The Spanish Segunda Division drew to a close on Sunday after a gruelling 42-game campaign that went down to the final matchday to determine which teams made it into the play-off spots for promotion to the Primera Division.
Levante booked their place in the top flight with a game to spare and they were crowned LaLiga Hypermotion champions on the final weekend of the season after a narrow victory over Eibar. Los Azulgranas were joined by Elche, whose thumping win away at Deportivo de La Coruña ensured the second automatic promotion spot for Los Franjiverdes.
The four play-off spots went to Mirandes, Real Oviedo, Racing Santander and Almeria, who will be battling it out for the final promotion place and the chance to compete against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal and Julian Alvarez next term.
The top ten in the final standings
The play-offs
Semi-final 1
Almeria-Real Oviedo – Saturday 7th June
Real Oviedo-Almeria – Wednesday 11th June
Semi-final 2
Racing Santander-Mirandes – Sunday 8th June
Mirandes-Racing Santander – Thursday 12th June
Final
First leg – Sunday 15th June
Second leg – Saturday 21th June
The two winners of the semi-finals will go head-to-head in the two-legged final, with the return leg played at the ground of the higher-placed team in the final league table. Should a tie be level on aggregate after 180 minutes, it will go to extra time, and if there is still no winner, the higher-placed team will win, as there are no penalty shoot-outs in the Segunda play-offs.
Let’s take a closer look at the four teams involved.
Real Oviedo
Final league position: 3rd (75 pts)
Form going into play-offs: (WDWWW)
Real Oviedo’s final-day home victory over Cadiz (2-1) was not enough to claim the second automatic promotion spot, following Elche’s win in La Coruña, and they will have to dust themselves down for their assault on the play-offs. Their third-place finish means they will be competing in the play-offs for the second consecutive campaign after last year’s final defeat to Espanyol.
Oviedo’s final-day victory was their third win on the bounce and Los Azules also have the momentum of a ten-game unbeaten run going into the play-offs. This is largely down to the impact of Serbian manager Veljko Paunovic, who took over from Javi Calleja in March.
Paunovic will be aiming to guide the Asturians back to Primera for the first time since 2001 – a 24-year absence that has seen the club drop as low as the fourth tier of Spanish football (the former Tercera Division).
The Serbian coach will need Brazilian striker Alemão, the side’s top scorer, to add to his total of 14 goals and veteran playmaker Santi Cazorla to produce one last piece of magic. At the age of 40, the former Spain international could bring the curtain down on his career by leading his beloved team to promotion.
Oviedo face sixth-place Almeria in the semi-finals. The Asturians must first travel to Almeria, where they earned a point in February (1-1), before they look to secure their passage to the final with the backing of their home fans for the second leg at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere. Oviedo’s 3-2 home win back in October means the team from the north of Spain collected a total of four points off the southerners in 2024/25, and this bodes well for their promotion bid.
Mirandes
Final league position: 4th (75 pts)
Form going into play-offs: (WWWDW)
Club Deportivo Mirandes went into the final matchday harbouring slim hopes of sneaking into second place, but other results did not go their way.
Their final-day victory away at bottom side Cartagena (1-3) was not enough to break into the top two and the team from the Province of Burgos will be ruing a missed opportunity to claim second place after the two points they dropped in their draw against Almeria on matchday 41. Had Mirandes picked up three points against the Andalusians, it might have been a different story on the final weekend.
Nevertheless, this has been a sensational season for Mirandes, whose fourth-place finish is a huge improvement on last year’s 18th position. Under the guidance of Italian coach Alessio Lisci, they are vying to secure promotion to the Primera Division after six years in the Segunda and break into the top flight for the first time in the club’s 98-year history.
Los Rojillos will first take on Racing Santander in the semi-finals at El Sardinero, where they emerged victorious (0-1) in the league back in November, before they welcome Racing to Burgos. Mirandes boast an impressive record of 15 wins – including a 2-1 victory over Racing in March –, five draws and one defeat this season at the Estadio Municipal de Anduva, located in the town of Miranda de Ebro.
Joaquin Panichelli is the team’s top scorer with 20 goals, and Mirandes will be hoping the Argentine striker can add to his impressive tally to guide them to promotion.
Racing Santander
Final league position: 5th (71 pts)
Form going into play-offs: (LDLDW)
Having narrowly missed out on a play-off spot last season, Racing Santander’s final-day victory over Granada (2-1) ensued jubilant scenes on the final whistle at El Sardinero, as the side from Cantabria secured a fifth-place finish.
Despite a blistering start to the campaign, which saw the side top the standings for 11 consecutive matchdays, Racing’s form has since been inconsistent. Los Verdiblancos were at risk of missing out on a play-off place going into the final weekend, knowing that a defeat to Granada would have allowed the Andalusians to move above them because of a better head-to-head record.
Manager Jose Alberto Lopez saw his side end a run of four games without a win on the final matchday and this will boost the team’s confidence ahead of their play-off assault.
Los Racinguistas are bidding to return to the Primera Division for the first time since 2012, having also spent time in the third tier during their absence.
Racing boss Lopez takes on his former club Mirandes in the semi-finals and he will be hoping his team can fare better against their opponents than they did during the league season.
The Cantabrians are the joint-third top scorers in the division, and this is partly down to the contributions of forwards Andres Martin (16 goals) and Juan Carlos Arana (13). Los Verdiblancos will be hoping the pair can spearhead the team to victory when they kick off against Mirandes at El Sardinero and secure a much-awaited return to the top flight.
Almeria
Final league position: 6th (69 pts)
Form going into play-offs: (WLWDW)
Almeria claimed sixth place and the final play-off berth following a 2-0 victory over relegated Tenerife at the UD Almeria stadium.
Having spent four matchdays at the summit of the standings in the middle of the campaign, a winless run of eight games saw the Andalusians drop all the way down to seventh place, before they moved into sixth on matchday 38 and managed to maintain that position.
Los Almeriensistas will be looking to make an immediate return to the Primera following last year’s relegation from the top flight. Boss Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, A.K.A. ‘Rubi’, is in his second spell in the Almeria dugout and fans of the southern club will be confident that the coach can deliver promotion for a second time, after he led the side to the Segunda title in 2022.
Almeria must first find a way past an in-form Real Oviedo. The Andalusians drew with the Asturians on home soil (1-1) in February but slipped to a 3-2 defeat away at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere back in October.
However, Almeria are the league’s top scorers (72) and their success in the play-offs may well rest on Colombian striker Luis Javier Suarez (27 goals), who is also the deadliest marksman in the Segunda Division.
All four teams will have to battle it out while enduring the soaring heat. The temperature levels are rising both on and off the pitch as summer begins to grip Spain and the ferocious play-off battle gets underway for the chance to perform on the big stage of Spanish football next year.
