Real Oviedo turned to one of the most recognisable names in football to run their promotion campaign, appointing Raúl González as head coach on Monday. The deal runs until June 2028 and covers the rest of the current Segunda División season.

It is the first senior managerial post of Raúl’s career. He spent six years at Real Madrid’s academy, most of it in charge of Castilla, the club’s reserve side, winning the UEFA Youth League in 2020 before leaving in 2025 when Xabi Alonso was named first-team head coach.

Calero gone after a win

The appointment followed the dismissal of Julián Calero earlier the same day. Calero had taken charge in June after Oviedo’s relegation from La Liga, and lasted 14 matches in the job before the club under Grupo Pachuca ownership ended his contract, which had been running until June 30, 2027.

The timing was unusual. Calero’s last game in charge was a 2-1 win at Cádiz over the weekend, a result that nudged Oviedo up to ninth in Segunda. The decision to replace him anyway points to how far the club’s expectations have drifted from that mid-table position after a single season back in the second tier.

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A legend, but an untested senior coach

Raúl’s status inside Spanish football is not in dispute. He made 741 appearances for Real Madrid, won three Champions League titles and six La Liga championships, and later had spells at Schalke, Al Sadd and New York Cosmos. What is new is the level of the coaching job.

Castilla gave him six seasons in a results-driven environment just below the first team. He never got the promotion to the Madrid senior bench that many had expected. When the call came from Oviedo, it brought a built-in family hook as well: his son Héctor plays as a midfielder for Vetusta, Oviedo’s own reserve side, according to Goal.

Oviedo play Girona at the Carlos Tartiere this Saturday. That is Raúl’s first match as a senior head coach, and the first live read on whether a Real Madrid icon with no top-flight dugout experience can push a ninth-placed Segunda side back into the La Liga promotion fight.

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