes close at 54'. And Las Palmas hangs on; best chance for Eibar was at 91', when Arbilla's free kick was saved by goalie Valles. And so Las Palmas takes over first place by H2H over Eibar, now in second place.

[AlanK]

Jornada 39 is complete; just three games to go . . . well, not counting promotion playoffs.

The Top after Jornada 39

1. Las Palmas----------67 points; +44-27 Next hosts Villarreal "B".
2. Eibar---------------67 points; +42-33 At Racing.
-------------------------------------
3. Granada------------66 points; +48-29 Hosts Lugo.
4. Alavés-------------66 points; +44-31 At Albacete.
5. Levante------------65 points; +41-27 Hosts Ibiza.
6. Albacete-----------62 points; +54-44 Hosts Alavés.
------------------------------------
7. Cartagena---------58 points; +45-40 At Zaragoza.

The top two are automatically promoted to First Division for next season. Teams 3 through 6 go through playoffs that allow one more team to be promoted for next season.

The Drop after Jornada 39

16. Racing-------------48 points; +35-38 Hosts Eibar.
17. Huesca------------48 points; +33-33 Hosts Ponfe.
18. Sporting-----------48 points; +39-41 Hosts Oviedo in a huge DERBY
--------------------------------------
19.Málaga-------------40 points; +33-41 Hosts Mirandés.
20. Ponferradina-------39 points; +34-50 At Huesca.
21. Ibiza--------------29 points; +31-65 At Levante. Mathematically relegated.
22. Lugo--------------28 points; +25-53 At Granada. Mathematically relegated.

Given the eight-point gap between 18th place and 19th place, it's highly unlikely that either Málaga or Ponfe can avoid the drop.

[AlanK]

Jornada 40 . . . and then two more jornadas and then the playoffs start. So here we go with Jornada 40

Fri. 12 May 2100 Burgos 0, Leganés 3 Probably neither will suffer at the end, nor will either have a shot at promotion. At 39', Cissé gives Lega the lead--0-1. José Aranáiz makes it 0-2 at 45'+2', and it's halftime in El Plantío. Leganés pours it on, as Cissé scores his second at 68'--0-3. And that's the final; both of these teams are safe from the drop but can't make the playoffs, "sin pena ni gloria."

Sat. 13 May

1615 Sporting 1, Oviedo 1 Huge rivalry; probably neither going up or down. Both play for bragging rights. At 45', Sergi Enrich gives Oviedo the lead--0-1 at the half. Djuka ties it as he converts a pk at 51'--1-1. And that's the final from the Molinón.

1830 Granada 2, Lugo 0 Granada is in third place going in; they're just one point back of the two automatic promotion spots. So they should be able to beat the farolillo rojo handily . . . At 17', Puertas scores for Granada; at 21', Bryan makes it 2-0. Halftime. And 2-0 is the final; Granada takes over first place, at least until Las Palmas and Eibar play tomorrow.

1830 Zaragoza 2, Cartagena 0 in progress. Zaragoza is going neither up nor down. Cartagena is four points back of the last playoff spot, so they'll be going all out . . . At 27', an own goal by Darío Poveda of Cartagena gives Zaragoza the lead--1-0. Halftime. Bermejo adds a pk for Zaragoza at 96'--2-0 the final.

2100 Málaga 2, Mirandés 0 Málaga must win the remaining three games to have any chance of avoiding the drop. Mirandés is going neither up nor down . . . Escassi gives Málaga the lead at 17''--1-0. And it's still 1-0 at the half in the Rosaleda. Lago Junior makes it 2-0 at 47'. The win keeps Málaga alive in the attempt to escape the drop--barely.

Sun. 14 May

1400 Racing 1, Eibar 0 Racing is eight points above the drop, so a win would keep them up for sure. Eibar is in second place, which carries with it automatic promotion. At 43', Iñigo Vicente scores to give the home team the lead--1-0. Can Eibar get back into the game and into one of the top two places No, they couldn't--Racing holds on to win; Eibar could end the jornada as low as fifth place.

1615 Andorra 1, Tenerife 0 Neither is going up nor down. Scoreless first half. Andorra wins it as Carlos Martínez converts a questionable pk at 90'--1-0 the final.

