The fans of Sporting Gijón expect a tight meeting on first matchday in Primera División against Real Madrid. After three seasons in the second spanish divison, the northern club are back in the highest division in Spain.

The last match they played in the Primera División was against Malaga and after a 1-0 loss, Gijón were relegated as the second to last in the table. First season after relegation were very hard for Sporting.

Up intil the 28th matchday, they were uncertain whether or not they were staying up, but then they had a good phase and the club reached position ten and avoived relegation. The following season went much better, but in the deciding matches against UD Las Palmas, they lost the promotion.

Preseason

Sporting Gijón maybe expected a better preseason tour after the promotion to Primera División. The team stayed in Spain and played six matches. At the end, Gijón won three matches of them, draw ones and lost twice. 

A special highlight was definitely the 3-1 win against Italian Palermo, where Castro, Lora and Mandi scored the goals. Another okay result for the team was a 0-1 loss against last seasons sixth Villarreal..

Unlucky 1-0 loss against last seasons seventh in Segunda División, SD Ponferradina, showed once again, that Sporting Gijón will have a hard season and they have to give their best for the staying up. Further results were a 1-9 win against Lealtad, a Segunda División B - Grupo I team, a 1-2 win against Ferrol and a 1-1 draw versus Almeria.

For Real's players, it was definitely a very exhausting preseason, because they played matches on three different continents. First stop was Australia, where Real Madrid took part in International Champions Cup and had to play against AS Roma, which match were lost after penalty shoot-out, and a superb win against Manchester City was a culmination for the Spains. After the Australia trip, the squad flew to China and competed at another International Champions Cup with Inter- and AC Milan.

The first match against Inter were won with 0-3 and after a penalty shoot-out against AC Milan, Real were allowed to lift the trophy up. In Audi Cup in Germany, where they were after the China trip, they had to play against Tottenham and Bayern Munich.

The semifinal match were won with 2-0 and the final were lost after an 88th minute goal by Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski. The preseason tours were finished with a scorless draw against Norwegian side Valerenga Oslo. The very last test match was against Galatasaray at the Santiago Bernabéu and Los Blancos won the Bernabéu Trophy after a 2-1 win against the Turks.

Key players

A crucial factor for the promotion last season was among others the duo Miguel Ángel Guerrero and 20-year-old Carlos Castro. They scored last season 20 goals together in most of the time. Another player, who was very important for Sporting last season was 24-year-old left midfielder Jony, with seven goals and ten assists he certainly wants to break trough Real's defence.

It is difficult to fasten down one player of Real's squad who could is a crucial factor in Madrid's play, but it was perceived that Gareth Bale blowed under his new role in the offensive midfield position. He made a great impression during the preseason and Rafael Benitez apparently found a way, how Gareth Bale could be very important for The Whites.

Previous meetings

The last matches between those clubs were in seasons between 2008 and until 2012. In eight matches, Real won six of them. Gijón reached a 0-1 win on the 30th matchday in April 2011 at the Santiago Bernabéu and a scoreless draw in Octrobre 2009 at home. After Gijóns comeback in Primera División 2008, Real send them back home after a 7-1 win on the 4th matchday.

Expectation

The chance for Sporting Gijón to really spring a suprise is almost equal to zero. Altough they may have the hearts of the country, but the difference between those both teams is just too much and the result will might be clearer as Sporting Gijón hope. It will be also interesting to see, which promoted club will have the better start in the season. Real Betis Sevilla, last seasons Segunda División champion, have to host Villarreal on Sunday too.