182 games as a Levante footballer, spread over seven seasons, define the importance of the Granota club in Róber Pier’s career. A stage closed last June in a “cruel” way, as he himself defined. The team was playing for promotion to First Division at Ciudad de Valencia, against Alavés. It was the return of the last play-off tie, the decisive moment. With no goals after regulation time, everything was going to be resolved in extra time, since the first leg had also been 0-0. And then, a disputed penalty, with Róber Pier as the protagonist, ended the dream of Levantinism, and also the career in the club of the now Sporting center back. This Sunday he will return, for the first time, to the same stage.
“I’m not speaking as a footballer, I’m speaking to you, I’m speaking to you from what I am, a person who loves this club a world and who is having a hard time. It’s a very strong and very cruel blow,” Róber Pier shared on social networks. hours after that penalty converted by Asier Villalibre catapulted Alavés and left Levante in the Second Division. Lines that are an extract from an extensive statement addressed to Levante fans, some of whom were critical of the Galician’s performance. That game ended up being the last one that Róber Pier played with the Levante shirt. A Levante in which, among other things, he became one of the captains of the squad.
The club decided weeks later not to make effective the clause to extend the center-back’s contract for another year. On the table, issues that go beyond sporting criteria. Among them, the financial difficulties of the entity, which ended up giving way to several heavyweights to balance the numbers in the face of the budget cut that was seen coming. Róber Pier, with a lot of posterity in the Second Division, had a choice. He ended up taking the road to Gijón, where his friend Pablo Insua was waiting for him. He soon became one of the pillars of the defense. At least, until a few weeks ago.
It is not very clear that Róber Pier will be part of the starting eleven during this Sunday’s game at Ciudad de Valencia. In fact, he will most likely see the start from the bench. In Burgos he ended up being substituted and last day, against Albacete, he did not have any minutes. It remains to be seen what plans Miguel Ángel Ramírez has to surprise a Levante mired in a results crisis. Six consecutive days without achieving victory are to blame. Along the way, Felipe Miñambres has taken the reins of the bench after dismissing Javi Calleja.
Róber Pier has gone from fighting for promotion with Levante to being a direct rival in the fight for the jump to the First Division. A pulse that remains open despite the fact that Orriols’ team is currently thirteenth, six points from promotion and seven from Sporting. In the first round, the crossing in El Molinón ended without goals. Everything is in a fist. Several of Róber Pier’s teammates just a year ago remain in the granota locker room. He maintains a good relationship with many of them. At his farewell to Levante he even expressed gratitude to Quico Catalán, president of the club. On Sunday he will undergo a new examination by his former hobby.
2024-03-05 03:15:00
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