1830 Albacete 1, Alavés 1 Game of the jornada . . . or, #6 hosts #4. El Alba, five points off automatic promotion, probably has no chance for more than a playoff spot. Alavés, while they''re in fourth place, are just one point back of first place. At 39', Maikel Mesa gives el Alba the lead--1-0, now at halftime. At 92', Higinio of el Alba scores an own goal--1-1. Tough break for el Alba; 1-1 si the final.

1830 Huesca 1, Ponferradina 1 Huesca needs two points to be absolutely safe from the drop. Ponfe, to avoid the drop, must win all three games that remain and have a lot of luck to boot. Scoreless first half in El Alcoraz. At 69', Javi Martínez gives Huesca the lead; at 75', Ale Díez ties for Ponfe--1-1. And that's the final.

2100 Las Palmas 1, Villarreal "B" 1 Las Palmas leads LaLiga2; to stay atop they must win all three remaining games. The Mini-Sub is almost surely safe from the drop. At 27', Sandro Ramírez gives the Canaries the lead--1-0 at halftime. If they hold on, they'll retake first place from Granada. They held it until 81', when Mbacke tied it for the Mini-Sub--1-1 the final. This result means that Granada will be the leader of LaLiga2 when the jornada ends tomorrow.

Mon. 15 May 2100 Levante 0, Ibiza 0 Levante is in fifth place, just two points off the league lead. They probably need three wins to achieve automatic promotion. Ibiza has already dropped. Game gets off to a late start of 15 minutes or so due to a medical emergency in the stands. First half ends scoreless. Will Levante miss a huge chance to climb to second or third place Looks like that will be the case; Levante will finish the game in fifth place, unless they can come up with some last-second heroics. They can't, so Levante stays fifth.

[AlanK]

One game remains to be played in Jornada 40: the Levante-Ibiza game. Ibiza is already relegated, but this game is huge for Levante here's The Top, which goes through #7, the last team with a chance to make it to the promotion playoffs, to wit

1. Granada------------69 points; +50-29 At Mirandés; home to Leganés.
2. Las Palmas----------68 points; +45-28 At Cartagena; home to Alavés.
-----------------------------------------Top two win automatic promotion.
3. Alavés--------------67 points; +45-32 Hosts Málaga; then at Las Palmas.
4. Eibar---------------67 points; +42-34 Hosts Sporting; then at Huesca.
5. Levante-------------66 points; +41-27 At Villarreal "B"; finally hosts Oviedo. Result of Monday's game now included.
6. Albacete------------63 points: +55-45 At Ponfe; then hosts Mirandés
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
7. Cartagena----------58 points; +45-42 Hosts Las Palmas; then at Racing.

Tight, huh Only Cartagena can still break into the top six. Levante's game today (15 May) can change a lot at The Top Tie-breaker Levante-Las Palmas is GD Las Palmas +17; Levante +14 so Levante needs a four-goal win vs Ibiza on Mon. 15 May.

[Lorric]

Barcelona celebrate winning the title on Espanyol's pitch, and when they don't listen to the fans, the fans come down and drive them away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ_9fE0Msug

[AlanK]

Two jornadas remain; 40 have been played. Jornada 41 has all games involving the Drop or Promotion scheduled for the same kickoff time. Jornada 41, therefore, looks like this

Sat. 20 May

1615 Ibiiza 1, Zaragoza 0 Ibiza has already dropped; Zaragoza is safe from the drop and can't make it to the playoffs. Scoreless first half. At 70', Alex Sánchez gives Ibiza the lead--1-0. And 1-0 is the final score.

1830 Alavés 2, Málaga 1 Alavés can still finish atop LaLiga2; they are guaranteed at least a playoff spot. Málaga can avoid the drop only if they win both their remaining games AND other things go their way. Scoreless at the half. At 46', Villalibre gives Alavés the lead--1-0.

1830 Eibar 2, Sporting 2 Eibar can finish as chanps; they are guaranteed at least a playoff spot. If everything were to go wrong, Sporting could still drop. Djuka converts a pk at 19' to give Sporting the lead--0-1. And it's 0-1 at the half. And it's 0-2 at 52' as Aitor García scores for Sporting. At 66', Stoichkov converts a pk to put Eibar back in the running--1-2. Indeed, at 91', Blanco Leschuk ties it for Eibar; 2-2 the final.

