Club Atlético Osasuna (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈkluβaðˈletikoosaˈsuna],Osasuna Athletic Club), or simplyOsasuna, is a Spanish professionalfootball club inPamplona,Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays inLa Liga, holding home games at the 23,516-capacityEl Sadar Stadium.[3] The team's regular home kit is a red shirt with navy blue shorts. Osasuna is one of four professional La Liga clubs to be owned by its members with an elected president.
Osasuna is the sole Navarrese club to have played in La Liga. Although the club has never won a national trophy, it reached the Copa del Rey final in2005 and2023. The club's best league finishes were fourth in1990–91 and2005–06.
"Los Rojillos" or "Gorritxoak" is the club nickname, meaning "The Little Reds". The word "osasuna" means "health" inBasque, used in a sense of "strength" or "vigour", which makes Osasuna the only team in La Liga with a Basque name. For different reasons, rivalries exist between Osasuna andReal Zaragoza,[4][5]Real Madrid,[6][7][8] andsome Basque clubs, particularlyAthletic Bilbao.[9][10][11]
Osasuna has acantera which has produced several successful players similar to other clubs in the greater Basque region.
The club was founded on 24 October 1920 and its name, Osasuna, meaninghealth inBasque, was chosen by Benjamín Andoian Martínez.[12] When Spanish football became professional in 1928, Osasuna was placed in the third division, gaining promotion to theSegunda División after the1931–32 season by winning the playoff againstNacional de Madrid. They made it toLa Ligathree seasons later. That same season, they reached the semi-finals of theCopa del Rey and lost toSevilla. Thenext season, Osasuna reached the semi-finals again, this time losing toBarcelona over two legs, despite grabbing a victory in the first leg.
The club was hit hard by therearguard repression implemented by the Nationalist rebels in the1936 coup-de-état against the Spanish Second Republic. At least ten players, employees and directive board members were murdered, imprisoned or otherwise persecuted.[13] The surviving members were forcibly recruited for the front, with some of them showing enthusiasm for the putsch. The strong support of Navarre for the Nationalist rebels led to Osasuna being offered a place in the1939–40 La Liga when official competitions resumed, although they had finished last in1935–36 and should have been relegated;[14] ultimately a play-off was arranged with the other demoted teamAtlético Aviación – associated with theSpanish Air Force and thus favoured by the military regime. TheMadrid team won the tie and, with support from their powerful backers, went on to claim the league title and retain it.[15] It would not be until1953–54 that Osasuna again participated in the top division, and1956–57 when they managed to keep their place among the elite, remaining there for three further years.
In September 1967, Osasuna'sEl Sadar Stadium was opened with a match between Osasuna andVitoria de Setubal, with the hosts winning 3–0.[16] The club achieved its first everUEFA Cup qualification in1985–86 afterfinishing sixth in the league; their campaign began in the first round, eliminating Scottish clubRangers before being knocked out by Belgian clubWaregem 3–2 on aggregate. In the1990–91 season, Osasuna finished fourth in the league, their best ever league finish until then. This gave them qualification for thefollowing season's UEFA Cup, where the club reached the third round by eliminatingSlavia Sofia andStuttgart. Finishing last in1993–94, the side spent six years in the second level, before finally being promoted in1999–2000 after placing 2nd in the league table.
Chart of CA Osasuna league performance 1929–2024
In the2002–03 Copa del Rey, Osasuna reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1988. The team entered the competition in the Round of 64, where they beatLemona. In the following rounds, they beatEibar,Real Unión and Sevilla, until the semi-finals where they were knocked out after losing toRecreativo de Huelva 4–2 on aggregate.
In2005, they reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time, losing toReal Betis afterextra time.[17][18][19] They had a tough campaign inthat season's Copa Del Rey, almost being eliminated in the round of 64 but narrowly beatingSegunda División B sideCastellón on penalties after a goalless draw. They went on to beatGirona 1–0 in extra time, then Getafe, Sevilla andAtletico Madrid each by just one goal difference on aggregate to get to the final.
