Jagoba Arrasate returns to his “home”

Jagoba Arrasate is one of the greatest coaches in CA Osasuna’s history, as he achieved so much success during his six seasons with the club from Navarre. Not only did he earn them promotion into LALIGA EA SPORTS and then a remarkable qualification for Europe, but he also led them to a Copa del Rey final, which they narrowly lost 2-1 to Real Madrid. During his time with Los Rojillos, the club grew and regularly finished in the top half of the table, rather than worrying about relegation. 

During his time with the Pamplona-based club, he coached 190 games in LALIGA EA SPORTS, earning points in 115 of them and winning 63 of them. His best season was in 2022/23, when the team qualified for the Conference League after finishing seventh with 53 points and when the team reached that Copa del Rey final. Making that campaign extra special was the journey to the final, which included a semi-final victory against Athletic Club. 

At the end of last season, the Basque coach decided to move on and to start a new project, as he felt his time at CA Osasuna had run its course. He left as a hero, as the fanbase and board of directors had always backed him. 

There was a famous press conference on January 14th 2021, when the sporting director Braulio Vázquez addressed the concerns about the team being bottom of the table during the presentation of Manu Sánchez. “Arrasate is our captain, and we’ll go with him to the end,” the director stated. From that moment on, CA Osasuna moved on an upward trajectory. 

When Arrasate did leave the dugout, it was his decision and he thanked the fans and the club for everything they had done for him. He stated: “Thank you, El Sadar. These have been six fantastic years. Both my family and I have been happy here, and that’s thanks to you. I am not sorry to leave, I’m just happy to have been here. I have been tremendously happy and someday we will be back.”

Jagoba Arrasate is keen to achieve success with RCD Mallorca

The Basque coach will be back at El Sadar this weekend with his new club, after taking on the challenge of replacing Javier Aguirre at RCD Mallorca. A quirk of the LALIGA EA SPORTS schedule means he’ll be back at El Sadar in just the second matchday, returning to the ground where he achieved so much. 

His new team will travel with confidence, after securing an impressive 1-1 draw against title favourites Real Madrid in the opening weekend. After going behind to a Rodrygo goal, Los Bermellones recovered and earned a point courtesy of a Vedat Muriqi header. Now, they’ll look to secure another positive result against CA Osasuna this Saturday.