It’s always difficult for the team that is promoted into LaLiga through the play-offs because they have far less time to prepare for life in the first division compared to their fellow newcomers who come up thanks to automatic promotion. This year, that play-off team was Real Valladolid.
The only objective they had was to stay up and, while it looked at points like they might not make it, they ultimately retained their top-flight status.
The foundation of Real Valladolid’s survival was their defence. Their record of 51 goals conceded was the best of the entire bottom seven and is the result of the efforts of their back line of Javi Moyano, Kiko Olivas, Fernando Calero and Nacho Martinez, and goalkeeper Jordi Masip.
In attack, Real Valladolid were less impressive. They were able to score enough goals to survive, but there wasn’t a consistent goalscorer and they made do with contributions here and there from a number of different players.
Overall, though, it was an impressive effort from the team and from the coach Sergio Gonzalez. He had one of the weakest squads in the division, but found solutions to make it work.
Now Real Valladolid can look ahead to the future with optimism. Ronaldo Nazario bought the club after last summer’s transfer window, this will be his first real chance to invest in the squad and this will be essential for Real Valladolid if they are to stay up again next year.
