A night out at Leganés v Oviedo
A trip to Butarque to watch Super Pepino’s boys against the club I own a share in. Of course it ended 0-0!
Greetings once again from Madrid!
It’s been a while since I last sent an update, blame a slightly busier than before schedule with work for that, but here we are again.
Last Saturday, I took a trip down to the Estadio Municipal de Butarque to watch Leganés v Real Oviedo in the Segunda Division (I am not going to call it by its official name because it’s ridiculous) and was rewarded, of course, with a goalless draw. Not a bad one, but a stalemate nonetheless.
A pleasing kit combination
I always appreciate a good kit match-up and this game did not disappoint on that front.
After last year’s dreadful effort, where the blue stripes resembled claw marks, Leganés have gone back to basics with a beautiful home shirt this time. Clean blue and white stripes, a smart collar and an unobtrusive sponsor logo on the front. I’d be happy with it as a Coleraine shirt - and that’s the highest praise I can give.
Oviedo’s new away kit is also worthy of praise. Although it is that new Adidas template that pretty much every team has this season, the black and yellow colour scheme works well. Again, I wouldn’t be adverse to seeing Coleraine wear something like this in the future.
But the true sartorial revelation of the night was surely the fact that the LegaStore has got a new design of Super Pepino socks in store.
A tale of two Borjas
This week marks a year since Leganés manager Borja Jiménez was fired by Deportivo La Coruña after a poor start to his second season at the club.
With Leganés currently riding high in the Segunda and Dépor enduring an even worse start this time round in the third tier, it’s clear to see who got the better end of that deal.
I always liked Borja as Dépor manager and would have liked to see him given a bit more time, but his cards were probably marked from the moment Dépor lost the play-off final at home to Albacete. But I fail to see how things would have gone any worse with him in charge for the rest of last season.
On the other side was another ex-Dépor man, the captain Borja Bastón, mostly remembered by the world for an underwhelming stint at Swansea, mostly remembered by me for an evisceration at hands of Galician sports daily DXT after a dreadful performance in a game against Sporting Gijon all the way back in 2014.
He did miss a very presentable chance in the first half here, sending a free header wide from a few yards out, though I’d hesitate to call it a sitter.
A lament for lomo
It can’t be stressed how much the excellent sandwiches were a part of the matchday routine at Butarque in years gone by. I always enjoyed arriving at the ground early and picking up a freshly cooked bocata de lomo con queso before the queues built up.
Alas now they are gone, having been replaced with the typical fare that is available at most La Liga games. Pre-made sandwiches, mini-pizzas and processed hot dogs. No wonder most of the people around me had brought their own from home.
And during the game they even have people walking around the stands selling popcorn, which I don’t really feel is an appropriate football snack.
Santi
Part of the reason I wanted to go to this game was to get the opportunity to see Santi Cazorla in action again.
You’ll pretty much not find anyone with a bad word to say about the former Recre, Villarreal, Málaga and Arsenal man, now back at his hometown club for what is probably the swansong of his career.
We were treated to a half-hour cameo on Saturday night and he quickly demonstrated his quality with a couple of inch-perfect through balls to create chances - as well as a couple where you imagine if he’d played them through to David Villa or Fernando Torres in their prime, they would have met with a bit more success.
No goals
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised by the final score.
My previous visit to Butarque, in February of this year, finished in a stalemate between the hosts and Las Palmas, while the previous two times I had seen Borja’s Dépor team also finished goalless - at Sanse in February 2022 (on my birthday too) and against Rayo Majadahonda in October 2022, the game which ultimately cost him his job. I should probably stay away if Lega are to have any chance of building on their promising start…
Until next time,
All the best,
Andrew