“Former European heavyweights, investment projects and teams from tiny towns will liven up the top tiers. Deportivo La Coruña Absent from La Liga since 2018, Dépor were once part of a Spanish “big four” with Barcelona, Valencia and Real Madrid. The Galicians were title-race disruptors over a sustained period, finishing in the top three on nine occasions between 1993 and 2004 and winning the title in 1999. Had they not come up against José Mourinho’s Porto in the 2004 Champions League semi-finals, they might have been European champions too. Eventually, the established order prevailed and Deportivo slid into mid-table, then fell away completely – dropping into the regional third tier in 2020. … Elversberg Like many recent Bundesliga promotion races, last season pitted sleeping giants against small-town overachievers. Schalke won the second-tier title, escaping a division where they have spent four of their last five campaigns. The runners-up, Elversberg, hail from a Saarland town whose population would fit inside the Veltins Arena four times over. …”
Guardian