Match Reports

Well, here we are back in Spain; we returned home on Thursday 20 May after almost a month abroad in Scotland. What better way, then, to raise the spirits but to go to La Roseleda for the final match of the season. Although the prospect of UEFA Cup football next season has gone with the 1-1 draw away last week to Real Sociedad, this last match did bring together two arch rivals from within Andalucia, with this week's visitors, Real Betis, making the two hour trip down from Seville. Having been to the corresponding away fixture in January and sensing a carnival atmosphere, Geoff and I were joined by both Helen and Sheila for this game.
It was Sunday, it was a 7 o'clock evening kick-off - the sun was still warm and the ground was full to capacity. The Malaga squad had been reduced to the bare bones with regulars Edgar, Romero, Diego Alonso, Valcarce, Rojas all missing from the team and the bench. The team lined up (4-4-2) Arnau, Josemi, Litos, Fernando Sanz and Duda, Gerardo, Michel Angel, Leko and Insua, Salva and Canabal. In theory, Portuguese left winger Duda, playing at left back, should offer another attacking option, with him overlapping down the wing.
Real Betis had ex-Malaga goalkeeper, Contreras, in their line-up, the keeper is third in line behind Casillas and Canazares for Spain's No.1, and has lost least goals in the league this season. I was also looking forward to seeing Joaquin, one Spain's rising stars. As well as these two, Betis also boasts other full internationalists in Capi, Denilson, Assuncao, Fernando and Alfonso.
Malaga kicked off and immediately went into attack and a swift move down the left ended with a cross to Gerardo, whose strong volley brought out a world class save from Contreras after only 23 seconds on the clock! In two minutes, Gerardo again was denied with another fine save, after receiving a short pass from Salva in front of goal.
In the 10th minute, disaster for Malaga as Josemi had to leave the field after failing to shrug off an injury received minutes earlier in a crunching tackle from sprightly Betis striker, Dani. Local lad Manu (from Fuengirola) came on to take up the right wing position, with Gerardo dropping to right back. In the 14th minute, Dani was booked for a heavy tackle on Michel Angel, as Malaga continued to have the bulk of possession and the play.
Then a burst into the box by Canabal in the 19th minute, was rewarded by his long lanky legs being chopped from beneath him and a penalty was awarded. Up steps Salva to face Contreras. The goalkeeper guessed correctly and made an excellent save to his right, but SALVA was there to net the rebound into the empty net. 1-0.
The two central midfield players for Betis, Benjamin and Assuncao, looked very strong and Assuncao in particular looked very dangerous with accurate passing in open play and with swerving free kicks and corners on set pieces. However it was still Malaga the most likely to score and Salva came close in 29 minutes, heading wide from a Manu cross.
An escape for Malaga in 40 minutes when Fernando Sanz seemed to handle in the box but the referee gave nothing and the chance was lost as centre back Rivas shot wide.
Betis were getting back into the match, with Assuncao finding Joaquin out wide on the right with long 30 metre passes and the pace of the young star beating makeshift left back Duda, time and again.
However it was Malaga who increased their lead on the stroke of half time after a typically lung bursting run from Insua was met by 8 foot three striker CANABAL's head to make it 2-0.
In the second half it was Betis who started the most brightly and the Assuncao-Joaquin route was exploited time and time again. One such move in the 50th minute saw the 23 year old winger ghost past four defenders before bringing out a fantastic save from Arnau. Betis continued to press and when Dani was put through one on one on Arnau following an incisive pass from Benjamin in the 54th minute, Malaga were saved by their goalie's outstretched leg, for the ball to go behind for a corner.
On Malaga's right wing Manu was finding it difficult to come to terms with the pace of the game and kept giving the ball away when a simple pass was the obvious choice. However, he did spring briefly to light with a dazzling run across the 18 yard line, but Contreras was there to make the save from the resultant shot.
Betis were not to be denied however and it was no surprise when they pulled one back in 62 minutes. Again Assuncao to Joaquin, who went past three men before delivering an inch perfect pass to DANI who made no mistake. 2-1
Betis sensed they had a chance to get something out the game and brought on Denilson for the disappointing Fernando on 65. Five minutes later, Betis drew level. Centre back Juanito took a free kick two yards inside into Malaga's half and sent it long into the penalty box and BENJAMIN ran on to head it home and make it 2-2.
In 76, substitute Manu was substituted for Luque, who immediately showed with a strong run into the box.
On 78, Contreras came off worst in a clash with Salva and had to be substituted. The home fans gave their old hero a very warm send off and greeted his replacement, Relano, with shouts of "Loco, loco" (Mad, mad)
The game was heading for a stalemate, with Betis finishing the stronger and so it was to be when in the 89th minute, with the Malaga defence mesmerised by crosses coming in all directions into the box and not getting cleared properly, when little DANI nips in to make it 2-3.
In one last bid to save the game, on 90, Salva saw Relano make a finger tip save to his strong header and put the goal bound shot over the bar.
Full time. 2-3
So that's that for this season. Malaga's final position 10th, but with only four points between them and the eventual 6th place, Sevilla, it has been a tale of what might have been. Who knows what next season will bring as there are several Malaga players out of contract, including Duda, Insua, Edgar, Diego Alonso, Salva, Canabal, Rojas and Iznata. Also, manager Juande Ramos is out of contract and rumoured to be on his way. Mexican superstar Hugo Sanchez is being tipped to be his successor. Such is modern football, more like a merry-go-round, with every season starting afresh.
However, whatever happens, when the new season comes around in September, your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there.
Adios Amigos!

