Football Season Guide

Osasuna only squeezed into the Segunda Division play-offs last season by the finest of margins, finishing 6th in the classification, level on points with Alcorcon and Real Zaragoza below them. As is so often the case, the momentum of achieving that late feat carried over into their play-offs and they beat Gimnastic in the semi-finals and then Girona in both legs of the final to claim promotion. After two seasons in La Segunda, they are back in the top flight of Spanish football where they feel they belong. It was a swift return, especially when you consider that they finished 18th in their first campaign in the Liga Adelante following relegation; they very nearly saw back to back descents. Of the three promoted club, it is the side that finished 6th in the table and came up via the play-offs which looks best equipped to compete in La Liga, largely because of their 20,000 all-seater stadium at El Sadar and their infrastructural precedents established over 14 seasons in the top league before their 2014 relegation. However, Osasuna haven’t been as active as their fellow promoted clubs in the transfer market and the fact that they came up as play-off winners means that Quique Martin will face early speculation about his side’s ability to compete at a much more competitive level. There are favourable antecedents, of course, with Las Palmas faring so well in La Liga last term. If the Pamplonans have an obvious weakness it is a lack of experience in the top flight. The majority of the Navarre team is made up of players promoted through the academy and it is hard to assess how well they will adjust to the rigour of La Liga football. These are no mercenaries, however, and the fact that they love the club and will fight for the crest could work in their favour. Technically, the loss of key midfielder Mikel Merino, who earned a dream move to Borussia Dortmund this summer, is a gap they will have to fill. Quique Monreal has brought in four midfielders in the transfer window and he will be hoping that either Fausto Tienza, Goran Causic, Jaime Romero, Fran Merida, or a combination of them, will make up for Merino’s loss. The Rojillos make their top flight debut in the very first game away to Malaga. Having contested the play-offs well into June, they will have had less holiday time than any other club in the division. Quique Martin Monreal will obviously hope that doesn’t show.