Spanish league club Real Oviedo fires coach Paunovic who led it to promotion
Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong fights for the ball against Real Oviedo's Rahim Alhassane during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Carlos Tartiere stadium in Oviedo, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Credit: AP/Jose Breton
MADRID — Recently promoted Spanish league club Real Oviedo fired Serbian coach Veljko Paunovic on Thursday, with the team hovering just above the relegation zone.
His replacement will be Luis Carrión, who returns to the club after nearly earning promotion in the 2023-24 season. He had briefly led Las Palmas in his last coaching job.
Paunovic steered Oviedo back to the topflight for the first time in 24 years last season, but the Mexican-owned club let him go after two wins and six losses this campaign. Oviedo is in 17th place of the 20-team league.
Oviedo, based in northern Spain, thanked him for the “historic success” of returning to the first division.
Paunovic is the first coach to be fired in the Spanish league this season.
Oviedo's next league game is against Espanyol on Oct. 17, after the international break.
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