Posted by hodgers at 8:06 PM | Permalink

Hello fellow Malaga CF fans!
Yes, the mighty Atletico Madrid were at La Roselda for an 8 o'clock kick off on a Saturday night. The "other" team in Madrid with 45,000 season ticket holders. Sitting in fifth place in La Liga, and with stars like Fernando Torres (wonderkid, super striker, still capable of under-21 selection, but watch him in EURO2004 in Portugal), Sergi, Dani, Aguilera, Simeone (remember him, playing for Argentina and getting David Beckham sent off in the 1994 World Cup Finals?) Malaga knew they had a game on their hands.
Manager Juande Ramos had perhaps for the first time this season a full squad to select from. How would he play this game? Defensive? Attacking? Well, he left regulars Fernando Sanz, Duda, Canabal, Rojas, Romero and Manu out to sit on the bench and chose a very attacking side, in 4-4-2 formation, Calatayud (in goal in place of injured Arnau), winger Gerardo at right back, Josemi, Litos and Valcarce, Edgar, Miguel Angel, Leko and Insua, Salva and Diego Alonso.
Atletico Madrid also had an attacking formation, playing with three forwards in a 4-3-3 formation. What was striking about Atletico on the field was their physical presence with at least five players in the 6 feet plus category.
Atletico won the toss and chose to play into the Fondo end in the first half. Malaga kicked off and from the very first kick, the game was played at a very high tempo, with both sides committed to attacking football. For the spectator (i.e. me) this was going to be an excellent football match and so it turned out.
Although there was plenty of action on the field in the opening stages, in retrospect, the two midfields cancelled each other out. What was apparent was that Malaga were going to chase every 50/50 ball and close down with two players on Atleticos's attackers and Atletico were intent on attacking at every opportunity, not like many away teams who sit camped in defence and try to work the counterattack. So an entertaining game in prospect. Of the teams I've seen this year, Atletico are up there with Valencia as the best of the teams I've seen in opposition.
The first real close thing fell to Atletico when, in the 26th minute, Fernando Torres found himself not offside (much to the chagrin of the Malaga defenders) and he unleashed an unstoppable shot which had Calatayud beaten, but it came off the nearside post and was scrambled to safety.
The quality of the football was at a high standard, with both teams working very hard, tackling and passing precisely, and the pace of the game was high, so that if one team lost possession for any reason, the other had players in position to make the counter very positively and quickly. What was apparent to me was that with Diego Alonso up front to accompany the usually solo Salva up front, how successful he was in winning the ball , either when it came to him at height or on the ground. So, when in the 31st minute, Diego Alonso gathered the ball on the left, he was in a position to pass it into the path of the onrushing Leko, from midfield. LEKO, the Croatian, is very left footed, and unfortunately the ball fell to his right. However, he had time to pass it from his right to his left and then stroke it low easily past Aragoneses in the Atletico goal into the right hand corner to make it 1-0.
With half time fast approaching, (this was a game when time passed very quickly), both Geoff and I were thinking that another goal before the change around would be necessary to give us an edge in the second half, so menacing were the front men for Atletico, particularly Fernando Torres, who, for a big man, showed he had quick feet and a quick brain for making something out of nothing.
Malaga won a corner on the left, on 45 minutes. In the absence of Duda (who normally takes all free kicks and corners), Leko took the kick. It went beyond the multitude of players in the box, but fell to DEIGO ALONSO, standing on his own, who blasted it home to make it 2-0. Oh joy!
