10 years ago, Málaga was gearing up for a Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund. Domestically they were embroiled in the race for a top four spot, which would end with them finishing sixth. It was their second best ever season in LaLiga, just one point and two places fewer than the year before.
Fast forward from 2013 to 2023, and La Rosaleda has a very different feeling. Málaga are in the relegation zone in Segunda and look set to return to the third tier, a place they haven’t been since 1998.
Relegated in 2018, five years after that historic high, Málaga narrowly missed out on promotion a year later as they faced one of the strongest Segunda combinations in years. Diego Martínez’s Granada and Jagoba Arasate’s Osasuna took the top two spots, with Deportivo La Coruña beating third-placed Málaga in the play-offs. After spending 17 match days in the top two, it was a blow that hurt.
The financial turmoil of being relegated, and being owned by Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, took its toll the following year and mid-table mediocrity followed. Until now.
This summer was one of hope for Málaga. Some bookmakers tipped them for promotion after a strong summer transfer window saw them bring in goalscorer Rubén Castro and Fran Sol, while Manolo Reina in goal and Unai Bustinza, Esteban Burgos and Álex Gallar added quality across the field. There was plenty of Primera experience in a squad with promising young talents coming through.
Argentine coach Pablo Guede had been a left-field appointment in April, returning to the club he played 45 games for between 1998 and 1999, but there were promising signs with away wins over Leganés and Tenerife to close the 2021/22 campaign looking promising.
Guede would only win one of the opening six games of the 2022/23 campaign, leaving Málaga rooted in the bottom four. Pepe Mel replaced him and, despite initially making Málaga a little harder to beat, the wins wouldn’t come. He too was dismissed with 18 points from 18 games and remaining four points from safety, just as Málaga found themselves when he was appointed.
“I had two interviews scheduled for today, yesterday we had a meeting and I was told I would lead training today. I thought it all depended on the game against Sporting at the weekend, but they told me this morning that I was to leave,” Mel said in a tense press conference as he bid farewell in late January.
Sergio Pellicer, who led Málaga between January 2020 and June 2021, returned in his place, but has won just one of his first six matches in charge.
On Sunday night, a six-pointer against Racing Santander ended in another defeat. The 1-0 consigned them to now be 10 points from safety. Primera RFEF hasn’t arrived at La Rosaleda yet, but it’s certainly landed at the airport and is asking taxi drivers how to get to its final destination.
There are dangerous precedents. Just look at Deportivo La Coruña. With only one automatic promotion place up for grabs in each of the two groups, they are still fighting to return to the second tier after three years in the third division.
It’s easy to fear the worst for Málaga. In the sunshine of the Costa del Sol, there could be a real footballing catastrophe come the end of the 2022/23 season.