1830 Cartagena 1, Las Palmas 4 Cartagena could still make the playoffs, although it's unlikely. Las Palmas wins promotion if they win their last two games. Mikel Rico scores for Cartagena at 11'--1-0. Loiodice ties for the Canaries at 15'--1-1. Sandro gives the Canaries the lead at 22'--1-2. Kiko Olivas of Cartagena scores an own goal at 37'--1-3 at the half. And Las Palmas adds another late--1-4 the final.

1830 Lugo 1, Huesca 2 Lugo has already dropped; Huesca could drop if everything were to go wrong. Scoreless at the half. At 48', Javi Martínez makes it 0-1, and at 49', Obeng makes it 0-2 for Huesca. Lugo scores a late goal, but 1-2 is the final.

1830 Mirandés 1, Granada 3 Mirandés will go neither up nor down. Granada wins promotion and the championship if they win their last two games. Puertas scores for Granada at 30'--can Granada hold the lead and with it first place They lead at the half . . . But at 56', Roberto López scores for Mirandés--1-1, and Granada falls out of the league lead . . . But Puertas scores his second of the evening at 62' and Granada is back on top--1-2. At 78', Bryan Zaragoza makes it 1-3 for Granada, and Granada holds on to their lead and to first place.

1830 Ponferradina 1, Albacete 1 Ponfe has already dropped. El Alba could finish as high as second place or as low as out of the playoffs. Escriche gives el Alba the lead at 15'--0-1. And still 0-1 at the half. Yuri converts a pk at 68' for Ponfe and it's 1-1, which is the final.

1830 Villarreal "B" 2, Levante 3 Villarreal "B"is safe from the drop. Levante could finish as low as sixth, the last playoff spot; they could finish as high as first place. Bouldini gives Levante the lead at 3'--1-0. Millán ties for Villarreal at 27', but Joni Montiel puts the visitors back on top at 33'--1-2. And 1-2 is still the score at the half. At 66', Ontiveros converts a pk for the Mini-Sub--2-2. Joni Montiel scores the winner for Levante at 90'--2-3 the final.

2100 Tenerife 2, Burgos 1 Both have avoided the drop; neither can make the playoffs. Gaspar gives Burgos the lead at 40', but Tete comes back to win on goals by Mo Dauda at 79' and Waldo at 95'--2-1 the final.

Sun. 21 May

1615 Oviedo 1, Racing 0 Neither will drop; neither can reach the playoffs. At 21', Dani Calvo gives Oviedo the lead--1-0. Halftime. And 1-0 is the final score. Oviedo is now in seventh place, one place shy of the promotion playoffs . . . but they cannot reach sixth place

1830 Leganés 1, Andorra 1 Neither will drop; neither can reach the playoffs. At 25', Alex Pastor gives the visitors the lead--0-1. At 40', Karrikaburu ties it for Lega--1-1. Halftime in Butarque. And the game ends 1-1.

[AlanK]

Only the last jornada remains to be played, but there's still a lot to be decided at the top of the standings, while the drop is clear

1. Granada--------------72 points; +53-30. Next hosts Leganés.
2. Las Palmas------------71 points; +49-29 Hosts Alavés. Game of the Week
----------------------------------------
3. Alavés---------------70 points; +47-33 A win at Las Palmas would win them promotion
4. Levante--------------69 points; +44-29 Hosts Oviedo.
5. Eibar----------------68 points; +44-36 At Huesca.
6. Albacete-------------64 points; +56-46 Hosts Mirandés. Sixth place is where they finish
--------------------------------------
19. Málaga-------------43 points; +36-43 Dropped
20. Ponferradina--------41 points; +36-52 Dropped
21. Ibiza--------------33 points; +32-65 Dropped
22. Lugo--------------28 points; +26-57 Dropped

[AlanK]

Jornada 42; the Spanish sport papers almost always say "Telón"--ie the curtain falls. The games

Fri. 26 May 2100 Zaragoza 1, Tenerife 1 Both are safe; neither can reach promotion. After a scoreless first half, Mollejo gives the maños the lead at 50'--1-0. Mo Dauda ties for Tete at 88'--1-1 the final.

