Sagunto's Atlético Saguntino opens league season with 2-1 win over Atlético Levante
Atlético Saguntino beat Atlético Levante 2-1 on the opening day of the Tercera Federación, played this weekend at the Nou Camp de Morvedre, with goals from Marc Bonafé and Sergio Magariño.
Atlético Saguntino's opening match of the 2026/27 Tercera Federación season carried extra meaning: the club, founded in 1922 and playing at home at the same Nou Camp de Morvedre ground -capacity 250, according to Wikipedia- since 1977, beat a direct rival, Atlético Levante's reserve side, 2-1, in a game that gave coach Guillem Beltrán plenty to like.
The match tilted the home side's way early on. Barely three minutes had passed when a failed clearance by the Levante defence fell to Marc Bonafé, who only had to tap the ball into an empty net to open the scoring. The visiting reserves tried to respond by creating chances down the left, without luck, and Saguntino struck again right on the stroke of half-time: Sergio Magariño finished at the far post, after a precise pass from a teammate, to make it 2-0 at the break.
The second half brought a response from Atlético Levante, who pulled one back through Javi Alonso -his first official goal for the reserves- and grew into the game after substitutions ordered by Álvaro del Moral: Ethan Sabater looked for the equaliser and Aaron Murenzi came close with a shot that skimmed the post. Even so, Saguntino's defence weathered the storm and sealed the three points.
Beltrán summed up the game plan afterwards in simple terms: discipline at the back and speed into space on the break, the same approach that had already let his side read this opponent well last season. The coach was particularly pleased with the response of a squad that arrived short on fitness and missing players, and said the group already shows more maturity than expected after a tough pre-season against higher-division sides. He also had praise for the fans, whom he credits with much of the team's drive in the toughest matches.
The win carries extra weight within the group: as a reserve side, Atlético Levante cannot be promoted even if it collects points, but it still takes points away from clubs that are chasing promotion, so beating them on matchday one avoids losing ground from the start. The Tercera Federación is the fifth tier of Spanish football (behind La Liga, Segunda División, Primera Federación and Segunda Federación), and its calendar runs from September to May, leaving plenty of room to fix mistakes over the season — but starting with a win takes some of the pressure off the games that follow. The closeness between the stands and the pitch, typical of a ground with room for barely 250 spectators, turns every home match into an occasion where crowd noise has a direct effect on the team's performance, something Beltrán has repeatedly named as one of the hallmarks of the Saguntino project.
Captain Kike Torrent also had a personal milestone to celebrate: his 250th official appearance for the club, a tally that keeps him as the most-capped player in the team's recent history after eight years in the squad. His longevity fits the story of a club that, besides winning the Tercera División (Group VI) title in 2015/16, spent two seasons in the old Segunda División B, its highest level in the club's history to date. That kind of continuity is unusual in amateur football, where squads often turn over almost completely from one season to the next.
The strong start follows a low-key summer transfer window, in which the club chose to keep last season's squad almost intact and added a handful of new faces, such as left-back Marco Suárez, brought in to strengthen the left flank for a campaign aimed at building on last year's form.
There will be no time to enjoy the win: on Wednesday, 9 September, at 20:00, Saguntino travel to face Torrent CF at the San Gregorio ground in the round of 32 of the Copa Federación, a tie the team approaches with the confidence of a strong start to the league season. Running alongside the league, this cup competition lets clubs at this level test themselves against sides from other regional groups and doubles as an extra form guide at the start of the season.
According to golsmedia.com, with additional background from Wikipedia on Atlético Saguntino's history.