The incredible promotion: Alavés goes up to the First Division in the last minute of extra time, from a penalty and after a VAR review
A promotion to First Division in the last second of extra time, from a penalty and after the VAR review. Impossible to find an outcome with more tension. Tears of happiness and bitterness in the Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Alavés returns to the first echelon of Spanish football after defeating Levante 0-1 in added time of a frantic tie. In the 121st minute, a rebound hit Rober Pier's arm on the edge of the Levante area. The hand was evident, but it was not clear if the player was inside or outside the box. The referee Hernández Maeso allowed the play to continue, while receiving the protests of the babazorro team players. From the VAR, Prieto Iglesias demanded that he review the images and after seeing the monitor, the referee ordered a penalty.
Nervousness took over the Levante stadium, which was silent for a moment. Asier Villalibre took the penalty and scored with a shot near the left post of the Femenías goal. There was still time for Levante to take a corner that was useless. Fiesta del Alavés, who a year later returns to First Division and accompanies Granada and UD Las Palmas in the elevator.
Sixth promotion of Alavés to Primera, a category in which he wants to feel comfortable for a long time. The work of coach Luis García Plaza and players like Rioja and Villalibre (new hero) have been essential to complete the challenge set at the start of the season. Now, with the increase in revenue from the box office, advertising and television rights, they hope to strengthen the squad so as not to go through difficulties.
Deportivo Alavés has shown that it knows how to suffer. Last night he faced Levante with which he had previous negatives. Levante, who had gone six consecutive games without losing, faced off for the fourth time this season against an opponent they had beaten three times and drawn once.. Some statistics that did not give Alavés a complex, and that the coach Luis García Plaza could not count on the injured Maras and Salva Sevilla. Antonio Blanco and Jesús Lázaro Owono did not play either, concentrated, respectively, with the Spanish sub'21 team, and with the Equatorial Guinea team.
Resurrection of the Basque team in a setting with disastrous memories. A year ago, at the home of Levante, he consummated the relegation to Second. Life, fortunately, turned upside down for a club that celebrated its centenary in the 2020-2021 season.
Levante, which at the beginning of the season was one of the strongest candidates for promotion, drowned on the same shore, after a campaign in which it has moved with ups and downs after the rupture of the growth process that the president had designed Quico Catalan. Levante is a club without an owner, because despite being a Sports Public Limited Company, the depositary of the majority shareholding is the Levante Foundation. The Board of Directors, highly questioned about the mistakes made, decided to bet everything on promotion in one season. An ordeal resolved in failure.