The Leganes now lives in nobody’s zone. Blessed zone of nobody, they sigh for Butarque. The team’s last two draws against Ibiza (1-1) and Sporting (1-1) have left the team in almost perfect equidistance. Twelve points from the relegation zone marked by Real Sociedad B and nine from the promotion playoff that Ponferradina now defines. All with only 30 points to play for. Gradual braking within a good upward streak that makes searching for the noble zone a complex objective, but which, analyzed with the perspective of time, gives a tranquility that for a good part of the season seemed like a rare commodity.
“Man, I remind you that we have come in a complicated situation. Going back is difficult. Rival players also play… All the points are very complicated”, Nafti recalled this Sunday to a journalist who asked him about the lost opportunity of not adding three against an enemy from the bottom of the table. That “I remind you that we have come in a complicated situation” indicates his landing on the Avenue of the Eleven Lions, when the panorama was dark. Almost tragic.
56% harvest
At that time, Leganés was third from last, with only 10 points to four of the safety zone after accumulating a dismal streak of only two points out of a possible 18. That ended with the dismissal of a legend like Asier Garitano who, for Nafti, was a poisoned opportunity. However, the French-Tunisian hit enough keys to eject the team, now 13th in the table after having added 32 pointsmore than three times what he had when he arrived in Butarque. 56.14% of those at stake.
LaLiga SmartBank
*Data updated as of March 21, 2022
In fact, if LaLiga had started with his signing, Leganés would now be 5th, just seven points behind the leader. A closer look at the recent streak of eight consecutive games without losing (matches the best record of last year) would make it the 2nd in the championship, just one point behind Eibar. It happens, however, that the inheritance received in terms of points was so poor that now the feat of aspiring to the playoffs seems more difficult every day. And despite this, no one south of the capital throws in the towel.
maximum caution
“In general terms, I am proud of my players. It doesn’t mean that I won’t ask for more, more and more… I enjoy… I also suffer a lot. But I enjoy it because the people in Butarque push. The players notice it. Hopefully we can have it until the end of the season, ”he said, also dodging the questions of those who insisted that he should already send calm for the permanence. “You can say that Leganés is going to work hard to beat Las Palmas…”responded with a typical evasive topic.
Be that as it may, and although the objective at the beginning of the course was to try to repeat at least the promotion playoff, in Butarque they would breathe easy if finally the team was left ‘only’ with the minor prize of continuity in the category. Many have feared throughout the season to repeat scenarios like those of Deportivo de la Coruña, Nàstic de Tarragona or Mallorca, teams relegated after brilliant recent trajectories. Dangerous comparison that turns the current location of Leganés into a nobody’s happy zone.