Three historic institutions in Spanish football have returned to the top flight after long absences.
There is always a degree of excitement around the newly promoted clubs ahead of a new LALIGA EA SPORTS season, but this term there is an extra level of buzz given the names of the three teams who just won promotion from the second tier, as Real Racing Club, RC Deportivo and Málaga CF are three of the most historic clubs in Spanish football. The teams from La Coruña and Santander sit 13th and 14th, respectively in the ranking of seasons spent in the top tier, while Málaga CF were in the Champions League quarter-finals as recently as 2012/13. Ahead of the new campaign, let’s learn a little more about each of these clubs. Click this link https://a.meridianbet.ke/c/C7pYjz to start gaming and stand a chance of winning big with Meridianbet.
Real Racing Club: A founding member of LALIGA
When LALIGA was founded back in 1929, there were 10 teams in the very first top flight campaign. One of them was Real Racing Club. They did finish bottom and enter a relegation playoff, but they survived and continued in the top division.
Over the years they have gone up and down the divisions, but for most of the 1990s and 2000s they were a regular at the top end of Spanish football. When they were relegated at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, most football fans expected them to be back before long. But, that wasn’t the case. The team struggled and even spent six seasons in the third tier.
Eventually, a return to the second division was secured in 2022 and, under José Alberto, the 43-year-old tactician who came in midway through the 2022/23 season, they have improved and improved and eventually sealed promotion as champions of LALIGA HYPERMOTION in May.
With LALIGA EA SPORTS returning to Santander, a classic football ground is back in the form of the 22,000-seater El Sardinero. This is a stadium that has regularly hosted Spanish national team matches, and it’ll be a breath of fresh air to have Los Verdiblancos, The Green and Whites, back at this level in 2026/27.
RC Deportivo: The return of a super team
RC Deportivo have also ended a long exodus from the top flight, in their case an eight-year one. The Galician outfit last played in LALIGA EA SPORTS in 2017/18 and also fell to the third tier before making their way back to the very top level.
For fans of the club, LALIGA EA SPORTS is where they feel they belong, and with good reason. Los Herculinos are one of just nine teams to have won the Spanish league championship, doing so in the 1999/2000 season. That was a golden era for the team nicknamed Súper Dépor, as they also won the Copa del Rey in 1994/95, 2001/02 and the Spanish Super Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2002.
International fans may remember this team from their European runs, including a visit to the Champions League semi-finals in the 2003/04 season, when they lost to eventual champions Porto. In that season, they produced a memorable comeback against AC Milan, overturning a 4-1 first leg deficit to progress 5-4 on aggregate.
With a sizable fanbase and a very atmospheric stadium in the Estadio Riazor, which holds some 32,000 fans, RC Deportivo should bring a lot of noise and colour to LALIGA EA SPORTS in 2026/27.
Málaga CF: Top-flight football returns to the south coast
Like RC Deportivo, Málaga CF last played in LALIGA EA SPORTS in the 2017/18 season. And, like RC Deportivo, they too fell to the lower leagues before winning promotion back into LALIGA HYPERMOTION and then eventually back to LALIGA EA SPORTS, in their case through last season’s playoffs.
For the club’s fans, this promotion has been long overdue. When the team was relegated at the end of the 2017/18 season, only five years had passed since the club was playing in a Champions League quarter-final, where they narrowly lost to Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in the final minutes.
That European run came at a time of heavy investment in the club and a lot of sporting success. Players such as Santi Cazorla, Isco, Joaquin and Ruud van Nistelrooy put on the blue and white stripes at the beginning of the 2010s, and Málaga CF were a force to be reckoned with, especially with Manuel Pellegrini at the helm.
Their relegations forced a big change in the structure at the club, but now they’re back with several local and young players in the team. The fans at the 30,000-seater Estadio La Rosaleda have never wavered, and now they’ve been rewarded with top-flight football once again.
