FootballLa Liga

Football has done justice to Alaves, says coach after La Liga promotion

338 Views

Football has done justice to Deportivo Alaves after Asier Villalibre’s penalty deep into stoppage time in extra time secured a return to La Liga on Saturday, coach Luis Garcia Plaza said a year after the Basque club were relegated.

Alaves and Levante were locked at 0-0 in their promotion playoff second leg, after the first leg also ended goalless a week ago, before Villalibre netted from the spot after a penalty was awarded for handball following a lengthy VAR review.

“I think that football has done justice with the promotion of Alaves,” an emotional Garcia Plaza said.

“We were better than Levante in this game — at home (last week) we were not — we created more chances and came close to scoring on many occasions.”

Villalibre kept his cool to become the hero of the night.

“I was calm, I like to take penalties and I always wait for the goalkeeper to move,” the 25-year-old striker, on loan from Athletic Bilbao, said.

“I never wonder where I’m going to shoot. It’s in the moment.”

Alaves will join already promoted second-tier champions Granada and runners-up Las Palmas in the top flight.

The 2023-24 LaLiga fixtures will be announced on Thursday. The season will begin on Aug. 11 and end on May 26.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

Back to top button
Change Language »