Málaga’s history is one of the saddest in modern football. When Abdullah Al Thani took over the club in 2010, it seemed that the team from the south of Spain was on its way to becoming a very strong brand in La Liga. Unfortunately, after a few better years came a huge crisis, which now could lead to the football collapse of the team.
Fat years
When Al Thani, with his budget possibilities, bought Málaga, the fans did not hide their joy. Although petrodollars did not yet rule football to the extent that they do today, the voices of opposition were not loud. The sheikh himself, a native of Qatar, quickly defended himself with the results. In the 2011/2012 season, his team finished fourth in La Liga, qualifying in the summer and qualifying for the Champions League.
In the most important club competitions in the world, the Andalusians were doing great. Only in the quarter-finals did they recognize the superiority of Borussia Dortmund after the crazy end of the return match, when Felipe Santana scored the winning goal in the 93rd minute of the match. At the time, it seemed that the future of the Spanish club would be more than brilliant.
Troubles
Nothing more wrong. Over time, Abdullah Al Thani had to spend more and more carefully, which took its toll on the club. In 2018, he was relegated from La Liga, becoming an average in the country. But no one expected it to be this bad.
The 2022/2023 season is an example of how a club with traditions can fall low. Like France’s Saint-Etienne, Málaga occupies one of the last places in the La Liga 2 table, confidently moving towards relegation to the Primera RFEF. Its loss to the safe Racing Santander after playing 26 matches (one match more than rivals) is four points.
Poor management
Currently, no one is surprised by the huge satisfaction of the fans of the Andalusian team. The cup of bitterness was overflowing with the last league match against Real Oviedo, in which Sergio Pellicer’s players made only two shots on target.
The main culprit of the current situation is not the owner Al Thani, who currently owes the club several million euros, but the president Jose Maria Munoz. An experienced lawyer has surrounded himself with the wrong people who, apart from collecting salaries, do practically nothing. We are talking here, among others about sporting director Manolo Gaspar, considered one of the worst in the history of the club.
The mayor of Málaga, Francisco De la Torre, is also fed up with Munoz’s rule. In the past, the Spaniard even tried to save the club’s situation by subsidizing it with large sums from the city budget. However, this did not bring any results, as the management board did not use the cash injection. So De la Torre is waiting for the current president of the club to give up his position to fight with new people to return to the elite, and before that, maybe even to La Liga 2.
Although in the end Malaga still has a chance to stay in La Liga, both fans and local government officials are waiting for relegation. This would allow forcing changes that could ultimately bring something positive. We, the observers, have to wait for the development of the situation.
Source: Sport.PL
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
