The 2024 Castellón end-of-season preview

The albinegros play six games against a full gamut of teams in their path to promotion to close out the season.

Six games - a current Champions League group stage - is what separates Castellón from the promised land of La Liga 2. The albinegros find themselves not just as the favourites for direct promotion with an eight point lead over their closest rival Córdoba, but also with a schedule that allows fans to be optimistic about Castellón’s end to the season. Their opponents are all in different situations, from promotion contenders to essentially already relegated, but all will no doubt face Castellón wanting to prove a point against the best team in the league this year.

The promotion contender - Ibiza (H, 12.05)

Ask fans to choose one game from the last six, and this will be the one. At home against the third best team in the league that for much of the season was Castellón’s closest rival. As recently as matchday 24 in February, the islanders were level on points with Castellón and looking like a team that could very possibly spoil the albinegro title party. However a spectacular drop in form saw them fail to win a game between the beginning of February the start of April, leaving them now 9 points adrift and with hopes of direction promotion likely over. However their desire to win will be unabated.

Only one point behind Córdoba in second place, the playoff rules mean that finishing runner-up provides an overwhelming likelihood of getting promoted that way as well. The second-placed team goes up if they draw all their playoff matches (the tie-breaker in the event of a tie being level is league position, with penalties not possible). Last year, both second placed teams - Eldense and Alcorcón - ended up getting promoted.

The celestes will also have the confidence of having beaten Castellón already this year at home, in a game where the visitors played well but Ibiza took their chances better, and added a second as Castellón came forward looking for the equaliser. If they are still within touching distance of Córdoba on May 12, they will come to Castalia with the bit between their teeth, regardless of how far the albinegros are ahead of them.

The playoff contender - Real Murcia (A, 04.05)

It’s been an interesting - dare I say rollercoaster - year for Real Murcia, and yet they should still find themselves in contention for the last playoff spot when they welcome Castellón to the Enrique Roca on May 4.

A season that promised much, with big money signings and promotion hype in pre-season, ultimately ended up falling flat and even slightly worse than last year. This time last season, they were one point inside the playoffs, and now they find themselves looking in, and at a fifth-placed Ceuta team that might be playing the best football at the league at the time of writing. Their chances of June football are realistically not great, with Recreativo also chasing, but a three point gap to fifth and four consecutive wins will give them the hope that they can pull it off.

Quite possibly Castellón’s most dangerous game away from home of those remaining, the albinegro fans will travel in force, with over a thousand expected to make the journey to Murcia.

The “nothing to play for” team - Algeciras (A, 19.05)

Perched firmly in mid-table, 9 points from the playoffs and 7 points from relegation, Algeciras will in all likelihood be playing out the season in the hopes of securing a top 10 finish, but without any big prizes to play for. A team that flirted with the playoffs for much of the season, they have also fallen away of late with consecutive losses killing any playoff aspirations they have left. Castellón fans will hope that things will also be decided for them as they visit the port city in the penultimate game of the season.

Fighting for survival - Linares (A, 21.05) and Atlético Sanluqueño (H, 25.05)

Moving down towards the bottom of the table, Castellón’s next opponent Linares and final opponent Atlético Sanluqueño are trying to save their status in the division.

The former recently sacked manager David Campaña in a last roll of the dice to stay up ahead of the Castellón game, with three points separating them from safety. Without a win since the beginning of March, the game against the albinegros will be a tough one to start the turnaround, but playing at home in Linarejos, there is a renewed sense of optimism from the fans that they will see a better peformance.

Atlético Sanluqueño haven’t done much better of late - their last win was against Linares on March 3. With three tough games against Recreativo, Mérida and Córdoba before the end of the season, they will have to improve to pull away from the relegation zone and get to Castalia with something to play for.

All but relegated - Melilla (H, 28.05)

Castellón host Melilla in their next game at Castalia, in an encounter that should feel similar to the 3-0 win against Recreativo Granada, another relegated side. The side from North Africa are not as mathematically dead and buried as their Andalucian counterparts, however their task seems almost impossible. Despite putting up a good fight in their recent game against Ibiza, losing 4-3 in the last ten minutes, they face Mérida before their trip to Castalia, and then play a number of direct relegation rivals. Collecting zero points from those first two games would almost certainly see them sentenced mathematically, regardless of how they close out the season.