It was always going to be a captivating and emotional final day of the season in Spain’s second tier. After all, even after 41 long, gruelling match-days, no fewer than 14 of the 22 sides in the division had something riding on the outcome of their final 90 minutes of the campaign. For sheer drama, the Segunda’s 42nd and decisive round of fixtures certainly did not disappoint.
A crunch do-or-die clash between Real Jaen and Alaves, which both sides needed to win and by consequence consign the other to relegation, was always going to take centre-stage. It did so in scarcely believable fashion. With Jaen 1-0 up with ten minutes remaining and other results going their way, they seemed set for a dramatic reprieve from the drop. Three minutes later though Alaves, UEFA Cup finalists as recently as 2001, had sensationally turned the game on its head to lead 2-1 and suddenly it was they who were staying up. Incredibly, joy for the Basque side again turned to despair as Fran Machado then equalised for Jaen just 60 seconds afterwards – with the scores level once more, both sides were now going down.
In a crazy and almost playground-like scenario, both teams threw the kitchen sink at each other for a winner, knowing that a draw would not be enough. In the 93rd minute, the final twist in this remarkable tale arrived when striker Guzman nodded home from barely a yard out to forever etch his name in Alaves folklore. The final whistle moments later sparked jubilant scenes amongst the travelling Basque contingent, while Jaen players fell to the turf in disbelief.
Girona, who beat promoted Deportivo 3-1, secured a miraculous escape of their own by climbing out of the drop zone for the first time in 24 match-days, but the ramifications of Alaves’ late, late salvation were felt elsewhere. Castilla’s defeat to play-off chasing Murcia consigned them to the Segunda B, while the fourth relegation place was taken by Mirandes. The Castile & Leon side lost to Lugo but confusion reigned supreme as their impending fate changed with every late goal scored in Jaen. Remarkably, Mirandes flitted in and out of the relegation zone four times in the final ten minutes of the season but when news filtered through of Guzman’s decisive intervention, the Rojillos’ demotion was confirmed. Lugo, Ponferradina and Mallorca, who all began the day in danger, live to fight another season.
In the race for promotion, all four play-off places were still up from grabs on Saturday too. Murcia, Sporting Gijon andLas Palmas got the victories they needed to secure their berths, while Barcelona B also won to finish the season in third. However, with League rules stipulating reserve teams cannot be promoted to the Primera, the final spot in the end-of-season lottery went to seventh place Cordoba. The Blanquiverdes were held to a goalless home draw by Mallorca, but it did not matter after fellow hopefuls Sabadell and Recreativo cancelled each other out in their head-to-head encounter.
Two-legged encounters between Cordoba and Murcia as well as Gijon and Las Palmas will now take place this week. The winners of the two ties will meet in the final, again over two legs, for the right to mix it with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid next season.
Finally, though the Segunda’s top two had already been decided, Deportivo’s defeat in Girona meant Eibar were crowned as champions ahead of their final match on Sunday. It capped a remarkable journey for the tiny Basque club and one can now only hope they will be allowed to take their place in Spain’s top flight come August.