Sat. 27 May

1615 Burgos 0, Lugo 1 Burgos is in mid-table, "sin pena ni gloria"; Lugo has dropped. Sebas scores the winner for Lugo at 45'+2'; Lugo still finishes last and drops.

1615 Andorra 4, Villarreal "B" 3 Neither is going up nor down. On the scoreboard: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3. Andorra finishes in upper mid-table; Villarreal finishes one or two places and at least four points above the drop.

1830 Albacete 2, Mirandés 1 El Alba will be in the last playoff spot, come what may. Mirandés is safe from the drop. Scoreless first half. At 49', an own goal by Dubasin gives Mirandés the lead. At 50', Bolívar ties for el Alba. At 88', Alvaro gives el Alba the lead--2-1; that's the final.

1830 Málaga 1, Ibiza 1 Both have dropped. Scoreless first half. At 61', Appiah gives Málaga the lead--1-0. At 90', Juan Ibiza ties it for Ibiza--1-1. And the final score is 1-1.

2100 HERE ARE THE "IMPORTANT" GAMES All four are in progress now! And in the four BIG games, exactly ONE goal has been scored with all teams at halftime. At the moment, Granada and Las Palmas are winning places in First Division. Alavés, Levante, Eibar. and Albacete will play off for one more place in next year's first division--if nothing changes in the second halves, of course.

2100 Granada 2, Leganés 0 Granada tops LaLiga2 and wins promotion with a win. A loss could leave them in the playoffs. A tie leaves them ahead of Alavés. A loss could leave them tied with Levante, which has H2H vs Granada. At 42', Uzuni gives Granada the lead and a place in First Division for next season . . . if they hold the lead, of course Halftime. Granada adds another goal, by Bryan Zaragoza at 58'. And Granada goes to First Division.

2100 Huesca 0, Eibar 1 Eibar must win to have any chance at automatic promotion. Scoreless first half. Pereira gives Eibar the lead at 82', but that won't carry them to First Division the way things stand. A win will improve Eibar's spot for the playoffs. Eibar wins the game, but that's only good enough to get them the third seed in the playoffs--they'll play Alavés in the first round.

2100 Las Palmas 0, Alavés 0 Two teams in contention for automatic promotion. With a win, Las Palmas goes up. A tie could be good enough. And with a win. Alavés goes up Scoreless first half, with over 31,000 in attendance. Las Palmas goes to First Division; Alavés is the second seed for the playoffs.

2100 Levante 2, Oviedo 1 Levante could win automatic promotion with a win depending on the results of Granada, Las Palmas, and Alavés. Scoreless first half. Levante, at the moment, has fallen out of contention, as Oviedo has scored. Postigo of Levante guilty of an own goal at 59', giving Oviedo the lead. Levante comes back to tie, as De Frutos is the scorer at 64'. Wesley at 94' scores to win the game for Levante, but that only wins the top seed for the playoffs. They'll play Albacete and if they win they'll play the winner of Alavés-Eibar for a place in First Division.

Sun. 28 May

1615 Racing 3, Cartagena 1 Both play "sin pena ni gloria." Racing finishes in 12th place; Cartagena ends up ninth.

1615 Sporting 1, Ponferradina 4 Sporting has escaped the drop, but Ponfe has already dropped. Sporting ends up 17th; Ponfe finishes up as Top of the Drop.

[AlanK]

Two meaningless games to go today (Sun. 28 May); here's how The Top ended up--top two teams promoted to First Division for next season; next four go into playoffs--two legged--with unusual rules, in that the lower-ranked team loses outright if they're tied after home-and-away matches--ie no overtime or penalty shootouts.

The Top

1. Granada-------------75 points; +55-30 First Division here we come
2. Las Palmas-----------72 points; +49-29 First Division here we come too
------------------------------------------
3. Levante-------------72 points; +46-30 Last-ditch win gives them top seed for playoffs; first leg at Albacete.
4. Alavés--------------71 points; +47-33 First leg of playoff round 1 at Eibar.
5. Eibar---------------71 points; +45-36 Hosts first leg of first round of playoffs vs Alavés.
6. Albacete------------67 points; +58-47 Hosts first leg of first round of playoffs vs Levante.
---------------------------------------
7. Undecided until Sunday's games have been played, but seventh place is an "also-ran" place.

