MADRID, 14 (EUROPA PRESS)
The duel between Girona and Rayo Vallecano will be the one in charge of opening LaLiga EA Sports 2025-26 in Montilivi this Friday (19.00), on a festive day also marked by the return of Real Oviedo to the top flight of Spanish football after 24 years, with a visit to the Estadio de La Cerámica to face Villarreal (21.30).
Míchel Sánchez's Girona team makes its season debut in front of its home fans with the visit of Íñigo Pérez's Rayo Vallecano. The Catalan side learned this morning of the last-minute absence of its top scorer, Uruguayan Cristhian Stuani, who will be unable to play for personal reasons. The Uruguayan striker was key to the team's survival last season, and the Madrid-born coach will have to reorganize the squad.
In his place, the starting player would be Macedonian Bojan Miovski, the club's choice last summer to replace Artem Dovbyk, but he failed to gel and played less than expected. Along with him, another player who will need to step up this season is Colombian Yáser Asprilla, the most expensive signing in the club's history. He has started every preseason game and is the one from whom Míchel is looking for the ultimate quality that wins matches.
Girona is starting the season with doubts, after struggling to stay in the league last season. Despite this, the club's sporting directors are clear that Míchel is the ideal leader to steer the Girona team to a successful conclusion, and the Madrid native begins a season that he hopes will be smoother than last season against Rayo Vallecano.
Míchel's team suffered only two defeats in the preseason, against two rivals a priori superior as Marseille (2-0) and Napoli (3-2), and had good feelings against Wolves (2-1), Alaves (0-1) and Olot (0-5), in a preseason with up to six preparation matches.
Rayo Vallecano, meanwhile, is facing one of the most exciting seasons in the club's history, with the Conference League qualifiers on the horizon, but without forgetting that the day-to-day is the La Liga, and it will be this that will determine the season in May. First stop: Montilivi, where the Vallecano side hasn't won a Copa del Rey match since 2022.
Iñigo Pérez's only doubt in his starting lineup is the presence of Romanian Andrei Ratiu at right back, whose future appears to be uncertain. If he doesn't make the starting lineup, Iván Balliu would be the one to take his place. Only Abdul Mumin is absent from the Madrid team, although the signing Jozhua Vertrouwd is still unregistered.
The Vallecas team's objective at the start of this season, until the Conference League qualifying rounds arrive at the end of the month, is to continue the excellent preseason they completed this summer, with only one defeat against West Brom (3-2) and sweeping Sunderland (0-3) and Zwolle (0-5). Iñigo Pérez has built a solid and reliable squad, which will now be tested by a packed schedule, given the wear and tear of a long season.
OVIEDO RETURNS TO FIRST DIVISION VISITING THE CERAMICS
The other opening day match this Friday pits Villarreal against Real Oviedo at the Estadio de La Cerámica. Marcelino García Toral's team, in their return to the Champions League after the 2022 semifinals, is looking to continue the strong run they enjoyed last season and storm into the top four, with Athletic Club as their main rival.
The Asturian coach knows that this objective involves making La Cerámica a fortress—they haven't lost at home since March—although for this first matchday, he'll have to make a good defensive fit due to injuries. Logan Costa and Willy Kambwala will be out for most of the season, so Juan Foyth and Rafa Marín will be in the starting lineup. In attack, his top scorer from last season, Ayoze Pérez, will also be missing, and he'll rely on Etta Eyong alongside Gerard Moreno.
Without Álex Baena, Villarreal needs to regain the best form of the Santa Perpetua de Moguda native to maintain their playmaking potential and remain in contention for the top spots in the domestic championship.
Their opponent this Friday will be Real Oviedo, led by Serbian Veljko Paunovic, who returns to the First Division after more than two decades of absence after eliminating Almería and Mirandés in the playoffs. The team, captained by Santi Cazorla, with hardly any reinforcements, is looking to add points as quickly as possible to avoid disappointment in the final stretch of the championship.
With veteran Salomón Rondón up front, the Asturian side is looking to extend the winning streak they achieved since the arrival of the Balkan coach, who signed at the end of March and has only lost one match since then, the first leg of the playoff final in Miranda de Ebro.
–LALIGA EA SPORTS MATCHDAY 1 TIMES:
-Friday 15th.
Girona FC – Rayo Vallecano. Alberola Rojas (C. Manchego) 7:00 p.m.
Villarreal CF – Real Oviedo. Muñiz Ruíz (C. Gallego) 9:30 p.m.
-Saturday 16th.
RCD Mallorca – FC Barcelona. 7:30 p.m.
Deportivo Alavés – Levante UD. 9:30 p.m.
Valencia CF – Real Sociedad. 9:30 p.m.
-Sunday 17th.
RC Celta – Getafe CF 17.00.
Athletic Club – Sevilla CF 7:30 p.m.
RCD Espanyol – Atlético de Madrid. 9:30 p.m.
-Monday 18th.
Elche CF – Real Betis. 9:00 PM.
-Tuesday 19th.
Real Madrid – CA Osasuna 21.00.
