Arsenal icon Santi Cazorla, aged 40, leads boyhood club back to LaLiga after 24 years

Real Oviedo have returned to LaLiga for the first time in 24 years, and it’s a 40-year-old magician, Santi Cazorla, who’s written the fairytale.

The former Arsenal and Spain maestro captained his boyhood club to promotion in a stunning 3-2 aggregate win over Mirandes, with his goal in the second leg playing a pivotal role in the historic turnaround.

Down 1-0 from the first leg and trailing by two goals on aggregate after Joaquin Panichelli’s early strike in the second leg, Oviedo looked doomed. But just before half-time, they were handed a lifeline.

The crowd at Estadio Nuevo Carlos Tartiere erupted as Santi Cazorla calmly converted a penalty, pulling Oviedo back into the tie and injecting belief into his teammates.

Seven minutes after the restart, Ilyas Chaira, on loan from Girona, struck to level the aggregate score. Oviedo now led 2-1 on the night and held the advantage on away goals.

As the match spilled into extra time, the tension mounted, but the Asturian side refused to settle. In the 103rd minute, 35-year-old Francisco Portillo smashed home a thunderous volley to complete the 3-1 win and seal their long-awaited return to the top flight.

There were wild celebrations at full-time, as players and fans flooded the pitch in emotional scenes at Oviedo’s return to LaLiga after being relegated in 2001.

For Cazorla, who returned to Oviedo in 2023 on LaLiga 2’s lowest permitted wage, it was the perfect ending to his comeback story.

Having scored crucial goals in both the semifinal and final, the 40-year-old skipper cemented his status as a living legend in the Asturias.