UD Almería shut out noise to focus entirely on Sporting Gijón

UD Almería are now fully focused on their penultimate league fixture, which will be played this Sunday in Gijón, a Matchday that could largely determine the path the Andalusian side will take in their bid to return to the top flight of Spanish football.

To secure automatic promotion, the equation is straightforward: UD Almería must win at El Molinón-Enrique Castro 'Quini' and hope Deportivo de La Coruña fail to collect all 3 points away against Real Valladolid. The final outcome would then be decided on the last fixture of the season. If the Galician side win in Pucela, they will seal promotion to LaLiga EA Sports, leaving the Indálicos with no option but to contest the promotion play-offs.

Permutations and calculations aside, the only thing within UD Almería’s control is their own result in Gijón, and that is where every member of the squad and coaching staff is directing their full attention.

Real Sporting de Gijón may have nothing left to play for in terms of league standings, but it will still be their farewell to the home supporters this season. In addition, the Club has appointed a new gaffer who will be closely monitoring the players, while the squad itself will naturally be eager to impress both the incoming head coach and the fans. 

UD Almería are under no illusions about the challenge ahead and are expecting a highly demanding encounter.

After training in an evening session on Tuesday, the Indálicos returned to work on Wednesday morning at the training base Anexo. Bonini, suspended along with Marcos Luna, did not train on the pitch. André Horta was also absent, although there are still three more training sessions remaining before the trip to Asturias.

All of those sessions will take place behind closed doors at the UD Almería Stadium as the team fine-tunes its tactical preparation for Gijón while also shutting out everything surrounding this crucial stage of the season.

With the second automatic promotion spot, the order of the play-off places and the relegation battle all still unresolved, almost everything remains to be decided.