# 2015–16 Sporting de Gijón season

The 2015–16 Sporting de Gijón season was the 41st season that the club will play in La Liga, the first after the promotion from Segunda División in the last season.

## Season overview

In its return to La Liga three years later, Sporting continued sanctioned due to a delay in payments to players during the previous season. Sporting was only allowed to sign on loan three under-23 players.
Sporting started the season earning a point against Real Madrid. The club did not win its first game until the fourth round, when it defeated Deportivo La Coruña by 2–3 at Estadio Riazor with two goals of Antonio Sanabria and one of Álex Menéndez.
Sporting dropped to the relegation positions for the first time after the round 18. It was defeated 1–2 by Getafe. The club avoided the relegation in the last after winning 2–0 against Villarreal and taking advantage of the win of Real Betis against Getafe, which dropped finally to the 18th position.

## Players
### Current squad

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Since | App | Goals | Ends | Transfer fee | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Iván Cuéllar (vice-captain) | 31 | 2008 | 133 | 0 | 2018 | Free | |
| 2 | DF | Luis Hernández | 26 | 2013 | 98 | 1 | 2016 | Youth system | |
| 3 | DF | Álex Menéndez | 23 | 2011 | 36 | 0 | 2016 | Youth system | |
| 4 | DF | Igor Lichnovsky | 21 | 2016 (Winter) | 0 | 0 | 2016 | Loan | Second nationality: Austria |
| 5 | DF | Bernardo | 25 | 2013 (Winter) | 95 | 6 | 2016 | Free | Second nationality: Spain |
| 6 | MF | Sergio Álvarez | 23 | 2013 | 82 | 5 | 2019 | Youth system | |
| 8 | MF | Álex Barrera | 24 | 2012 | 61 | 4 | 2016 | Youth system | |
| 9 | FW | Miguel Ángel Guerrero | 24 | 2012 | 65 | 14 | 2016 | Youth system | |
| 10 | MF | Nacho Cases | 27 | 2011 | 133 | 7 | 2018 | Youth system | |
| 11 | MF | Alberto Lora (captain) | 28 | 2007 | 209 | 8 | 2018 | Youth system | |
| 13 | GK | Alberto García (3rd captain) | 30 | 2013 | 10 | 0 | 2017 | Free | |
| 15 | FW | Roberto Canella | 27 | 2008 | 225 | 6 | 2019 | Youth system | |
| 16 | FW | Carlos Castro | 20 | 2014 | 30 | 9 | 2017 | Youth system | |
| 17 | MF | Omar Mascarell | 22 | 2015 | 0 | 0 | 2016 | Loan | |
| 18 | DF | Isma López | 25 | 2013 | 44 | 6 | 2019 | Free | |
| 19 | MF | Carlos Carmona | 27 | 2012 | 103 | 13 | 2019 | Free | |
| 20 | FW | Antonio Sanabria | 18 | 2015 | 0 | 0 | 2016 | Loan | |
| 21 | DF | Ognjen Vranješ | 26 | 2016 (Winter) | 0 | 0 | 2016 | Free | |
| 22 | MF | Pablo Pérez | 21 | 2015 | 35 | 7 | 2019 | Youth system | |
| 23 | MF | Jony | 23 | 2014 | 46 | 8 | 2016 | Youth system | |
| 24 | DF | Rachid Aït-Atmane | 22 | 2014 | 15 | 0 | 2018 | Youth system | Second nationality: France |
| 25 | MF | Alen Halilović | 19 | 2015 | 0 | 0 | 2016 | Loan | |
* Last updated: 26 January 2016
* Source: Ages to 30 June 2015, except new incomes in 2016. Stats updated as of the end of the 2014–15 season. Only league and playoff games included.
* Ordered by squad number.

### Reserve team players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | GK | ESP | Dennis |
| 27 | FW | ESP | Sergio Mendigutxia |
| 28 | DF | ESP | Jorge Meré |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 29 | DF | ESP | Julio Rodríguez |
| 30 | DF | ESP | Alberto |
| 32 | FW | ESP | Álvaro Bustos |
| 33 | MF | CMR | Dani Ndi |

### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee |
| 15 | DF | Roberto Canella | 27 | Deportivo La Coruña | Loan return | Summer | 2017 | Free |
| 14 | MF | Alberto Guitián | 24 | Sporting B | Promoted | Summer | 2017 | Free |
| 17 | MF | Omar Mascarell | 22 | Derby County | Loan | Summer | 2016 | Free |
| 20 | FW | Antonio Sanabria | 18 | Roma | Loan | Summer | 2016 | Free |
| 25 | MF | Alen Halilović | 19 | Barcelona B | Loan | Summer | 2016 | Free |
| 4 | DF | Igor Lichnovsky | 21 | Porto | Loan | Winter | 2016 | Free |
| 21 | DF | Ognjen Vranješ | 26 | Gaziantepspor | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Free |

### Out

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| 14 | DF | Iván Hernández | 35 | Retired | End of contract | Summer | Free | El Desmarque |
| 15 | FW | Álex Serrano | 20 | Espanyol B | End of contract | Summer | Free | RCD Espanyol |
| 17 | FW | Santi Jara | 24 | Albacete | Mutual consent | Summer | Free | Real Sporting |
| 4 | DF | Mandi | 26 | Elche | Mutual consent | Summer | Free | Real Sporting |
| 7 | MF | Juan Muñiz | 23 | Gimnàstic | Mutual consent | Winter | Free | Gimnàstic Tarragona |
| 21 | MF | Hugo Fraile | 28 | Elche | Mutual consent | Winter | Free | |
| 14 | MF | Alberto Guitián | 25 | Zaragoza | Mutual consent | Winter | Free | |
Last updated: February 2016

