The astute observer, perhaps with hours of flying time in the Levante universe, will be able to spot the image of Eloy wrapped in a sea of white and green shirts that seem to surround him and encircle his firm and determined step in the direction of the Elche goal. And perhaps the perceptive fan will be able to identify the effigy of the player who, in the background, raises his arms as if trying to magnify the blond attacker’s action or trying to seek protection from the ocean of legs whose sole purpose was to hinder the movements of one of the heroes of the team coached by Juande Ramos and which redirected the spotlight and media attention on Levante as an institution after a few league exercises of torment and anxiety in the underworld of professional football. Fabado seems to be returning to the left wing of a team that conquered space and time to acquire eternity. The photo is relevant. Unfortunately there is not much material in the club’s archive.
Perhaps the snapshot becomes the paradigm of that Levante between incisive and uncompromising against their opponents that collected as many victories as matches played until then in the remembered birth of the 1994-1995 league season. There was no fear in the epiphany of a season. Nor was there any distrust or fear in the group. That collective felt backed by certainty and security. On the pitch, they showed a version somewhere between transgression and disobedience to the events that had taken place. This was evident in the course of the match against Elche, corresponding to the tenth matchday of the Second Division B competition. The Elche side seemed determined to put an end to the unbeaten run of the Orriols side. Rodri surprised Rodri with the game at matins. No pun intended. The white and green midfielder surprised the home goalkeeper.
The duel, played on Saturday 5 November 1994, with the Canal 9 cameras recording everything that happened there, seemed to deviate from the script that Levante had established in a dictatorial manner since they put into action their confrontation account against Europa (0-2) in the first days of September. In fact, the first chapter ended with an advantage for the club from the city of palm trees. However, the spirit of rebellion that pervaded Juande’s Levante at that point in the league story materialised in an imperial restart. Levante took Elche in front of an ecstatic Ciutat de València crowd that was passionate and committed to the cause. The Orriols stadium was ready for the comeback with the passion that the azulgranas soldiers transmitted in each of their manoeuvres on the pitch. Fabado and Gallego changed the direction of the match in just seven colossal minutes. The Ciutat suddenly switched off when the referee awarded a penalty in the final minutes that Vilchez missed. It was the ninth win in a row (Levante had a game in hand against Nàstic which was suspended due to rain). Levante equalled Real Madrid’s record number of victories in 1968-1969. The astute observer will have already noticed or remembered, if he was present at Orriols, that Levante had a commemorative kit for the occasion. The blue and blue stripes thinned out to extend on a shirt that was never used again.