Although Malaga CF is far from Spain’s top teams, La Rosaleda stadium is famous for its absolutely top-class atmosphere in the country. It now hosts second division matches, but just over a decade ago it hosted football at the highest level – also with Polish threads.
Polish footballers have written history
In April 2013. Málaga were minutes away from the semi-finals of the Champions League – and in their debut in this elite competition. The previous season, the club, backed generously by a Qatari investor at the time, had finished fourth in the Spanish league, which had been predicated on promotion to the LM. It was a surprise, but certainly not a great sensation. The year before, a number of stars had made their way to the Costa del Sol, led by Dutchman Ruud van Nisterlooy, a former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker.
In the 2012/13 Champions League quarter-finals, Malaga faced Borussia Dortmund, namely with… Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Piszczek in the squad. The first match, played at Estadio La Rosaleda, ended in a 1:1 draw, with the German team the favourites before the rematch. However, Malaga unexpectedly took the lead.
Before the break, Lewandowski scored the equalising goal, but in the second half, as the Polish fans waited for Borussia’s goal, the Spaniards scored. The away goals rule was still in force at the time, so even a 2:2 result would have given Malaga promotion. Until the 90th minute, the Spanish team not only had a bonus score, but even a small margin of error.
However, in added time Borussia first scored an equalising goal and two minutes later, in the final action of the match, pressed the winning goal. Literally pushed in – the hosts’ defender Felipe Santana put his foot on the ball spinning on the goal line. Had the match taken place a few years later, already in the era of VAR (video verification system), it is likely that Malaga would have advanced. This is because, as the replays showed, the goal scorer was on a burn.
If the linesman had raised the flag, there would not have been four goals by ‘Lewy’ in the semi-final against Real. Malaga fans are still speculating to this day whether their favourites, like Borussia, would have beaten the ‘Royals’. Or would they have followed their lead, beaten Bayern Munich in the final and taken the cup? We will never know.
The great crisis and the third division
Instead of more evenings with the Champions League, came the lean years. For a few seasons, Malaga still managed to stay in the Spanish elite, albeit without fighting for the top places. The only Pole in the club’s history at the time was Bartłomiej Pawłowski, who was brought to Andalusia from Łódź’s Widzew. He started promisingly, even scoring a goal. The team from the Costa del Sol plummeted to the Segunda Division, or second division, in the 2017/18 season, and plummeted with a bang – finishing last in the table. It seemed, however, that they would not stay in the Primera Division’s back division for long. In the 2018/19 season, it was the most serious candidate for promotion. However, it ended in third place and lost the play-offs.
In the following years, Malaga fared much worse. A Qatari investor turned off the money tap, the squad was regularly weakened. Three consecutive seasons saw three places in the second ten of the table, far from promotion. And finally, in 2022/23, the crisis reached its apogee – Malaga were relegated to the third division. The stay in the third tier of the competition lasted only one year. Promotion, however, was born in pain, more specifically in the play-offs.
This season, Malaga are again playing in the Segunda Division, which has since been renamed LaLiga2. A second consecutive promotion, this time to the elite, is rather unlikely. The aim is to stay up comfortably and so far the team from Estadio La Rosaleda is doing quite well – they are in 14th position, while teams from places 19-22 are relegated. The lack of giants like Real or Barcelona in the second division is compensated for by Malaga fans with clashes against local rivals. Indeed, the LaLiga’s back division has become overcrowded with teams from Andalusia. They play here: Almeria, Granada, Cadiz and Cordoba.
Polish fans are unlikely to associate too many players from the current Malaga squad. Fans of the Premier League may be familiar with the names, or rather the name and nickname, of two of the team’s strikers: Baturin and Dioni. The Croatian and the Spaniard were at Lech Poznan a few years ago, but both played just a few games each. Only 17-year-old Antonio Cordero is considered to be the team’s biggest star. Barcelona, among others, are said to be interested in him. Kevin Medina, a Malaga boy who grew up in the neighbouring district of La Trinidad, is regarded as a fan favourite.
History of football in Malaga
The club called Malaga CF was founded in 1948, which does not mean that there was no real football team in the city before then. As early as 1903, Malaga Football Club played its first matches. Ten years later, another team was formed – Malagueño F. C. The two teams competed for many years for the title of number one in the city. In 1933, these teams merged to form Club Deportivo Malaga. From 1941, the team played its home matches at the then brand-new Estadio La Rosaleda.
The year of Malaga CF’s founding is considered to be 1948, as it was then that CD Malaga took over the junior club CD Santo Tomas, turning it into its reserves – performing under the name Club Atlético Malagueño. In 1992, Club Deportivo ran into financial difficulties and was dissolved. CA Malagueño, however, continued to operate. A year later it was decided to change its full name to Malaga Club de Futbol S.A.D., or Malaga CF for short.
The club still operates under that name today and still plays its home matches at Estadio La Rosaleda. The venue is located in the northern part of the city, in the La Rosaleda district. It underwent major redevelopment before the 1982 World Cup, during which three matches were played there. The capacity of the stadium is approximately 30,000 spectators.
“Boquerones”, or anchovies
Although Malaga is currently far from Spain’s top clubs in terms of football, support-wise it is one of the country’s top teams. The Estadio La Rosaleda seats a full house at almost every match. The stadium is famous for its loud cheering, which is not at all a matter of course in Spain.
The local ultras group, or most ardent supporters, is called Frente Bokeron. It has been active since the 1980s and is considered one of the most glamorous, though also the most conflicted, in the entire country. “Boquerones”, or anchovies in Polish, is a nickname referring to the club as a whole. Malaga’s players and fans are also sometimes called “Blanquiazules” – after the colours of the shirts they wear, which are white and blue.
Ticket prices for most of Malaga’s second division matches start at around €30. A tour of the stadium combined with a visit to the club’s museum is also available. For blue-and-white souvenirs, you don’t have to go all the way to Estadio La Rosaleda – Malaga CF’s other official shop operates right in the city centre, near Plaza de la Merced.
See what else Malaga is famous for:
- Centre Pompidou Malaga and contemporary art
- City of a great artist
- Jardín Botánico Histórico, a veritable jungle
