Míchel Sanz: “Zaragoza are the clear favourites to go up”

Míchel Sanz faces his old home again. The 39-year-old sporting director of UD Ibiza — a Zaragoza native who came through the Real Zaragoza youth system — says the fixture carries extra emotion, calling it “a beautiful and special game”, even if he insists it’s still “three points like any other week”, as reported by Sport.

Ibiza and Zaragoza, a homecoming

Sanz joined Ibiza at the end of May after leaving Tarazona. He describes the current stage as a “practically new” project built over the summer: 20 new players, a refreshed coaching staff and a clear football identity. The aim, he underlines, is straightforward: “the only objective is promotion”.

He also frames the budget and expectations. Sport says Ibiza’s plan runs with €2.5m and the one target shared by the club and its owners is to return to the category of silver football — a level the club lost “a few years ago”. Sanz adds that, while the social pressure may differ from bigger institutions like Zaragoza, the sporting hunger and the push to be close when the moment comes are very much there.

“Zaragoza, the clear favourites”

When asked to assess the opponent, Sanz doesn’t hide his view. Speaking to Sport, he states that the Zaragoza side are “without any doubt the clear favourites to go up”, arguing that if they were candidates in Segunda, they should be even more so now in Primera RFEF. He highlights what he admires about them: the team’s “swagger” and “verticality”, the extra value of their two central defenders who arrived late, and how Sangalli stands out for this level.

As for Ibiza’s own trajectory, he says the team wants to be proactive and is still in a process: after four matches, despite a loss at Jaén, he believes the squad is steadily improving and aims to show that solidity at home and also away.