The La Liga 2025-26 season will get underway on August 15th, 2025, and there will be three new faces in the Spanish top tier, all of whom will be hoping to avoid an immediate return to the Segunda.
La Liga 2025-26 Season Set to Get Underway in August
Elche are a familiar name to La Liga followers with Los Franjiverdes relegated from the top-flight at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, whereas Levante also participated in the top flight until 2021-22 and will be hoping to improve upon their previous appearance, which saw them secure just eight victories.
Oviedo are an exciting addition to this season’s line-up following their entertaining aggregate victory over Mirandes in the play-offs, and are preparing for their first season at this level since 2000-01. The trio will replace Las Palmas, Leganes and Valladolid, and we take a look at how they are preparing themselves for the prospect of coming up against the likes of title holders Barcelona, Atleti and Real Madrid.
Elche
Elche bounced back from a poor start to secure promotion to La Liga with a decisive victory over Deportivo La Coruna on the final day of the regular season. Under head coach Eder Sarabia, they were extremely difficult to beat at home, and they will need to make the Estadio Martinez Valero a fortress once again if they want to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.
Assembling a competitive squad has been the biggest challenge, and the loss of Nicholas Fernandez to New York City FC, who contributed six goals and eight assists last season, is a bit of a setback for the Alicante-based club. Nicholas Castro has also left the club, and Espanyol have snapped up regular left-back Jose Salinas on a free transfer. The latter clocked up the second-most appearances last season, featuring 38 times.
Unfortunately, arrivals have been few and far between, with only St. Etienne’s left-back Leo Petrot arriving as a replacement for Salinas and right-winger German Valera coming in from regional rivals Valencia. They’re also hoping to secure the signing of Real Madrid’s Alvaro Rodriguez, who is seemingly surplus to requirements at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Oviedo
As winners of the promotion play-off, Real Oviedo will have far less time to prepare for their long-awaited La Liga than any of their divisional rivals. The bookmakers did not expect Oviedo to be promoted last season, and they will be determined to defy the odds once again.
It was the second successive season in which the club had finished inside the top six, and amidst their 96th anniversary celebrations, the players commemorated their long-awaited promotion with an open-top bus tour around the city.
With the La Liga relegation odds having been recently released by the majority of sports betting apps, it isn’t surprising to see Los Azules priced up as the odds-on favourites to return to the Segunda; however, they’ve made an eye-catching start to the summer business with the addition of the much-travelled striker Saloman Rondon.
Ilyas Chaira, who was on loan at the club last season, has made the switch permanently. He swiftly became a fan favourite, contributing eight goals and three assists in his 35 appearances. He is joined by former Mirandes midfielder Alberto Reina.
Crucially, they have retained the services of former Arsenal midfielder and boyhood fan Santi Cazorla, who at 40 years old will provide some much-needed leadership, which embodies the club’s values.
Levante
According to the betting odds, Segunda title winners Levante are the most likely to avoid the drop this season. The club were always resigned to losing highly-rated midfielder Giorgi Kochorashvili, who opted for Sporting CP ahead of Celtic. The club received over five million euros and has spent a very small portion of that fee on Partizan’s Kervin Arriaga. They’ve turned their attention to Italy this summer with loan deals for Fiorentina defender Matias Moreno and Genoa centre-back Alan Matturo. Former Sassuolo defender Jeremy Toljan is yet another incoming player with vast Serie A experience.
Eldense’s Victor Garcia is the latest player to join the Oriols club this summer.
There is a feel-good factor around the club, and they suffered just a single defeat at the Ciutat de Valencia during their promotion campaign. Although the opposition will be much tougher this time around, they will be leaning on home advantage and hoping to pick up the majority of their points at this historic and versatile venue.
Main photo credit: IMAGO / NurPhoto