The year 2025 is full of stories, and we have another beautiful story that has just been completed. Santi Cazorla, a former Arsenal player, joined his boyhood club in 2023 and helped Real Oviedo’s journey of getting back to La Liga. They have recently launched their home kit for the 2025-2026 La Liga season.
This promotion is more of an emotional moment for every fan, as well as the players who have represented the club since its relegation. It was the 2001-2001 season when Real Oviedo got relegated from the top division of the Spanish league, La Liga. Since then, Real Oviedo has competed in the Segunda Division (2nd division) and Tercera Division (3rd division) of Spanish football. Now, after 24 years, they are back in La Liga.
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Real Oviedo and Santi Cazorla Journey’s of getting back to La Liga
Santi Cazorla joined Real Oviedo in 2023 when they almost got close to promotion, but God had some different plans. They won the first leg of the promotion final 1-0 against Espanyol at their home. Eventually, there was a heartbreak for them as Espanyol won the second 2-0 and qualified for La Liga on an aggregate scoreline of 2-1.
They kept everything aside and started fresh in the new season of the Segunda Division. In the first 10 matches of the season, they had four wins, four draws, and two losses. The team kept performing and never had the attitude of giving up at any moment.
In the last ten matches of the season, they were unbeaten in all the games, winning seven and drawing three. They finished in third place in the points table with 75 points and just missed an automatic qualification by two points.
Play-offs Semi-finals
First up, they faced Almeria in the playoff semi-final, where they won the first leg away from home 2-1, with the right back Nacho Vidal scoring two goals. In the return leg, Almeria scored the first goal and made the scoreline 2-2 on aggregate.
It was the man of the moment, Santi Cazorla, who came off the bench at the start of the second half. Basically, just took five minutes for Cazorla to score a goal. The cherry on the top was that the goal was a beautiful free kick.
Play-offs Final
Now comes the play-off final, and they faced CD Mirandes. The match ended 1-0 in favour of CD Mirandes, all thanks to an early three-minute goal from Alberto Reina. We were down to the second leg, where Joaquin Panichelli scored a goal for CD Mirandes, and it was 2-0. For some, the match would have been over, but surely you can’t say the game is over till the final whistle blows.
Real Oviedo got a penalty, and Santi Cazorla converted it in the 39th minute. Just after seven minutes of the start of the second half, the striker Ilyas Chaira scored the second goal. It was 2-2 on aggregate. The match went to extra time. Just before the end of the first half of extra time, Francisco Portillo scored the goal, and the match ended 3-2 on aggregate.
They will play in the top flight of the Spanish league after 24 years, and Santi Cazorla helped his boyhood club achieve that. Football sometimes surely makes stories more beautiful and makes us fall in love with the game more. This journey of Real Oviedo and Santi Cazorla will be remembered for a long, long time.
New Kits Revealed for the 2025-26 La Liga season
Just like every club releases its new jersey before the start of the new season. The new home jersey of Real Oviedo will be more special as it will have the La Liga badge on the sleeves. As Adidas is their kit sponsor, they have designed a clean kit with gold stripes on the shoulders, which is their trademark in every jersey.
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