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Daley Blind is far from a household name, but at 34 years old he has been a driving force in Girona's first Champions League qualification. Alex Caparros/Getty Images On the penultimate weekend of the season, Deportivo Alaves played Getafe on Saturday night while everyone else played on Sunday. Why? Because they could.

In the final two rounds, LaLiga schedules all the games that have anything riding on them at the same time on the same day, an act of competitive integrity designed to ensure that no one with objectives to fulfil or their life on the line has an unfair advantage or disadvantage. Only those with nothing to play for are put on different days. In week 37, that meant Alaves, and that meant a lot.



In fact, them playing there, Mendizorroza packed but unnoticed by the rest, was almost the perfect portrait of the perfect season. Perfect?! Yep, pretty much. Irrelevance might not sound very exciting, but this is massive.

Midtable mediocrity? That's not mediocre at all, not here. And the fact that few have talked about Alaves? Well, that's a good thing: a reflection of a lack of drama, just a job very well done. That they could get here safe with weeks to spare is a success.

The lack of the epic kind of storylines that occupy everyone -- from managerial changes to desperate fights for survival, from wild swings in form to last-minute flukes, jeopardy or glory in every game -- gave Alaves a kind of anonymity. Justice, though, says that it is time to say their name. El Glor.

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