Espanyol back in the top flight

All 20 teams that will be competing in the 2023/24 edition of La Liga are now confirmed after Espanyol recovered from 1-0 defeat in the first leg of the promotion playoff final against Oviedo by winning 2-0 on Sunday night with both goals scored by Javi Puado.

That means the Barcelona Derby, the oldest derby in Spain dating back one and a quarter centuries, is back on the schedule. The first will be taking place at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on November 2 or 3, while we have almost a whole year to wait before Barça visit what is now known as the Stage Front Stadium on May 14 or 15.

Espanyol has been playing second division for the sixth time in their history, and managed to maintain the impressive record of never failing to bounce straight back up at the very first attempt. But this time they had to do it the hard way, entering the playoffs in fourth place and narrowly defeating two Asturian clubs, Sporting Gijon and Oviedo, to earn the right to join the automatically promoted Leganés and Valladolid in the Spanish footballing elite. Three clubs from Andalusia (Granada, Almeria and Cadiz) will be replacing those three in the second division.

It means that next season there will be three Catalan competing in the first division, with Barça and Espanyol again joined by Girona, whose brilliant 2022/23 campaign means they'll also be competing in the Champions League for the very first time.