The famous hell that Atlético de Madrid used as a marketing campaign when it was in the Second Division at the beginning of the century has unfortunately become a home for Hércules and its fans. Every season, every summer in recent years, it has become common to see that there are no longer classic First or Second Division clubs on the list of rivals. Quite the contrary.
The example of this 2022/23 is even more painful for the Hercules. The Blue and Whites will be the only representative from the province of Alicante in Group 3 of the Second RFEF. Not only that. In addition, of the 18 entities that will compete for promotion places to the third category of Spanish football, only the people of Alicante know what it is to have a past in the First Division.
The other 17 clubs have never set foot in the elite. An asterisk could be put on Lleida Esportiu, which is the heir to that UE Lleida that came to have a brief appearance in the First Division in the 1990s. But they are different clubs, one born from the ashes left by the other.
The change of group and the promotions of the other Alicante teams mean that all the experience gained with the rivals of last season is of practically no use in this one for Hércules. The Alicante only repeat a rival, the Alzira. To make matters worse, the Valencians left one of the biggest blushes for the long-suffering Blue and White parish last year, with the win conceded in the match played at the Luis Suñer stadium (4-0). In the second round, at least, Sergio Mora’s then pupils reacted and showed pride to win (2-0). It was one of the few bright spots of this disastrous phase of competition.
In the history of the confrontation against their group mates, Valencia Mestalla stands out, in terms of number: 61 duels, 29 victories and more than one hundred goals scored by the herculanos, in a face to face that dates back to 1948. That match ended in a Herculaneum rout 4-0. A few weeks later, the Mestalla delivered a scandalous win (7-3). The scoring binge continued, almost always in favor of Rico Pérez’s men: 5-0 in 1952, 4-3 in 1961, 4-4 in 1962, 1-5 in 1982 (Cup), 3-5 in 1992, 0 -4 in 2003 and 4-0 in 2018.
The rival to beat
In addition to the Valencian player, Hercules will face three other subsidiaries, those of Espanyol, Mallorca and Zaragoza. All, with the exception of the hand, from the team that this campaign will play in the elite. The Hercules has seen the faces against most of its rivals over the last decade, except for two unprecedented opponents and one against which it will cross again after two decades.
This last case is Terrassa, whom they have not faced since promotion to the Second Division in 2001/02. Then, the Catalans took the two games of the league, with Keko as Herculaneum executioner, leaving the team led by Felipe Miñambres without options to promote.
In the case of the new confrontations, Hércules will add two new clubs to its history of duels: Manresa and Ibiza Islas Pitiusas. The Catalans, founded in 1906, had never passed the barrier of the Third Division. For their part, the Balearic Islands were born in 2012 and are the second team on the island to be in a growth phase in recent years. This will be the hell that Hercules will find in the coming months, in which it will start again as the great rival to beat.
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