Room at the Bottom: the Segunda relegation fight

A look at the Segunda drop zone, from the bottom up.

Herculés-- (41 points) 4 draws followed by 4 losses have the Alicante side holding up the table, on 41 points.  They do have three of their five remaining matches at home (Alcorcon, Lugo, Barca B) and their two away matches are at Mirandés and Sporting.  These teams don't seem to have much to play for, Sporting excepted; but there are no relegation rivals there either, so no chance to inflict a loss on a team near them in the table.  It's probably going to take 49 or 50 points to be sure of avoiding relegation, so they could use three wins for sure.

Ex-Villarreal man (and town native) Hector Font, now with Herculés, scored his first goal of the season last week against Murcia; unfortunately, it was in the wrong net :)

Deportivo Alavés-- (41 pts) The newly-promoted side have struggled all season.  They have home matches with Deportivo La Coruña and Numancia, and travel to Lugo, Eibar and Jaén--not exactly long trips.  Having to play the two top teams in the league doesn't help at this point, though.   Ex-La Real man Borja Viguera has 23 goals this season, 17 the year before--a potential transfer target for sure, even if his club somehow stays up.

Real Madrid Castilla-- (42 pts) It's hard for the B teams to stay in the Segunda for any length of time.  Obviously Real Madrid's cantera has talent, but there's no Jésé or Morata this year--a star who can carry the team when they need it.  They host Las Palmas and Sabadell, are away to Girona, Cordoba and Murcia, so no rollovers here.  One wonders if Madrid will send a couple of players back from the first team to strengthen the squad in the last weeks?

Girona-- (43 pts)  In late March, they looked dead in the water.  But since, they've won 4 of their last 6, with the only loss coming to Barca B in the Mini Estadi.  They are a pretty old team, to be honest, and I suspect if they do stay up, there will still be a lot of guys in their 30s shown the door--but experience in a relegation fight helps, and guys like Gerard Bordas, Felipe Sanchon, Juandro Castro, and Juanlu Hens have plenty.

Their schedule is not awful: 3 home matches, including two relegation six-pointers (RM Castilla, Mallorca and Deportivo) and away trips to Ponferradina and Recreativo.  The Catalan side might just make it.

Just above the relgation zone, but in real danger:

Mallorca-- (44 pts): Can you believe it?  They've lost five in a row, and haven't scored in nearly 450 minutes of playing time.  The islanders have got to be feeling the pressure, and leading scorer Gerard Moreno, on loan from Villarreal, is injured again.  They are away to Numancia, Girona and Cordoba, and have must-win home matches against Real Jaén and Las Palmas.  They are struggling at the wrong time of the season, for sure.  Mallorca have not won more than two matches in a row all season--it would behoove them to change that statistic.

Real Jaén--(44 pts): No surprise this newly-promoted side would be struggling this season, though they have probably been involved in more tight, tense matches than anyone.  Apart from Jonathan Meija's 15 goals, they struggle to score, but they don't give up a lot either.  The schedule has three home matches (Recreativo, Ponfe, Alaves) and they play Mallorca and Deportivo on the road.  Two wins from those three home games would be very nice for them.

Numancia--(46 pts): In a season where the typical Segunda match has been all to often goalless or 1-0, let me present Numancia, the poster boy for this season.  They've played 37 times, and drawn an astonishing 19 of them, including thirteen (13!!) 0-0 snoozers! They are probably okay, but with home ties against Mallorca, Deportivo and Eibar, and away matches at Ponferradina and Alavés, it might be nice if they actually won a match for the first time in two months.

Zaragoza, Ponferradina, and Alcorcon are all on 47 points--probably safe given how many clubs are below them, but not totally out of the woods yet.

And don't forget that if the last couple of seasons are any guide, there are likely to be one or more clubs finishing in the bottom four who stay up, because clubs above them will suffer "administrative relegations", as happened to Guadalajara last year, nearly happened to Mirandés.  Eibar is rumored to be in danger of this unless they can raise a couple of million euros in capital, which does not seem too likely.

Any thoughts as to who might be sucked down into the Segunda B?  Let us know!