The 2020–21 Segunda División season, also known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, was the 90th since its establishment. The season began on 12 September 2020 and concluded on 31 May 2021.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of 22 teams contested the league, including 15 sides retained from the 2019–20 season, three relegated from the 2019–20 La Liga, and four promoted from the 2019–20 Segunda División B. This included the winners of the play-offs.
Teams promoted to La Liga
On 12 July 2020, Cádiz became the first team to be promoted to La Liga, ending a 14-year run in the lower divisions, seven of which were spent in Segunda División B, following Oviedo's 1−0 win against Zaragoza. The second team to earn promotion was Huesca after their 3−0 win against Numancia on 17 July 2020. This marked an immediate return to the La Liga. The final team to achieve promotion were play-off winners Elche after defeating Girona 1−0 on aggregate, they return to La Liga after a five-year absence, with one of those seasons spent in Segunda División B.
Teams relegated from La Liga
The first team to be relegated from La Liga were Espanyol. They were relegated on 8 July 2020, after a 1−0 loss against Barcelona in the Derbi Barceloní, after a 26-year stay in the top tier. The second team to be relegated were Mallorca, who were relegated on 16 July 2020 after a 1−2 home defeat against Granada, suffering an immediate return to the second division. The third and final relegated club were Leganés, after a 2−2 draw against Real Madrid on 19 July 2020, ending their four-year stay in La Liga.
Teams relegated to Segunda División B
The first team to be relegated from Segunda División were Racing Santander, after a 1−2 home loss against Elche on 4 July 2020, suffering an immediate return to the Segunda División B. The second team to be relegated were Extremadura, who were relegated on 4 July 2020 after trailing to Numancia 1−0 at home, ending a two-year stay in the second division. On 20 July 2020, the final round of the 2019–20 season, Numancia and Deportivo de La Coruña were relegated after Albacete won 1–0 away to Cádiz. This ended Deportivo's 39-year streak in professional football, spending 25 of those seasons in La Liga, and also ended Numancia's 23-year stay in professional football, spending 4 of those seasons in La Liga.
Teams promoted from Segunda División B
Following the play-offs, the first team to achieve promotion were UD Logroñés after defeating Castellón on penalties on 18 July 2020. They were set to play in the Segunda División for the first time in their history, and to bring back professional football to La Rioja 20 years after the relegation of former CD Logroñés. The second team to earn promotion were Cartagena on 19 July 2020 after beating Atlético Baleares on penalties as well, they return to Segunda after eight years. Sabadell and Castellón were the last teams to get promoted on 26 July 2020 after defeating Barcelona B and Cornellà in their respective playoff matches. Sabadell return to the division after a five-year absence whereas Castellón return after ten years.
Stadiums and locations Mallorca signed a sponsorship contract with Consell de Mallorca and other public entities for renaming their stadium as the Visit Mallorca Stadium.
Team Location Stadium Capacity Albacete Albacete Carlos Belmonte Alcorcón Alcorcón Santo Domingo Almería Almería Juegos Mediterráneos Cartagena Cartagena Cartagonova Castellón Castellón de la Plana Castalia EspanyolBarcelonaRCDE Stadium Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada Fernando Torres Girona Girona Montilivi Las Palmas Las Palmas Gran Canaria LeganésLeganésButarque Lugo Lugo Anxo Carro Málaga Málaga La Rosaleda MallorcaPalmaVisit Mallorca Stadium Mirandés Miranda de Ebro Anduva Oviedo Oviedo Carlos Tartiere Rayo Vallecano Madrid Vallecas Ponferradina Ponferrada El Toralín Sabadell Sabadell Nova Creu Alta Sporting Gijón Gijón El Molinón Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife Heliodoro Rodríguez López UD Logroñés Logroño Las Gaunas Zaragoza Zaragoza La Romareda
Personnel and sponsorship Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt main sponsor, , , , Zaragoza
