Football Season Guide

After returning to Spanish football’s top flight last season following a seven-year absence, the primary goal for Almeria was to avoid relegation. It went down to the final day, and they spent a lot of that last fixture inside the bottom three, but a late Adrián Embarba penalty earned a 3-3 draw at Espanyol and survival. The story of Almería’s season was the difference between their home and away form. They were the ninth-best team at home, but the very worst away. Ultimately, that was enough to survive, but coach Rubi felt it was time to walk away despite securing survival. That has seen former Espanyol and Real Mallorca coach Vicente Moreno take over, an appointment that has received a mixed reception given his mixed results at this level. In terms of the level of the squad, striker El Bilal Toure has left after an impressive season, but he was out injured over the second half of 2022/23 anyway, so Almeria have already gotten used to playing without him and to relying on Luis Suarez – whose loan has been made permanent – to score instead. Captain Cesar de la Hoz has also departed, but overall this remains a decent Almeria squad. They should be down fighting in the relegation battle again, but that’s normal for a club of this size. They’ll simply hope to keep up their incredible home form while improving their results on the road.