Ever since Malaga came under the ownership of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani the Andalusian outfit have gone through turbulent times.
Under his investment Los Boquerones enjoyed the highs of buying top players such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jeremy Toulalan, Santi Cazorla and Isco, who was then a promising graduate of Valencia’s cantera. Manuel Pellegrini’s good work saw Malaga qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Many saw it as a breath of fresh air that rich owners could give less-fancied teams such as Malaga a chance to challenge the establishment. Malaga certainly took that chance and they heartbreakingly lost to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, the boom years that Malaga enjoyed descended into bust. Debts meant the club couldn’t pay the players wages, which led to UEFA banning them from European competitions for an initial four years. Upon appeal it was brought down to just one year that led to Malaga missing out on the 2013-14 Europa League.
It sparked a restructuring of the club over the next two years and they had to offload several players, which included selling assets including Isco, Cazorla and Toulalan, who got them into the Champions League. The biggest blow was Isco, who went to Real Madrid, and Pellegrini who took up as Coach of Manchester City. They spearheaded Malaga into Europe during the golden years of the 110-year of existence of the club.
As a result of the restructuring it means Malaga were forced to buy shrewdly in the transfer market, as they no longer relied on big signings as they did 2010. However, under Javi Garcia, Malaga have this season have improved on the 11th-place finish last season that led to Al-Thani terminating Bernd Schuster’s contract.
After 11 games Malaga find themselves in sixth place and are just two points off a Champions League spot. Undefeated in five League games the fans at La Rosaleda have managed to smile again.
Garcia has instilled discipline and organisation into his players. The statistics speak for themselves. Although Malaga have scored just 14 goals they have conceded nine – the third lowest in the League, behind Atletico Madrid [also on 9] and Barcelona, who have let in five.
Malaga’s tight defence has been thanks to goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, who has been nothing short of amazing. The Cameroonian has kept five clean sheets in 11 games this season and has kept out Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa, who was acquired after his heroics in the World Cup.
In attack Nordin Amrabat and Juanmi have been their best performers so far. Both have scored three goals while Amrabat has chipped in with three assists and Juanmi contributing two.
Amrabat is the example of Malaga’s return to astute spending on players, as he was acquired on loan from Turkish giants Galatasaray. The Moroccan is certainly showing his worth, scoring the winning penalty last week as Eibar were defeated 2-1.
Meanwhile, in midfield the industrious Ignacio Camacho has been a stalwart, his call-up to the Spain squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus and friendly against Germany an embodiment of Camacho and the club’s recent exploits.
Though Malaga face a tough match away to Atletico Madrid at Vincente Calderon next weekend it certainly looks as though Garcia has rejuvenated the club.
