The most absurd league in Catalonia: "I don't look at the standings"

Barcelona“It’s a crazy league. I’ve been coaching for over 25 years and have never experienced anything like it”, assures Toni Carrillo, manager of Martinenc. His team is the leader of the Lliga Elit, the main competition in Catalan football and the most evenly matched. With five matchdays left until the end, the gap between Manlleu, the first team that would be relegated to Primera Catalana, and Sabadell B, in the promotion playoff zone for Tercera RFEF, is only three points. With the last-placed team, Santfeliuenc, it is six.

“In the penultimate matchday of last season, San Mauro was fighting to get into the play-off and in the last one, they fought to avoid relegation”, exemplifies Samu Homedes, Horta's full-back. “It’s a bit schizophrenic, but that’s what makes it so attractive. It has an addictive quality”, describes Martí Soler, Manlleu's captain. From heaven to hell, in the blink of an eye.

Equivalent to the sixth state division, the Elite League is a very young and semi-professional competition that began to be played in the 2023-24 season on the initiative of the Catalan Federation with the aim of shortening the competitive gap between the Primera Catalana and the Tercera RFEF. Since then, a good handful of historic clubs have played in it: Sants, Figueres, Palamós, Prat, Júpiter, Manlleu, Vic or Martinenc. But very few have played in all three editions: l’Horta, Valls and Rubí. “We are the team with the most points in history. We wish we didn’t have this privilege. That would mean we would have been promoted in one of the two play-offs for promotion that we have played”, comments Homedes between laughs.

“This madness takes you to the limit”

 “That it is so equal and that there is so much rotation is explained by the competition format. It is a single group and a short tournament, with sixteen teams; the first two go up directly and from third to sixth they play "play-off". Four go down, which can be five or six, if there are compensated relegations. This means that ten, eleven or twelve clubs have a prize or a penalty. Therefore, until the last day you are screwed from above or below. There is no middle class. The matches are always a matter of life or death”, explains Ramón Carrascal, coach of Vic, who, after a lost promotion, last year achieved promotion to Tercera RFEF.

“This madness takes you to the limit. It’s a very tough mental strain”, adds Carrascal. “You suffer a lot. You are more aware of the rivals’ results and you spend the day doing calculations”, reveals Soler, a midfielder for Manlleu who, like last year, has been practically all season in a relegation spot and now faces the final stretch with chances of promotion: “You don’t know whether to look up or down”.

“I don’t look at the standings”

“I don’t look at the standings. I try to get my teammates to do the same. If not, you go crazy. Besides, it’s a League that you can win or lose against anyone. Last week, only one of the top seven won. It rewards stability, positive trends, and confidence a lot”, stresses Homedes, who suffers it as a player and also enjoys it as a journalist: he is part of the program Fútbol Catalán on Catalunya Ràdio, a benchmark for regional modest football. “Every matchday is a lottery. If we made predictions, we wouldn’t get a single one right. This year, getting ahead on the scoreboard is very rewarding”, adds Jan González, from Atlètic Sant Just.

“From the outside it’s exciting, but from the inside it’s a headache. Every matchday is agonizing. As a coach, I try to isolate each game from the competition, but keeping an eye on the bottom part”, states Carrillo, coach of a Martinenc that, like San Juan At. Montcada, is newly promoted and co-leads the standings after a record streak of sixteen games without a loss. With permanence secured, this Saturday they face Prat (4:05 PM, La Xarxa+), a favorite and also co-leader, with 43 points. It’s the match of the day.

The coach who became friends with Simeone

In the Elite League, the first team that does not get promoted qualifies for the Copa del Rey preliminary round. If they pass it, they face a team from the First Division. “It was an incredible day. We will always remember that we played against Mallorca with the team our parents founded fifteen years ago,” says Jan González, forward for Atlètic Sant Just, a small footballing miracle. Jan treasures the Darder shirt he kept.

“For the benefits it has in terms of city and visibility, I don't know if it's better to get promoted or go to the Cup, eh?”, says Carrascal, half-jokingly,

one club man and coach of Vic, who faced Atlético de Madrid a year and a half ago. It was the most special day in the club's history and in the career of its coach, who forged a relationship with Simeone. “I had said in an interview that I would like to spend five minutes with Cholo, and after the match he came to look for me to talk for a while with him and his second, Gustavo López. They asked for my phone number, and a few days later they invited me to experience a training day with them,” recounts Carrascal with emotion, who has printed and framed the photo he took with Simeone. It is the prize awarded to him by the Elite League, the crown jewel of Catalan modest football.