Portillo, the talisman, and Paunovic's recovery as Oviedo returns to the First Division: "God gives the toughest jobs to his toughest people."

When Francisco Portillo (Málaga, 1990) controlled the ball with his knee in the 103rd minute, everyone knew what was coming. The Málaga native is like the silver lining you find in the middle of a 24-year storm. He's as sure of a quality as the sky is blue. Yesterday more than ever. It took the ball two relegations and countless misfortunes to bounce, but when the midfielder nailed him with an eternal half-turn, Raúl Fernández knew his dive was going to be useless. You can't avoid destiny.

Portillo arrived at Oviedo in November of last year. The Málaga player arrived on a free transfer, having been unable to find a team after leaving Leganés. "I'm at an age where I wanted to make a confident move, and when Oviedo came along, I didn't hesitate," the player said at his presentation. Call it a hoax, a coincidence, or whatever, but when Roberto Suárez signed him, the sporting director knew he was buying all the tickets for the Primera Division draw. All of them. No footballer has been instrumental in five consecutive promotions. Five.

Real Betis (2014-15), Getafe (2016-17), Almería (2021-22) and the aforementioned Leganés (2024-25) have been the clubs that owe this favor to the footballer from the City of the Sun. Three direct promotions and two via playoff (Getafe and Oviedo), in some with more and in others with less prominence, but there is no doubt that in the Asturian capital they will always remember this young midfielder who put an end to Oviedo's ordeal. He had one goal in 23 games until that night of June 21st when he stopped the clock in the 103rd minute of the match and also the hearts of Miranda and Oviedo. Some with sadness, others, with joy.

A friend of Santi Cazorla since their time at Málaga, where they played together, the two midfielders' careers have been uneven, but their paths and their goals - the number 8 also scored a penalty to tie the game at the Tartiere - have united again to lift Oviedo to the First Division after it was relegated from the top flight in 2001, with Radomir Antic on the bench and Veljko Paunovic, their current coach, on the pitch.

Another player who played alongside Portillo was César de la Hoz . They played together at Almería, where they were promoted, and then the Cantabrian played for Valladolid. Guess what he also achieved with the Valladolid side? Indeed. If Portillo has five, De la Hoz has three with yesterday's player. If Oviedo needed more than just football, they had it in abundance with these players. But the Oviedo midfielder is the only one with so many. Until yesterday, he shared that same fortune with another Málaga player, Antonio Benítez, with four, although this one always with Málaga CF.

Particularly emotional was Portillo 's embrace with Veljko Paunovic , the coach who owed the club a debt after the tragedy in Mallorca 24 years ago. The twists and turns football takes and the chances of revenge. The Serbian replaced Calleja in March, who hadn't quite found the right path with the Oviedo side. In the 14 matches he has managed the blue and whites, he has accumulated nine wins, four draws, and only one defeat. Precisely in the first leg against Mirandés in this promotion final. At this point, there's no one in Oviedo who remembers what happened in Anduva just a week ago. Why should they? "God gives the toughest missions to his toughest people," is the motto the coach had given his players under their shirts. They aren't tough people; they're "heroes," as their manager called them in the press conference afterward.

Total concentration

"They understood that at this moment I had to dedicate myself to something bigger than all of us. To fulfill my duty and repair emotional damage beyond my sporting and professional life," said Paunivic, who has spent the past three months living with his coaching staff in the same house and without seeing his family except digitally.

The damage suffered in Mallorca has been repaired thanks to Portillo , himself, and those who are no longer here, like Dubovsky and Antic , to whom the Serbian also wanted to dedicate this feat. Oviedo is in the First Division 24 years later.