Promoted clubs make the step up and stay up

The 2014/15 Liga Adelante got underway with four new clubs freshly promoted to the division after a hard-fought season in Segunda B. UE Llagostera, CD Leganés, R. Racing C. and Albacete B. began the campaign tasked with fighting to stay up in a league boasting big names in Spanish football – and three showed just what they were made of, while Racing were only denied survival on the very final day.

UE Llagostera: the season’s surprise package

Seven promotions in the previous nine years were the perfect prelude to a terrific season for UE Llagostera. The Catalan outfit were making their debut in the Liga Adelante and maintained their progress, a 9th-place finish with 57 points speaking volumes for the great job done by both the coaching team and the players. Defensive solidity proved a major strength of the side, who in René Román possessed the safe pair of hands needed of a goalkeeper.

After an uncertain opening few months of the season due to a poor run of results between September and October, the team began to grow after Lluís Carrillo took his place in the dugout. And Llagostera’s exponential improvement saw them go without defeat in the Liga Adelante between 7 February and 17 May 2015 (8 wins and 7 draws), a sequence that left them all but assured of safety. Now, next season, they are charged with following up on their great campaign under Oriol Alsina.

Garitano’s good work there to see at Leganés

Leganés were making their Liga Adelante return after ten seasons in the ‘inferno’ of Segunda B, with a young coach, Asier Garitano, at the helm of a club heading into a campaign full of new hopes and dreams.

Preserving the spine of the team that had earned promotion the previous year, Garitano steered his side to a comfortable campaign that was short on moments of alarm, los pepineros ending in 10th with a total of 56 points. There can be no doubt that the month of February had a big hand in Leganés ensuring their status in Segunda División, with four wins out of four during the period and just one goal conceded.

And the home consistency shown by Garitano’s men throughout the season was a further key factor in their successful campaign. The Madrid outfit suffered just three defeats at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque during the season, turning their ground into a fortress that helped them to keep clear of the drop.

Sampedro guides a young, spirited Albacete to safety

Three seasons after dropping in to Segunda B, the fans at the Estadio Carlos Belmonte were once again able to enjoy seeing Albacete B. in the Liga Adelante. Coach Luis César Sampedro put together a young team with a number of loanees, so it was a hungry side that came into the club’s second-tier comeback. Los manchegos more than met their goals, accumulating 51 points to finish in 14th in the division.

Led by the likes of Rubén Cruz (10 goals), Keko (6), César Díaz (6) and Chumbi (6), Albacete achieved a high level of consistency throughout the term, going on a mid-season run of eight games without loss that proved pivotal in the team guaranteeing their objective of plying their trade in the Liga Adelante next year.