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentLeganés Javier AguirreMutual consent20 July 2020Pre-season José Luis Martí3 August 2020Espanyol Francisco RufeteEnd of interim spell Vicente Moreno4 August 2020Tenerife Rubén BarajaEnd of contract21 July 2020 Fran Fernández29 July 2020Sporting Gijón Miroslav Đukić David Gallego21 July 2020Alcorcón Fran Fernández Mere26 July 2020Mirandés Andoni Iraola José Alberto27 July 2020Rayo Vallecano Paco Jémez Andoni Iraola6 August 2020Mallorca Vicente MorenoSigned for Espanyol4 August 2020 Luis GarcíaZaragoza Víctor FernándezResigned18 August 2020 Rubén Baraja20 August 2020Lugo JuanfranSacked11 October 202020th Mehdi Nafti14 October 2020Albacete Lucas Alcaraz13 October 202021st Aritz López Garai14 October 2020Alcorcón Mere9 November 202022nd Juan Antonio Anquela9 November 2020Zaragoza Rubén Baraja18th Iván Martínez11 November 2020Tenerife Fran Fernández22 November 202017th Luis Miguel Ramis24 November 2020Albacete Aritz López Garai6 December 202022nd Alejandro Menéndez8 December 2020Zaragoza Iván MartínezDemoted to Deportivo Aragón13 December 202021st Juan Ignacio Martínez14 December 2020Cartagena Borja JiménezSacked18 December 202016th Pepe Aguilar22 December 2020Cartagena Pepe AguilarDemoted to Cartagena B11 January 202118th Luis Carrión12 January 2021Castellón Óscar CanoMutual consent21st Juan Carlos GarridoLeganés José Luis MartíSacked26 January 20216th Asier Garitano27 January 2021Fuenlabrada José Ramón Sandoval2 February 202113th José Luis Oltra3 February 2021Lugo Mehdi Nafti28 February 202115th Luis César Sampedro2 March 2021Lugo Luis César Sampedro19 April 202120th Rubén Albés20 April 2021Almería José GomesMutual consent27 April 20213rd Rubi28 April 2021Albacete Alejandro MenéndezSacked4 May 202122nd Francisco Noguerol (interim)4 May 2021Castellón Juan Carlos Garrido21 May 202120th Sergio Escobar22 May 2021
League table Standings At the end of the season, all three relegated teams in the previous season's La Liga (Leganés, Mallorca and Espanyol) took the top three places in the league.
Results
Positions by round
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
Promotion play-offs
Season statistics Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Raúl de TomásEspanyol232 Uroš ĐurđevićSporting Gijón223 Umar SadiqAlmería204 Rubén CastroCartagena195 Manu BarreiroLugo12 José CorpasAlmería Javi PuadoEspanyol8 Sergio AraujoLas Palmas11 StoichkovSabadell YuriPonferradina
Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists1 Adri EmbarbaEspanyol142 Álvaro GarcíaRayo Vallecano93 Marc MateuCastellón8 Javi PuadoEspanyol5 Pablo de BlasisCartagena7 José LazoAlmería7 Pierre CornudSabadell6 Pedro DíazSporting Gijón Álex GallarCartagena Gerard GumbauGirona Iván MartínMirandés Sergio RuizLas Palmas
Zamora Trophy
The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper MARCA to the goalkeeper with the lowest goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper has to have played at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy. RankPlayerClubGoalsagainstMatchesAverage1 Diego LópezEspanyol25400.632 Diego MariñoSporting Gijón25390.64 Manolo ReinaMallorca25390.644 Juan CarlosGirona33400.835 Cristian ÁlvarezZaragoza32370.86
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Round Ref. José Corpas Almería Fuenlabrada 3–0 (H) 24 October 2020 8 Sekou Gassama Fuenlabrada Alcorcón 3–0 (A) 8 November 2020 11 Umar Sadiq Almería Ponferradina 3–1 (H) 3 January 2021 20 Uroš Đurđević Sporting Gijón UD Logroñés 4–0 (A) 6 February 2021 24 Rober Las Palmas Lugo 6–1 (H) 1 April 2021 32 Javi Puado Espanyol Las Palmas 4–0 (H) 24 April 2021 36 Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 17 Edgar González (Oviedo) Most red cards: 4 Pathé Ciss (Fuenlabrada)
Team Most yellow cards: 117 Almería Most red cards: 12 Girona Fewest yellow cards: 70 Alcorcón Fewest red cards: 1 Mirandés
Awards Monthly MonthPlayer of the MonthReferencePlayerClubSeptember Uroš ĐurđevićSporting GijónOctober Manolo ReinaMallorcaNovember Leonardo AcevedoUD LogroñésDecember Raúl de TomásEspanyolJanuary Umar SadiqAlmeríaFebruary Rubén PardoLeganésMarch Adri EmbarbaEspanyolApril Javi PuadoEspanyolMay AbdónMallorca
Number of teams by region PositionRegionNumberTeams14Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, Leganés, Rayo Vallecano23Espanyol, Girona, Sabadell32Almería, MálagaOviedo, Sporting GijónLas Palmas, TenerifeMirandés, Ponferradina71ZaragozaMallorcaAlbaceteLugo La Rioja UD LogroñésCartagenaCastellón
References