The Leganes look at the calendar of what remains of the League (seven days) stripped of the illusion that, just a few days ago, generated the possibility of assaulting Oviedo and getting fully into the fight for the playoffs. But the visit to the Tartiere ended in a “hard stick” (Palencia dixit) and now that same final stretch of the season takes the form of a dangerous trap. Because of the rivals, the circumstances of the pepineros and the evolution of the team so far this year.
As far as the teams that will meet between now and the end of the championship are concerned, it happens that four of them will be teams directly involved in the fight for the noble zone of the classification. Namely (and in this order): Huesca, Cartagena, Eibar, Ponferradina and Almeria. The other two, his next two rivals, are Malaga and Lugo. Hence, when the ball had not yet rolled in Oviedo, lovers of cabals (not the blue and white dressing room, obsessed with ‘match by match’) thought that the same now-dangerous calendar invited faith.
In some of those duels – always in case of having beaten Oviedo – Leganés could see opportunities to give XXL blows to the classification. It could have dealt blows and defeats to other direct competitors in search of a hole with which to battle for promotion. Now, nine points away with the playoffs through, even those hypothetical wins wouldn’t give enough momentum to dream.
The danger of letting go
It should mediate a surprising transformation, among other issues (and there goes another of the poisoned arguments of this final calendar), because Leganés is quite bad at teams at the top of the table. In fact, of the seven teams that they will meet, they only beat two of them, Málaga (which belongs to the lower part of the table) and Huesca (the first victory of the Nafti era and, this one, a team with higher aspirations). Against the rest he reaped three draws and two defeats. It is not an optimistic baggage, especially considering that most of the points harvested by the pepineros since the change of bench were accumulated against the squads in the lower area of the table.
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*Data updated as of April 12, 2022
To all this we must add the always dangerous tendency experienced by teams that, anchored in a nobody’s zone, with no clear objectives ahead or behind (the decline is 14 points), usually invite some relaxation in the final stretch of the season. Possibility to which Nafti already warned several days ago.
personal interests at stake
“The season ends tomorrow. They are interested in surrendering now. Even within your personal interests: the one who ends the contract, the one who has a contract, the one on loan, the injured… within the collective interest, everyone has individual interests”, he commented warning that, although the season could be (almost) over, the image that the team gives in these last games can determine important decisions. Including that of its continuity.
“No, we still haven’t talked about my continuity. We are going to continue fighting and showing that we are capable of taking the club to the highest possible level”, commented prior to Fuenlabrada’s visit regarding his renewal at the helm of the team. Something that he himself admits could depend on how Leganés finishes the course in this dangerous calendar that lies ahead. These are the following Leganés matches:
- Day 36 – Leganés – Malaga
- Day 37 – Lugo – Leganés
- Day 38 – Leganés – Huesca
- Day 39 – Cartagena – Leganés
- Day 40 – Leganés – Eibar
- Matchday 41 – Ponferradina – Leganés
- Day 42 – Leganés – Almería