🏏 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:00 CEST
Racing Santander
vs
Deportivo Alavés
4-2-3-1 vs 3-5-2
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Match Preview
- Racing Santander sit 13th on four points from four matches (1-1-2, GD -1) and host an Alaves side that has climbed to second with 10 points from three wins and a draw, a goal difference of +7 and only Barcelona (12 points) above them. For the visitors this is a chance to keep the pace at the top; for the newly promoted hosts, an upset would lift them clear of the bottom half.
- Alaves are unbeaten after four rounds, winning all three home games — 3-0 over Getafe, 1-0 against Villarreal and 5-2 against Osasuna last time out. Their only trip so far ended 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano, making this their second away day of the campaign. Racing beat Elche 3-2 at home in round three but lost 3-2 at Rayo in round four and have shipped eight goals in four games.
- The tactical question is Racing's 4-2-3-1 against the Alaves 3-5-2. The hosts hold the middle with just two, 22-year-old Prati and Ivan Martin, against a trio of Denis Suarez, Antonio Blanco and Pablo Ibanez. If wing-backs Abdelkabir Rebbach and Angel Perez push high, the space behind Racing full-backs Alvaro Mantilla and Jorge Salinas becomes the game's main battleground.
- Racing's No. 20 is Sergio Canales, the 35-year-old Santander native who has come home after spells at Real Madrid, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Monterrey. He takes the penalties, free-kicks and corners, sharing set-piece duty with Inigo Vicente, the Athletic Bilbao academy product who produced nine goals and 21 assists in the promotion season and now lines up alongside him behind the striker.
- There is a reunion in the middle: Ivan Martin, the 27-year-old left-footed midfielder who came through Villarreal and starred at Girona, previously played for Alaves and now faces them. Racing's bench also holds ex-Alaves forward Asier Villalibre, while Alaves winger Angel Perez, 24, graduated from Racing Santander's B team — old ties running in both directions.
- Alaves pair 33-year-old Marco Diaz with 30-year-old Lucas Boye up front. Diaz won the Champions League and LaLiga at Real Madrid and later played for Lyon and Sevilla, thriving on runs in behind and representing the Dominican Republic. Boye, a Copa Libertadores winner with River Plate, offers physicality and relentless pressing from the front — a mix that has yielded 10 goals in four rounds.
- Racing's back line is young: 19-year-old Santander-born left-back Jorge Salinas operates ahead of a defence organised by Pablo Ramon, the 25-year-old, 186cm centre-back schooled at Real Madrid. Behind them stands Julen Aguirrezabala, a left-footed keeper from Athletic Bilbao's academy who helped win the 2023-24 Copa del Rey and is comfortable enough with his feet to start build-ups.
- The benches could decide it late. Alaves keep Carles Alena, the 28-year-old La Masia-trained left-footed playmaker with Getafe and Betis on his CV, plus 187cm target man Toni Martinez, a four-year veteran of Porto. Racing counter with 193cm Uruguayan centre-back Facundo Gonzalez, signed permanently from Juventus after spells at Feyenoord and Sampdoria, for the aerial duels to come.