## Technical staff

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Abelardo Fernández |
| Assistant Manager | Iñaki Tejada |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Isidro Fernández |
| Physical Fitness Coach | Gerardo Ruiz |
| Director of Football | Nicolás Rodríguez |
| Delegate | Mario Cotelo |
| Academy Director | José María M. Acebal |
Source: Sporting de Gijón Official Website

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 15 | Deportivo La Coruña | 38 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 45 | 61 | −16 | 42 | |
| 16 | Granada | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 46 | 69 | −23 | 39 | |
| 17 | Sporting Gijón | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 39 | |
| 18 | Rayo Vallecano (R) | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 73 | −21 | 38 | Relegation to Segunda División |
| 19 | Getafe (R) | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 67 | −30 | 36 | Relegation to Segunda División |
* 1 2 Granada finished ahead of Sporting Gijón on head-to-head record; Granada 2–0 Sporting Gijón, Sporting Gijón 3–3 Granada.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Positions by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | D | W | L | W | D | W |
| Position | 14 | 12 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### Copa del Rey
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Iván Cuéllar | 32 | 0 | 32+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Luis Hernández | 37 | 0 | 36+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Álex Menéndez | 23 | 2 | 11+10 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | CHI | Igor Lichnovsky | 2 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | COL | Bernardo | 17 | 2 | 16+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Sergio Álvarez | 27 | 2 | 26+1 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Álex Barrera | 6 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Miguel Ángel Guerrero | 25 | 2 | 13+10 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Nacho Cases | 25 | 1 | 21+3 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ESP | Alberto Lora | 32 | 0 | 26+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Alberto García | 8 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ESP | Roberto Canella | 9 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | ESP | Carlos Castro | 27 | 7 | 7+18 | 7 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Omar Mascarell | 27 | 0 | 20+5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ESP | Isma López | 34 | 2 | 30+3 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ESP | Carlos Carmona | 20 | 2 | 16+3 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | PAR | Antonio Sanabria | 30 | 11 | 27+2 | 11 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | BIH | Ognjen Vranješ | 11 | 0 | 10+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ESP | Pablo Pérez | 18 | 0 | 8+8 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Jony | 36 | 5 | 33+3 | 5 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | ALG | Rachid Aït-Atmane | 20 | 0 | 11+7 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | CRO | Alen Halilović | 37 | 5 | 24+12 | 3 | 0+1 | 2 |
| 27 | FW | ESP | Sergio Mendigutxia | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ESP | Jorge Meré | 25 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | CMR | Dani Ndi | 15 | 1 | 10+5 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Players who have left the club after the start of the season: ||||||||||
| 7 | MF | ESP | Juan Muñiz | 5 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Alberto Guitián | 3 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | ESP | Hugo Fraile | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
* Source: Real Sporting

### Disciplinary record

| N | P | Name | La Liga | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Total | Total | Total | Notes |
| 10 | MF | Nacho Cases | 11 | 1 | 1 | | 11 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | MF | Sergio Álvarez | 7 | 1 | | | 7 | 1 | | 6 times captain |
| 21 | DF | Ognjen Vranješ | 7 | 1 | | | 7 | 1 | | One yellow card retired |
| 5 | DF | Bernardo | 5 | 1 | | | 5 | 1 | | 4 times captain |
| 2 | DF | Luis Hernández | 4 | 1 | | | 4 | 1 | | 3 times captain |
| 18 | FW | Isma López | 8 | | | | 8 | | | |
| 11 | MF | Alberto Lora | 7 | | | | 7 | | | 26 times captain |
| 17 | MF | Omar Mascarell | 5 | | | 1 | 6 | | | |
| 25 | MF | Alen Halilović | 6 | | | | 6 | | | |
| 28 | DF | Jorge Meré | 6 | | | | 6 | | | |
| 20 | FW | Antonio Sanabria | 4 | | | 1 | 5 | | | |
| 22 | MF | Pablo Pérez | 4 | | | 1 | 5 | | | |
| 1 | GK | Iván Cuéllar | 4 | | | | 4 | | | |
| 15 | DF | Roberto Canella | 4 | | | | 4 | | | |
| 19 | MF | Carlos Carmona | 4 | | | | 4 | | | |
| 23 | MF | Jony | 4 | | | | 4 | | | |
| 9 | FW | Miguel Ángel Guerrero | 2 | | | | 2 | | | |
| 24 | MF | Rachid Aït-Atmane | 2 | | | | 2 | | | |
| 33 | MF | Dani Ndi | 2 | | | | 2 | | | |
| 3 | DF | Álex Menéndez | 1 | | | | 1 | | | |
| 16 | FW | Carlos Castro | 1 | | | | 1 | | | |
| 4 | DF | Igor Lichnovsky | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | MF | Álex Barrera | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | GK | Alberto García | | | | | | | | |
| 27 | DF | Sergio Mendigutxia | | | | | | | | |
| Players who have left the club after the start of the season: ||||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | Juan Muñiz | 1 | | | | 1 | | | |
| 14 | MF | Alberto Guitián | 1 | | | | 1 | | | |
| 21 | FW | Hugo Fraile | | | | | | | | |
Source: Real Sporting Ordered by , and = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.