Real Oviedo and Alavés meet in jornada 37 of LaLiga EA Sports on Sunday 17 May at 19.00 at the Carlos Tartiere, a fixture that arrives with very different stakes for the two sides. Oviedo are already condemned to Segunda División, while Alavés begin the round outside the relegation zone and still fighting for permanence.
The numbers behind the table explain the split. Oviedo have 29 points and arrive after a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, their first match after relegation was made official. Alavés have 40 points and are coming off a 1-0 win over Barcelona at Mendizorroza, sealed by a goal from Ibrahim Diabate.
Oviedo’s fall was confirmed on matchday 35, when they drew with Getafe and Girona’s 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano completed the equation. Those results left no route back, and the club entered the closing stretch knowing the rest of the season would be played without the safety net of survival. The draw with Getafe and the later trip to Madrid now frame a match that is more about dignity than rescue.
That is what gives Sunday’s game its edge. Alavés do not carry the burden of mathematical elimination, but they do carry the pressure that comes with looking over the line. A side that can beat Barcelona 1-0 one week can still be dragged into trouble if it loses control of the run-in, and the meeting at the Carlos Tartiere comes at a moment when every point still matters to their final position.
For Oviedo, the task is different. Relegation has already stripped the match of its most obvious consequence, yet it has not stripped it of meaning. Home supporters will still be watching for a response, a performance that shows the team has not disappeared into the season’s final weeks. For Alavés, the trip north is about managing the kind of game that can turn a good position into a bad one.
The match can be followed live on DAZN, and it will also be available through Radio MARCA and MARCA.com. That broader coverage fits a game that sits at the junction of two realities: one club already heading for the second tier, the other still trying to make sure it never joins them.
