Two rookies eager to put up a fight

Matchday 30 of the Liga Adelante clearly demonstrated the level of competitiveness in the division. None of the top five sides in the table were able to get a victory, while the playoff positions are more hotly contested than ever before. Seven teams are fighting it out for these places with just six points separating all of them. Borja Bastón returned to his perch as the league’s top goalscorer and Julio Álvarez was the star performer from the weekend’s fixtures thanks to his great performance against UD Las Palmas.

The difficultly with being at the top

Winning straight promotion in the Liga Adelante is now harder than ever. None of the table’s top five sides managed to win over the weekend. Coming out the best from the weekend’s action were and Girona FC, who drew their respective home fixtures with RC Recreativo and CE Sabadell.

The other three teams in the mix, UD Las Palmas, R. Valladolid CF and Real Betis, were all beaten. The Canary Islanders lost to a great CD Numancia performance led by Julio Álvarez (4-2), the Castile and León outfit were defeated by SD Ponferradina in El Toralín (2-0) and the Andalusians were overcome at home by a strong CD Leganés performance (1-3).

Two recently promoted sides on the up

Following SD Eibar’s achievement of back-to-back promotion campaigns last season (a similar deed to that accomplished by the 2010/11 Granada CF team), this year there are two clubs in a position to repeat that enormous feat.CD Leganés, eighth on 41 points, are just five points off sixth place, a spot currently occupied by R. Zaragoza. The team’s 1-3 win in the Benito Villamarín is a great boost for los pepineros (the Potters), who got back to winning ways on the back of a three-game losing streak.

UE Llagostera are the other new arrivals contending for a playoff spot. The Catalans have gone seven games unbeaten - a run of form that began after a defeat to Leganés – and have picked up 17 of the last available 21 points. Lluís Carrillo’s charges are riding a wave of good form at the moment and, with 40 points, are in the fight for the playoff places. Their most recent triumph, in the Iberostar Estadio, will act as further motivation for this recently promoted side.

Numancia’s fortress

CD Numancia have set high targets for themselves, such as making the playoffs, and to help them achieve that goal they possess a powerful weapon: their stadium. The team have gone eleven games undefeated in Soria, a run that started on the back of a 0-1 loss to Valladolid. Since then the team have strung together six draws and five victories to climb to mid-table.

Their most recent win over Las Palmas could act as a turning point for the club’s season. Exhibitions like that of Julio Álvarez, who provided an assist and scored two goals, one of which came from a corner kick, could give Numancia the confidence the need to aim even higher.

Borja Bastón reclaims his throne

The Madrid-born R. Zaragoza striker is eager to scoop the Liga Adelante’s top goalscorer prize. With 20 goals from 30 matches, Borja Bastón is racking up good numbers in his mission to collect the honour. A brace in El Sardinero, which was key to the Aragon side winning and maintaining their hold on a playoff spot, enabled him to reclaim his throne as the top marksman in the division.