The 2024-25 La Liga 2 campaign kicks off with a tighter promotion race than ever. Last year’s play-off heart-breakers, Leganés and Valladolid, arrive with top-flight budgets and managerial continuity that should push them into the top-six again, but automatic promotion feels like a three-horse dash.
1) Leganés – The Pepineros kept 23 clean sheets under Borja Jiménez and added Real Madrid Castilla top scorer Hugo de León on loan. A stingy 4-4-2 and the league’s deepest squad make them my title favourites.
2) Valladolid – Paulo Pezzolano’s high-octane press returns intact. With Monchu pulling strings in midfield and Weissman hunting 20+ goals, they’ll edge Leganés on goal difference to claim the second automatic spot.
3) Espanyol – Parakeets have the youngest squad in the division and a €25 M parachute payment. If Jofre Carreras and Pere Milla stay fit, Espanyol’s xG monsters could lead the league by Christmas, yet defensive lapses may relegate them to the play-offs.
The play-off pack will be wild. Eibar lost Stoichkov but signed experienced La Liga campaigner Enric Gallego; their Basque sturdiness keeps them fourth. Sporting Gijón, under rising star Miguel Ángel Ramírez, ride home form to fifth. Surprise package Racing Santander, bankrolled by new Saudi sponsorship, snag sixth on the final day.
At the bottom, newly promoted Castellón lack fire-power and depth; they’re joined by Amorebieta, who never replaced 18-goal departed striker Curro Sánchez, and gritty but aging Huesca. The drop zone trapdoor closes on them by late April.
Golden Boot: Viktor Okholm (Racing) 22 goals
Breakthrough Star: Hugo de León (Leganés)
Best Value Signing: Monchu (Valladolid) free transfer
Relegated trio: Castellón, Amorebieta, Huesca
Bet wisely—La Liga 2 remains the most unpredictable second tier in Europe, but talent depth and financial muscle still talk.
