Levante winger Kareem Tunde says Thursday’s La Liga home game against Akor Adams’ Sevilla is a straight final, with both Nigerian players facing the possibility of second-tier football if their clubs slip up in the run-in.
It does not get more direct than this. Levante sit 19th in La Liga with 29 points, five behind safety, and hosting Akor Adams‘s Sevilla on Thursday night at the Ciutat de Valencia. Kareem Tunde, the 20-year-old Spain-born, Barcelona-trained Nigerian winger who has been one of Levante’s standout performers since breaking into the first team in December, is not trying to manage expectations.
“It’s the closest game, but for us, every match is a final,” Tunde said ahead of the fixture. “The fans’ support gives us a huge boost, and we wanted to make the Ciutat de Valencia stadium a fortress, and it’s showing.” Levante’s recent 1-0 win over Getafe has kept their survival hopes flickering, and Tunde believes the belief is growing inside the dressing room.
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Adams Has the Goals, Tunde Has the Energy
This match puts two Nigerians on opposite sides of a fight that could define their club seasons. Akor Adams has been Sevilla’s main source of goals this campaign, scoring eight times in 26 La Liga appearances. His physical strength and aerial ability have made him the focal point of a Sevilla side that sit 16th with 34 points, two places and five points above the relegation zone.
Tunde is at a different stage. The winger has made 15 appearances and has one assist to his name, yet his impact goes beyond statistics. Since Luís Castro’s arrival as head coach, Tunde has been a fixture in the starting eleven, his pace and pressing providing Levante with an outlet that keeps defences honest. He is candid about what consistent minutes have done for him.
“I’m very happy, to be honest. When a player has consistent playing time, he’s always happy. I know the goals will come,” he said. Punters wanting to follow the La Liga relegation battle on Bet9ja can find all the codes they need through Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code before registering.
History Favours Levante in This Fixture
Earlier in the 2025-26 season, Levante went to Sevilla’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan and won 3-0. That result, which now looks even more significant in the context of the relegation battle, gives Tunde’s side something concrete to point to when they talk about belief. A repeat in any form on Thursday would genuinely reshape the table.
For Sevilla, a win would almost certainly secure their top-flight status with games to spare. But Tunde’s message is a warning: Levante are not a club that intends to quietly accept the drop, and the Ciutat de Valencia atmosphere will make sure their opponents know it.
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📌 Did You Know?
- Kareem Tunde is of Nigerian descent and came through the famous La Masia academy at Barcelona before moving on to Levante, following a well-trodden path of Afro-European talents who trained in Spain’s elite youth structures.
- Akor Adams was born in Nigeria and previously played for Lillestrom SK in Norway before his move to Sevilla, making him one of several Nigerian players to use the Scandinavian leagues as a stepping stone to La Liga.
- Sevilla FC have been relegated from La Liga only twice in their history, in 1942 and 1997, making them one of the most consistently present clubs in Spain’s top flight over more than a century of football.
- Levante UD, founded in 1909, have spent the majority of their history in the lower divisions of Spanish football. Their longest run in La Liga is the seven consecutive seasons they enjoyed between 2011 and 2018 before successive relegations.
- Luís Castro, the Portuguese manager who took charge of Levante, also managed Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, where he worked with some of the biggest names in world football before returning to European club management.
- Nigeria has had players active in La Liga in every season since at least 2010, with the country consistently producing forwards and attacking midfielders who attract interest from Spanish clubs.
- A relegation from La Liga typically costs a Spanish club in the region of 30 to 50 million euros in lost broadcasting revenue alone, which makes the financial stakes of survival games like Thursday’s fixture just as significant as the sporting ones.
