(foto: uradna spletna stran kluba)
After 24 years of pain, Real Oviedo is back in La Liga. Led by Veljko Paunović and club icon Santi Cazorla, the Asturian club completed a dramatic and emotional return to Spain’s top flight.
It’s impossible to describe what this means—but for the city of Oviedo and its fans, this is not just promotion. It’s a resurrection. Real Oviedo is back in La Liga after 24 long and painful years.
This season marked several historic returns across Europe: Telstar to the Eredivisie after 47 years, Paris FC to Ligue 1 after 46, Pisa to Serie A after 34, and Alverca to the Portuguese top flight after 21. But among them, Real Oviedo’s comeback stands as one of the most emotional stories of the year.
Once home to legends like Robert Prosinečki, Oviedo is a proud club with a 30,000-seat stadium and a rich La Liga legacy—38 seasons at the top and 18th on the all-time table. Their first season in La Liga dates back to 1933/34, but the past two decades have been a nightmare.
Since their relegation in 2001, the club spiraled downward—falling out of the top two tiers and landing in the fourth division by 2003 due to financial collapse. They came close to bankruptcy twice. Thanks to the dedication of former players like Juan Mata, Michu, and Santi Cazorla, as well as Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Oviedo returned to the second tier in 2015.
Now, after heartbreak in last season’s playoff final, Veljko Paunović has led them all the way back to La Liga. It took a full squad effort, the tactical guidance of Paunović, and a moment of magic from Francisco Portillo—but above all, it took Santi Cazorla.
Cazorla, now 40, grew up near Oviedo and joined the club’s academy at eight. Financial issues saw him leave at 18 for Villarreal without ever playing a first-team match. He went on to win two European Championships with Spain, spent six seasons with Arsenal, and made 108 European appearances, 38 of them in the Champions League.
But nothing meant more than coming home. In 2023, aged 38, he returned to Oviedo. "I would play for free, but that’s not allowed," he said when signing for the lowest possible professional wage in Spain. His only condition? 10% of his shirt sales would go to the club’s academy.
Oviedo finished third in Segunda División, just like the season before. Last year, Espanyol broke their hearts in the playoff final. This time, it was Mirandés standing in their way.
After beating Almería in the semi-final (2–1, 1–1), Oviedo lost the first leg of the final 0–1. The return leg at the packed Carlos Tartiere Stadium was electric. But when the visitors scored first, Oviedo trailed 0–2 on aggregate. Once again, it looked over.
Then, in the 38th minute, a handball gave Cazorla the chance to step up. From the penalty spot, he scored one of the most important goals in club history. In the second half, Ilyas Chaira equalised the aggregate score, making it 2–1 on the night. With no away-goal rule, the match went into extra time.
In the 103rd minute, Francisco Portillo, the 35-year-old veteran, scored a stunning goal to make it 3–1. Oviedo held on through a chaotic ending that included two red cards and near brawls, but when the final whistle blew, history was made.
Fans stormed the pitch. The city erupted in joy. Oviedo was finally back where it belongs.
Coach Paunović, who had played in Oviedo’s last La Liga match in 2001, said: "There’s no way to describe what this means. These players are heroes—every single one of them."
At the victory parade in Plaza América, Cazorla stepped on stage and told the crowd: "Without you, there is no Oviedo!" It wasn’t a cliché. The fans saved this club—in 2003 and again in 2012, buying shares and refusing to let the club die, even when the city was ready to replace it with a new one.
"It’s crazy—actually, it’s funny—that the greatest moment of my life happened now, at 40," Cazorla told the fans. "I’ve had the fortune of winning trophies, titles... but Oviedo is my home. This feeling is different. It’s one of a kind."