The rules are strange enough that I may have made mistakes here; will correct if and when I learn of changes. Tie breakers are H2H; Levante is the most unfortunate team, to wit: Levante 1, Las Palmas 1 and Las Palmas 0, Levante 0 were the regular season results; the tie over the two games kicked the decider into GD: Las Palmas +20; Levante +16.

[AlanK]

Promotion playoffs for a place in LaLiga for next season--but with some weird rules

First leg: Sat. 3 June 1830 Eibar-Alavés Second leg: Thurs. 8 June 2100 Alavés-Eibar

First leg: Sat. 3 June 2100 Albacete-Levante Second leg: Wed. 7 June 2100 Levante-Albacete

In no cases will there be penalty shootouts after the second leg and a 30 minute overtime, if they're still tied, the team that finished higher during the regular season will be declared the winner.

Final: first leg: Sun. 11 June 2100 Second leg: Sat. 17 June 2100. Same deal--no penalty shootouts and the team that finished higher during the regular season will be declared winner if still tied after a 30 minute overtime.

Está claro

[AlanK]

First game of the playoffs for promotion from LaLiga2 to LaLiga for next season

Eibar 1, Alavés 1 At 9', Sylla volleys in a long throw-in to give Alavés the lead--0-1. At 45'+1', Stoichkov ties it for Eibar with what I'd call a back-heel volley--1-1 at the half. 7,300 reported on hand in Ipurúa. At 73', Arbilla of Eibar sees a second yellow. And the first leg ends 1-1.

Second leg Thurs. 8 June 2100. Alavés 2, Eibar 0 At 45 seconds, Abde heads in to give Alavés the lead--1-0 on the evening and 2-1 overall. And it remains 1-0 in Mendizorroza at the half. At 88', Villalibre scores to make it 2-0 for Alavés and would seem to have iced a spot in the final. And that is how it ends.

Albacete 1, Levante 3 At 18', Djetei heads in a corner--1-0. At 31', after consultation with VAR, Levante goal is credited to De Frutos--1-1. And at 34', Roger Brugué of Levante is credited with the second Levante goal, which was given--perhaps erroneously--after consultation with VAR--1-2. Futbolme says that this was an own goal by Djetei--in any case, it's now 1-2. And thus the first half ends. At 56', Jorge de Frutos makes it 1-3. And that's the final.

Second leg Wed. 7 June 2100. Levante 3, Albacete 0 Doggone it--coincides with Final of ECL. At 20', Brugué gives Levante the lead--1-0 and 4-1 overall. Brugué adds another at 40'--2-0 and 5-1. And thus it stands at halftime. Soldado adds another at 83'--3-0 and 6-1 overall. Levante advances to the final for a place in next season's First Division.

[AlanK]

And here it comes to an end--home and home for a spot in LaLiga for next season

Sun. 11 June 2100 Alavés 0, Levante 0 #4 from the regular season hosts #3 from same. Scoreless first half in Mendizorroza where 19,369 are reported on hand. The second half had a lot of action, but ended scoreless. Next Saturday LaLiga2 will finally come to an end.

Sat. 17 June 2100 Levante-Alavés

[AlanK]

Today, Sat. 17 June

The LAST game of a very long season kicks off at 2100 today with a HUGE prize for the winner: a place in First Division for next season. This is the second game of a home-and-home playoff, and the two teams involved today are the survivors of the first round of playoffs; they are the reams which finished in third place and in fourth place in LaLiga2 in the season which just ended. The first leg was played in Mendizorroza in Alava, with the home team and Levante ending up tied 0-0. Today is the second leg in the Ciutat de Valencia; the home team is Levante. Should they tie, they'll play overtime; if the tie is not broken, there will be no penalty shootout; the team which finished higher in the regular season will be declared the winner. That, of course, is Levante. And so

2100 Levante 0, Alavés 1 Scoreless first half in a Ciutat de Valencia "lleno hasta la bandera" ("full to overflowing") which works out to 22,919. And no goals in the second half means . . . overtime At 99', De Frutos of Levante hits the crossbar. Still scoreless after the first half of overtime. At 127', handball penalty awarded to Alavés by VAR. Villalibre converts at 129'--0-1. Alavés goes to First Division