Can Real Zaragoza keep their great start to the Segunda going and win promotion to La Liga?

12.09.23 830

Real Zaragoza won their opening four games of the season. Can the team win the Segunda and secure promotion to La Liga?

Los Blanquillos go into matchday No. 5 aiming to keep their 100% record going.

Zaragoza aren’t just winning matches. After four games, the defence hasn’t conceded a goal to opponents.

Manager Fran Escriba’s team conceded zero goals in their opening four matches, keeping four straight clean sheets.

Los Blanquillos are also the third highest-scoring team in the league, with six goals.

All six goals came from different players. This begs the question: Can Real Zaragoza keep up their form?

Zaragoza were relegated from La Liga at the end of the 2012-13 La Liga season. They have spent a decade turning their wheels in the Segunda.

Escriba joined Zaragoza in November 2022 after a poor run with Elche. He has spent much of his career bouncing around bottom-of-the-table La Liga teams and segunda clubs.

Escriba’s highest-profile job was with Villarreal in 2016, but it only lasted a short time.

The manager wasn’t able to perform miracles last term. Zaragoza finished 13th in the Segunda, 14 points off the playoff places.

Under Escriba, Zaragoza plays no-frills football. He uses a 4-4-2 formation, with two banks of four to protect the goal.

While the football may be no-frills, Escriba has built a winning formula on a shoestring budget.

The club spent €0 on paid transfers in the transfer market. Meanwhile, €30,000 was brought into the club on sales.

Loan and free transfers saw Zaragoza acquire forward Victor Mollejo, striker Sinan Bakis, goalkeeper Gaetan Poussin, and German Velera.

Each has made an impact this season already, showing Zaragoza got their transfer business right.

Last season, Zaragoza scored just 40 goals in the Segunda. The club averaged only 0.95 goals per game.

Meanwhile, they conceded 39 goals. Los Blanquillos were just as good last season in defence, but this term, they may get the goalscoring right. So far, so good.

Although Real Zaragoza started the season well with four wins from four games, the Segunda is a long and winding campaign.

The Segunda is a 42-game marathon, and Zaragoza will need to be consistent for the remaining 38 matches.

It took 67 points to qualify for the promotion playoffs last term. The 2022-23 Segunda winner, Granada, tallied 75 points. They scored 55 times and conceded just 30 goals.

Real Zaragoza are on the right path to gaining promotion to La Liga at the end of the season. Fans will need to wait and see if they can win the division.