On 27 November 2005, Osasuna played their 1,000th game in La Liga. After a stellar2005–06 domestic campaign, they made history by finishing in fourth place – equalling the best-ever finish – to enter thequalifying phase for theUEFA Champions League in the following season. This achievement was made more dramatic by the suspense that was maintained until the last day of the championship in which Osasuna andSevilla were both vying for fourth place – both eventually ended the season with the same number of points but Osasuna finished higher due to their head-to-head record. However, they did not make it to the Champions League group phase, after being eliminated byHamburger SV in the third qualifying round, leaving theNavarrese to compete in the UEFA Cup for the fifth time.
Osasuna were drawn in Group D of the2006–07 UEFA Cup, and qualified for the knockout stage after finishing second in the group. In the Round of 32, they and were drawn againstBordeaux, progressing 1–0 on aggregate, drawing 0–0 away before winning 1–0 in Pamplona through an extra time winner byJavad Nekounam. Osasuna's next opponent was Rangers, and Osasuna again progressed following a 1–1 draw inGlasgow and a 1–0 win at home. The club was drawn against German sideBayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals. Regarded as severe underdogs, Osasuna not only progressed to the semi-finals but did so in style (a 3–0 away win had virtually sealed the tie, but theRojillos also won the second leg, 1–0). In the semi-finals, the club was drawn againstholders and fellow Spanish side Sevilla, eventually losing 1–2 on aggregate after a 1–0 home win.[20]
In the following two seasons, Osasuna struggled heavily in the league. In2007–08, they finished 17th and only one point above relegation. In2008–09, they only avoided relegation in the final day; being in 18th place and entering the final matchday at home toReal Madrid, the club fell behind but came back with two goals (the decider courtesy ofJuanfran, aMerengue youth graduate) to beat 9-menLos Blancos and remain in the top flight by finishing 15th.[21]
Osasuna had great success in2011–12, finishing seventh and one place away from qualifying for the European places, but struggled again in the next 2 seasons, finishing 16th in2012–13 and being relegated to the second division after an 18th-place finish in2013–14. In the2014–15 season, the club managed to end up one position above the relegation zone. A managerial change resulted in substantial improvement, and Osasuna won the final match of the regular2015–16 season 0–5 away toOviedo, finishing sixth in the table and qualifying for promotion playoffs and. They subsequently won all the playoff games – againstGimnàstic de Tarragona in the semi-final andGirona in the final – to achieve promotion to La Liga once again. Osasuna finished2016–17 in 19th position, resulting in relegation. They could only manage 8th in theirfirst campaign back in the second tier.[citation needed]
On 20 May 2019, Osasuna achieved promotion back to La Liga afterGranada's victory overAlbacete, mathematically ensuring a promotion place with three matches left in the season. On 31 May, they defeatedCórdoba to finish as2018–19 Segunda División champions.[22]
The club celebrated its centenary in October 2020 with a league victory over Athletic Bilbao, albeit the match was played in an empty stadium owing to restrictions caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic in Spain.[23] In May 2021, after decades of silence and alongside other Navarrese institutions, club president Luis Sabalza paid homage for the first time to the members who went through the rearguard Nationalist repression during theSpanish Civil War, on behalf of the board of directors.[13]
In 2023, having qualified on the field for theUEFA Conference League via a7th-place finish in La Liga (they also reached the2023 Copa del Rey final, but lost to Real Madrid), Osasuna found itself embroiled in match-fixing allegations[24] dating back to 2013, which led to an initial ban from participating (this being the first occasion they had been eligible for a UEFA competition since the events). The club decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who ruled in their favour in deeming that the club was sufficiently distinct from the directors who committed the offences[25] and reinstated their access to the Conference League. UEFA also initiated a disciplinary case against Osasuna for taking the matter to civil courts.
Osasuna has many rivalries: these include Real Zaragoza, Real Madrid,[6][8] and Athletic Bilbao.
The rivalry with Real Madrid began in December 1990, when Osasuna won 4–0 at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium.[7] The rivalry with Zaragoza wasn't always a heated rivalry, but hostility between the two clubs began during a match in October 1987, when Zaragoza fans threw an object at Osasuna goalkeeperRoberto Santamaría.[26] Since then, these matches often have altercations between fans and players, and it is known to be one of the most heated rivalries in Spain.[27][28] In recent years however, there have been large periods of time where this rivalry match wasn't played, due to the clubs being in different divisions.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
