The 2025/26 La Liga, also known as LALIGA EA SPORTS due to sponsorship reasons, will be the 95th season of Spain’s premier football competition. It will begin on 15 August 2025 and is scheduled to end on 24 May 2026.
Barcelona are the defending champions, having won their 28th title the previous season.
While Leganes, Las Palmas and Real Valladolid got relegated, the newly promoted sides are Levante, Elche, and Real Oviedo.
Here, FootballOrbit brings you the an overview of the new clubs that just secured promotion.
1. LEVANTE
Levante return to the top flight after a three-year absence, after emerging champions of the Segunda División.
Located in Valencia, Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. was founded on the 6th of September 1909.
Nicknamed Granotes (The Frogs), their home ground is the 26,354 capacity Estadi Ciutat de València.
The club’s President is Pablo Sánchez, while Julián Calero is the manager.
Levante UD was formerly registered as Levante Football Club on 9 September 1909 (celebrating its 100th anniversary on 9 September 2009).
Thus, Levante is the most senior football club in Valencia, with rival team Valencia CF not being formed until 1919.
Levante shares its name with the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, with Spain’s east coast, the coast over which the sun rises (levantar in Spanish), with the Levant wind that comes from the east, and with the Levante beach in La Malvarrosa where Levante Football Club played some of its earliest fixtures.
During the Civil War, Levante’s ground was destroyed, but the club’s squad remained intact. In contrast, Gimnástico (another club) had a ground, Estadio de Vallejo, but had lost most of their players.
As a result, in 1939 Levante FC and Gimnástico FC merged into Levante Unión Deportiva. Levante UD can thus trace its origin back to at least 1909 through both Levante FC and Gimnástico FC.
Furthermore, the merged club was at first named Unión Deportiva Levante-Gimnástico, then changed it a few years later to Levante Unión Deportiva.
La Liga relegations and promotions (1963–present)
Levante had to wait until the 1960s to make its La Liga debut. In 1963, the club finished runner-up in Group II of the second division, defeating Deportivo de La Coruña 4-2 on aggregate in the promotion play-offs.
Nonetheless, they got relegated in that maiden season after losing in the playoffs against Málaga.
Subsequently, the side spent most of the following two decades in the second and third divisions.
In the early 1980s, Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff played half a season for the club, retiring three years later.
After winning 2003/04’s second division, Levante returned to the top level but, again, survived only one season.
Finishing third in the Segunda División in 2005/06, it returned to the top flight for two additional campaigns.
Financial mire
Levante’s financial status worsened, however, and there were reports that the players had only received approximately one-fifth of their contractual payments.
News reports stated that the club had incurred a debt of over €18 million in payments due to its players. The team plummeted down the standings, and it was confirmed with several matches to go that the club would be playing in the second division in 2008/09.
Consequently, the players protested at their lack of payments at one particular match, refusing to move for several seconds after the opening whistle against Deportivo and later announcing that they would strike during the season-ending game at Real Madrid.
The threat was withdrawn when league officials announced that a benefit game would be played between a Levante XI and a Primera División XI, with all receipts going to pay the Levante players’ wages.
Recovery
In October 2011, during round nine fixture of the season, Levante defeated Real Sociedad 3-2 to move top of the first division table for the first time in the club’s history, with 23 points.
In the process, it recorded seven straight wins after drawing its first two games. The club eventually finished sixth after defeating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at home in its last match.
Thus, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for the first time in its history. There, they made it to the last 16 before a 2-0 extra-time loss to Russia’s FC Rubin Kazan.
In the 2015/16 season, Levante was relegated after defeat by Málaga and finished last. The club was promoted back to the top league in 2016/17, winning the Segunda División title.
In the 2017/18 season, the club secured safety in the league and on 13 May, beat the champions Barcelona 5-4 (having led 5-1 early in the second half), with Emmanuel Boateng scoring his first ever career hat-trick. This win ended Barcelona’s hopes of achieving an unbeaten season.
In the 2021/22 season, Levante was relegated after being defeated 0-6 by Real Madrid, ending their five years in the top tier.
On the 25th of May 2025, Levante became the first side to be mathematically promoted, assured of a return to the top flight after a three-year absence following a 3-2 victory against Burgos.
Ultimately, they emerged as Segunda División champions at the end of the season.
2. ELCHE
Elche became the second team to be promoted on the last day after defeating Deportivo La Coruña 4-0, returning after a two-year absence.
Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain.
Founded in 1923, they hold their home matches at the Estadio Martínez Valero, which has a capacity of 33,732 seats.
Nicknamed Los Franjiverdes / Els frangiverds (The Green-striped ones), it is currently owned by Argentina national, Christian Bragarnik.
The club’s President is Joaquín Buitrago Marhuenda, while the manager is Eder Sarabia.
