The rapid rise of FC Barcelona challengers Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu continued as their exciting young team survived with relative ease in their first-ever season in Spain’s second tier. And Ultras leader turned manager Oriol Ribas continued to focus on youth ahead of his fifth season at the helm.
That began with the club’s board announcing plans to expand Narcís Sala by 1,443 seats at the cost of £1.8m, with work set to conclude in October 2029. And on the finance front, annual profits of £1.93m saw them come into the campaign with £3.4m in the bank.
Sant Andreu pulled off the biggest coup of Ribas’ stint as midfielder Pedro Rodríguez joined on a free after leaving city rivals FC Barcelona. He snapped up a few more youngsters, including model citizen Qatari centre back Abdulaziz Al-Shammari, Moroccan midfielder Hassan Khris, versatile Ghanaian midfielder Fatawu Cudjoe and 6ft 6in goalkeeper Carlos López.
The arrival of Pedro forced Ribas to slightly tweak his approach, moving to a 4-2-3-1 with Pedro playing in front of captain Jesús and fellow Barcelona graduate Dani Ávila. The improving Razvan Gogu plays from the left with starlet Luis Marín higher on the right and Óscar Reyes leading the all-youth academy forward line.
Tricky Start to Second Season in Second Tier
The bookies still didn’t love Sant Andreu’s LaLiga 2 chances, making them second favourites for relegation with title odds of 300/1. Relegated Almería are 6/4 favourites, along with Racing de Santander (12/5), Las Palmas (5/2), Levante and Sporting Gijón (4/1), Elche (15/2) and Getafe (17/2).
Sstar man Reyes suffered a groin strain the week before the start of the season, and his absence showed in a tricky opening 2-0 defeat at Las Palmas. Back on home ground against Castellón, Gogu laid on goals for Ávila and Jesús before Pedro’s first goal from the penalty spot late on. Backup striker Antonio David Martín’s first goal for the club edged a win at promoted Sanse, and they navigated a tough start, including games against 7 of the expected top 9, with 9 points from 9 games.
Reyes returned in early October for the unveiling of the expanded Narcís Sala in another tough game against Santander. He couldn’t inspire a surprise as they lost 2-0, but did score in a 3-1 loss at Oviedo. And that saw Sant Andreu drop into the relegation zone after 11 games. That forced Ribas to change up the approach, moving back to the more cautious 5-4-1/4-5-1. And it worked an absolute treat as braces by Reyes and winger Óscar Froch inspired a 5-0 hammering of Granada.
The Turf Wars rivalry heated up once more as Sant Andreu hosted FC Barcelona’s B team Barcelona Atlétic, and a 0-0 earned only their second point in seven meetings. The form eventually picked up as Reyes scored in home wins over Burgos, Córdoba and Mirandés. And Sant Andreu headed into the winter break sitting 15th, a relatively comfortable 9 points above the dropzone.
Looking up LaLiga 2 in 2030
Sant Andreu began the 2030s by nicking a 4-3 thriller at Castellón courtesy of second-half strikes by Marín and Reyes earning just their second away win of the season. A strong run ended with a 2-0 defeat at home to Las Palmas, which began another set of fixtures against the league’s best teams. But Reyes’ goal was enough to nick a 1-0 win over Oviedo, which virtually secured survival with 10 games remaining.
Ribas tested out new approaches in the remaining games, including a more progressive 4-4-1-1 formation. He reached 200 games at the Sant Andreu helm with a 3-0 defeat at Barcelona B, before Marín won the player of the week award as he laid on both goals for Reyes to earn a point with Elche. However, the season came to a bit of a poor ending, without a win in the last four games.
That saw Sant Andreu again finish in 15th place on 51 points (5 fewer than last season), after 13 wins, 12 draws and 17 defeats, scoring 53 and conceding 62 (10 and 14 fewer than last season). They finished 9 points above the dropzone and 22 behind the playoff places. Reyes was again the shining light, scoring the 3rd-most goals in LaLiga 2 with 22 in 32 and, interestingly, committing the most fouls in the league (89). While Gogu and Marín were the joint 11th leading assisters with 10 apiece.
Another Season of Consolidation
Ribas was delighted that his young team overcame their early struggles to again finish well clear of any relegation concerns. They remained reliant on the superb Reyes, who scored 24 goals with 6 assists in 34 games. The nearest challenger to that was Marín with 5 goals then Ávila and Martín with 3, which clearly isn’t acceptable. Marín led the assists with 11, followed by Gogu (10) and right back Joaquín Yapura (5).
Sant Andreu had another solid youth intake led by elite prospects striker Feliu Marqués and winger Adria, along with midfielder Roc Gelmá, full back Felip Mariné and Ecuadorian striker George Quintero.
In some ways, Sant Andreu had moved a little closer to their cross-city rivals. However, FC Barcelona not only won LaLiga for the first time in this save, but backed it up by winning Copa del Ray and the Champions League, beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Final with Lamine Yamal creating both goals for Fernan Torres. So in many ways, the two clubs still couldn’t be at more polar opposites. Here’s our latest comparison tracker.
Sant Andreu were making good progress, but they needed more from players other than Reyes if they were to take the next step and push into the top half of LaLiga 2. Could the club advance in the summer of 2030? Join us next Monday to find out!
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