Eldense 4-1 Real Oviedo: the Messi effect arrives in Elda (without leaving the stands)

What's up, mate? Some signings take months to show their worth. And then there's Leo Messi, who becomes Eldense's owner on Thursday and by Friday his team absolutely demolishes Real Oviedo 4-1 at Nuevo Pepico Amat. No preseason, no settling-in period, no scarf presentation. Arrive and destroy. That's just how it's done.

Friday 2 October · Full time: 4-1

CD Eldense

4-1Final

Real Oviedo

🏟️ Nuevo Pepico Amat (Elda) · Match centre →

🐐 An Eldense that couldn't score on a rainbow

To understand just how massive this is, you need to look at where Eldense were coming from: 19th place, with 5 points from seven matchdays, without a single home win and just 4 goals in the entire season, the worst tally in the division. Four goals in seven games. And tonight, four in one. Against Oviedo. If that's not the Messi Effect, I don't know what is.

And get this—the Argentine hasn't even fully taken over yet: his purchase of 100% of the club from Colombian group TH is pending approval from the Spanish Sports Council. So Oviedo got hit for four with the deal not even signed off. When the CSD gives the all-clear, we might have to postpone matches as a precaution.

⚽ The goals: Oviedo started like a rocket… then fell asleep

Oviedo came out firing: Reina scored after just 21 seconds, one of the ten fastest goals in Segunda's history, and some folks in Elda were already thinking Messi was just good marketing. Wrong. According to La Voz de Asturias, by halfway through the first half Oviedo had run out of steam and Eldense started dominating Narváez's box—who was making his pro debut and was Oviedo's shining light.

At half-time, Calleja made two substitutions. One of them, Roberto López, equalized from the penalty spot in the 56th after Samu's handball. He got injured shortly after, Olabarrieta came on… and scored too. Every Calleja substitution, a goal. In between, Fidel made it 2-1 in the 68th with another penalty—this one pretty controversial, the kind refs rarely give but it counts anyway. And when Oviedo pushed forward looking for the equalizer, the final blow: Olabarrieta in the 90th and Rastrojo in the 90+5th, both on the counter, for the final 4-1. Twenty-one seconds of glory and ninety-five minutes of misery. Very derby-like, but without the derby.

📲 The match, on my socials

Two images for the history books. First, Leo Messi's story watching his Eldense: the greatest player of all time glued to an Eldense vs Oviedo Segunda match on a Friday night. Unprecedented stuff. Second, the reaction of yours truly: in the pool with a drink in hand, celebrating a Carbayona defeat the way tradition demands. Everyone experiences football their own way.

Can't see them? Check them on Instagram: Messi's story · my poolside celebration

🔁 Calleja, who left through the back door… and returned through the front

Because football has a scriptwriter with a twisted sense of humour, on the Eldense bench was Javi Calleja, the same man who managed Oviedo in 2024-25 and got sacked in March 2025. He arrived in Elda in mid-September and in his first clash with his old club, he's landed a 4-1. Some revenge is best served cold; this one came with fizzy water and a slice of jamón.

And to top it off: Oviedo had never lost to Eldense. One win and three draws in their four previous meetings. It took the greatest player in history buying the club to change that. That's something: not every team can say they lost to Messi.

🍾 The derby hangover

And yeah, mate, we know what you're thinking. Oviedo came fresh from beating us 2-0 in the derby at El Tartiere and arrived in Elda eighth, with 11 points, chest out and eyeing the playoff. Five days of glory. Five. The party didn't even last a week. And it's not the first time: two weeks back they took a 3-1 battering in Sabadell. This trend of Julián Calero's Oviedo struggling away from home is becoming tradition.

But let's be honest: this same Eldense beat us 0-1 at El Molinón on matchday 5, with a Javi Martínez goal in the 76th. So laugh, but keep it subtle.

🔴⚪ 4-1 and 1-4: the golden years of our B team

A 4-1 over Oviedo sounds different. It sounds like Mareo. It sounds like those days when Real Oviedo was knocking around in Segunda B and Sporting's B team would give them a hiding.

Season 2012-13, matchday 19, end of the first half. At El Molinón, with around 6,000 spectators, Sporting B thrashed Oviedo 4-1. Guerrero got the third from a penalty and the fourth from a free-kick, with Dennis, Pablo Pérez, Álex Barrera, Santi Jara and Álex Serrano on the pitch. Oviedo's own match report titled it a "painful defeat". Enough said.

And just to drive it home, on 27 April 2014, matchday 36, Abelardo's B team rocked up to Carlos Tartiere with the best attendance of the season and won 1-4. By the 58th they were already up 0-3, and by the end the Carbayona crowd were singing at their own players that they didn't deserve the shirt. A 4-1 at home and a 1-4 away: the most beautiful palindromic result in Mareo's history.

That Sporting B won twice at El Tartiere back then (0-1 in 2011 and 1-4 in 2014), while the first team hasn't won there since 2001. And today, twelve years later, the 4-1 appears in Oviedo's life again. This time without kids from Mareo, but with an Argentine from Rosario who knows a thing or two about demolishing teams.

💙❤️ Come on, Elda

Let's be clear: we're Sporting through and through, full stop. But tonight, in Gijón, some of us are going to sleep with a blue and white Eldense shirt under the pillow. Thanks, Leo. Eight Ballon d'Ors and now a favour for the red and white fans too. The greatest of all.

Messi Effect or coincidence? Remember that 1-4 the B team got at El Tartiere? Tell me in the comments. And this Sunday, back to business: Sporting vs Celta Fortuna. Come on, Sporting!

Frequently asked questions