Second division - day 41

Málaga and Sporting Gijón are favourites to join Numancia in the first division after today's results. A last minute 3-2 defeat for Real Sociedad at Alavés left both two points above the Basque side in the table coming in to the last day. Real took the lead twice, Díaz de Cerio putting them in front in the first minute and Delibasic restoring the lead after Adrián had equalised three minutes after the restart. But with the game already in injury time Jairo made it all square again, and a minute later Toni Moral got the winner to keep the Vitoria based side's hopes of survival alive.

The result was a relief for Sporting Gijón, who appeared to be out of the top three after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Castellón. Nakor's header on the hour mark from Perico's cross was enough to secure the home side fifth place in the table, but the Asturians will go up for the first time in ten years or so if they can pick up a point at home to Eibar in their last game. Málaga have a bit more work to do after a 0-0 draw at Granada 74, and although they move above Sporting in the table, they will have to win against Tenerife to be sure of finishing ahead of Juanma Lillo's team in the table. Real themselves are at home to Córdoba in their last match.

As expected, the battle to avoid relegation will go down to the last day. However two sides are already sure to be playing in the second division B next season, Granada 74, who have a negative head-to-head record against the only two teams they could catch in the table, and Poli Ejido, who could only draw 0-0 at Albacete. The other two relegation spots are currently occupied by Alavés and by Racing Ferrol, who lost 1-0 to direct rivals Córdoba, Asen getting the only goal for the Andalusians with half an hour gone on the clock.

Any one of six teams could go down though, Cádiz not doing themselves any favours after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla Atlético. Xerez are also not out of danger after a 0-0 scoreline at Las Palmas, and Albacete and Córdoba are also in the mix. Salamanca are safe however after a 3-1 victory over Celta, Tenerife are also sure of another season in the second division after beating Gimnàstic 2-1, and Eibar will stay up after they won 1-0 against leaders Numancia. (08.06.08)

With only two weeks to go, no less than fourteen of the twenty-two teams are involved in the battles for promotion and relegation. All matches involving those clubs will kick off at the same time on Sunday, which only left the game between local rivals Elche and Hércules for Saturday evening. The visitors ran out 0-2 winners, with Rubén Navarro getting the goals in the first and last minutes of the first half. (07.06.08)