Football Season Guide

There was a time, between the early 1990s and the early 2000s, when Deportivo La Coruna were Super and constantly fought for titles and silverware. Then, it all ended and they fell off the elite of Spanish football. In fact, they were even relegated to the 3rd division in the early 2020s. Promoted back to the Second division, they eventually jumped back to the La Liga at the second time of asking. Last season, Deportivo were immediate protagonists of the Segunda, going unbeaten in the initial 8 games. Then, they came back to earth but an impressive winning streak in November and a triumphal march between weeks 30 and 41 (W8 D4), were decisive for their second place and subsequent promotion. While they were not particularly bright offensively, they scored 65 goals, 25 less than first-placed Racing Santander, Deportivo were solid defensively, as they conceded 44 times, keeping 11 clean sheets. Antonio Hidalgo, the architect of their promotion, was thus confirmed at the helm and this will be his first experience at the top level. Their summer was a busy one with at least a dozen players arriving and as many leaving. In fact, they got rid of a few aging players and parted ways with a few loanees. Truth be said, they did not lose any player of note, bar back-up striker Stoichkov, capable of 6 goals and 3 assists, returned to his parent club. On the other hand, they tried to inject some experience and quality in all the departments. In goal, Roman is set to become the new number 1 after arriving from Mallorca. 19-year-old centre-back Ede could also earn relevant playing time while Angelino, on loan from Roma, could become a protagonist at left-back. In the midfield, Amatucci is a candidate for the XI, while Gijselhart is a valid addition for the bench, and attacking midfielder Asp Jensen, coming from Bayern youth system, could also be handed relevant playing time. Last but not least, 37-year-old Aubameyang is expected to score the goals needed for survival.