Espanyol promoted to LaLiga after year away

Espanyol beat Real Oviedo 2-0 in the second leg of the LaLiga promotion playoffs on Sunday to seal their return to the Spanish top flight next season.

A quickfire double by captain Javi Puado just before half-time earned Espanyol a 2-0 home victory after forward Alexandre Alemao’s first-half strike gave Oviedo a 1-0 win in the first leg last week.

Their aggregate 2-1 win secured Espanyol’s comeback to LaLiga after one season, following their relegation at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

It was Espanyol’s second promotion in three years after they had returned to the top tier in 2021 as Segunda Division winners.

Espanyol join Leganes and Real Valladolid, who won automatic promotion after finishing first and second, respectively, in the second tier last season.

Cadiz, Almeria and Granada were the clubs relegated to the second division.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.