Founded in 1923 as the result of a merger between all of the town’s clubs, Elche entered the league system in 1929.
They were promoted to the Segunda División in 1934 and La Liga in 1959, finishing fifth in the latter tournament in 1963/64.
The club were runners-up in the Copa del Rey in 1969.
Financial disaster and relegations
Elche became the first and only club in the history of La Liga to be relegated due to unpaid tax debts in the 2014/15 season.
In the 2016/17 season, they were relegated to the third tier after 18 years in professional league.
Bouncing back
One year later, the club got promoted back to second level after defeating Villarreal B in the final play-off promotion to second level.
In the 2018/19 season, Elche finished in 11th place among 22 teams in the second division.
In the 2019/20 season, they were promoted to La Liga by beating Girona in the promotion play-off final 1-0 on aggregate. They were promoted back to La Liga after five years in the second and third divisions.
In the 2022/23 season, Elche were relegated to the second division after three years in La Liga.
In 2024/25, they finished as runners-up in the Segunda División and secured automatic return to La Liga after two seasons.
Rivalries
Elche and Hércules have been fierce rivals for a long time. Their rivalry, known as the Derbi de la provincia de Alicante, began way back in the 1925/26 season when Elche joined the official regional league.
Since then, these teams have clashed over a hundred times.
The rivalry between Elche and Real Murcia is a historical one. Their first official match was during the 1928/29 season. Their frequent meetings, known as the Derbi del Sureste (Southeast Derby), make this fixture the most played in the history of the Segunda División.
Another of the most notable rivalries is with Levante. These teams have a long history of intense regional competition across various divisions, including Primera, Segunda, and Segunda B, creating a fierce atmosphere both on the pitch and in the stands.
Elche’s rivalries with Hércules and Real Murcia stem from regional proximity, while their rivalry with Levante developed over numerous competitive clashes.
Meanwhile, their rivalry with Granada ignited during the tense 2010/11 Segunda División season, culminating in the Play-off final.
3. REAL OVIEDO
The La Liga final team that got promoted for the 2025/26 season is Real Oviedo after overcoming Mirandés 3-2 on aggregate in the promotion play-off final to return to the top division after 24 years!
Real Oviedo Football Club is based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on the 26th of March 1926, the club plays at the 30,500 capacity Estadio Carlos Tartiere, opened on 30 September 2000, and is the largest sports stadium in Asturias.
The club is jointly owned by Grupo Pachuca (51%), Grupo Carso (20%), Others (29%). The President is Martín Peláez, while the head coach is Veljko Paunović.
Real Oviedo was formed from a merger of Stadium Ovetense and Real Club Deportivo Oviedo. The first one was founded by young people who had studied in England, where the “foot-ball” was already popular. And the second club was founded a few years later by a split in the first.
Carlos Tartiere served as the inaugural president when the club was established. Oviedo first reached La Liga seven years after its formation.
Financial troubles
Like their fellow newly promoted teams, Real Oviedo had also suffered severe economic troubles resulted in the team’s inability to pay its players.
The club was then forced to drop all the way to the fourth division of Spanish football, for the 2003/04 season; at this point the team nearly folded but eventually recovered and regrouped, returning to the third tier the following campaign.
Oviedo lasted two further campaigns before dropping down a level again. In another playoff against Mallorca reserves, the club returned again to the third division, after a penalty shootout.
However, its survival remained at risk in the following years, due to continuing financial difficulties.
The financial dire straits continued into the 2012/13 season, when Oviedo called on supporters to buy shares in the club.
A few footballers, notably Santi Cazorla, Juan Mata, Michu and Adrián — who all started their careers at the club — offered their financial support in an attempt to save the club from bankruptcy – the club had until 17 November to raise €2 million in order to prevent closure.
On 17 November 2012, Carlos Slim, at the time the richest person in the world, invested $2.5 million in the club, therefore gaining a controlling stake.
Better days
In May 2015, Oviedo confirmed their return to the Spanish Segunda División after a thirteen-year absence with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Cádiz in the 2015 Segunda División B play-offs.
In the 2023/24 Segunda División, Oviedo finished sixth, earning a spot in the promotion play-offs, where they reached the final, winning the first leg 1-0, but lost 2-1 on aggregate to Espanyol.
Joy at last
After finishing third in the 2024/25 season, Oviedo secured promotion to La Liga for the first time in 24 years by defeating Mirandés 3-1 after extra time in the second leg of the promotion play-off final.
Their return to La Liga was spearhead by ex-Arsenal star Santi Cazorla who converted a penalty in a 3-1 extra-time victory in the second leg of the play-off final.
Rivals
Real Oviedo’s local rivals are Sporting Gijón on the sea coast to its north, with whom the club contests the Asturian derby.