Now would be a good time for the referee to blow for half time, we all thought, and the crescendo of whistles all around the ground served to assist the referee in this decision. However, he allowed Atletico to kick off. He also allowed them to execute some fine passes which allowed a strong run down the right wing and also for the perfect pass to the feet of NANO, who made no mistake to make it 2-1. This time the referee did not allow Malaga to restart the game by blowing for halftime. 2-1.
During halftime, Geoff and I were thinking that the game was evenly poised and that the threat of Atletico was still very strong. The goal lost on the stroke of half time was very bad news and hopefully Juande would have Our Boys stoked up to come out with all barrels from the restart and claim another goal for the cushion required to seal the game.
Juande is as good a judge as Geoff and me and Our Boys did not let us down. In 48 minutes, the always impressive, hard working and pacey Argentinean, Insua, took possession in the centre circle and started to run towards goal. He beat four men in an meandering, twisting and turning, lung bursting run, straight down the middle of the park, before releasing the ball to the grateful DIEGO ALONSO, who made no mistake from 10 yards. 3-1.
There was no lack of concentration this time as Malaga fought hard to keep their two goal advantage.
In 60 minutes Romero made his comeback after a long period of injury (although he did play for Uruguay last week) in place of the hardworking Edgar.
In 62 minutes there was a bit of a furore as a strong tackle from Josemi on Fernando Torres, who reacted violently, had a ruck of twenty players around the referee, making their point of view on the matter. The referee decided to book both players.
The matter wasn't resolved, however, when the same two players went for a ball deep inside Malaga's half. Fernando Torres used his elbow to gain advantage, but Josemi appeared to retaliate to the challenge and Spain's boy wonder went down in a heap. Again there were twenty players around the referee, whilst Fernando Torres lay prostate on the ground. The medical team rushed on, including the three(?) stretcher bearers. After a wee while, and as Fernando Torres was stretchered off, the referee brandished a second yellow and a red card for the young superstar. What about Josemi? No second card, but Juande sensibly substituted him with Fernando Sanz at the earliest opportunity (in 67 minutes).
Further substitutions were made by 10 men Atletico, who ended up playing a 3-2-4 formation to try and get something from the game. But without Fernando Torres, they looked more ordinary and the goal opportunities fell to Malaga, with Salva, in particular, keen to add to his already impressive tally for the season. Although Duda came on as a late sub for Gerardo, Malaga were unable to increase their advantage and the game finished 3-1 to the home side.
A fantastic victory over a good side. A great game to watch and a good result for the home fans who again showed their support for their team. Spare a thought, briefly, very briefly, for Musampa, the former Malaga favourite, who came on a sub for Atletico, and despite his trickery and positive contribution to his side's cause, was booed and whistled every time he was on the ball.
At the end of the day, Malaga await the results of Sunday's games to see if they have made any progress up the table. Next week they are away to Barcelona and then home to Deportivo. More tough matches, but if Malaga are to realise a European dream, then they must take points from these forthcoming matches.
Next home game is scheduled for 25th April against Champion's League contenders, Deportivo. Your Malaga CF correspondent will be there!

Posted by hodgers at 4:23 AM | Permalink

Well after the two Sevilla sides, Sevilla/Real Betis, the Sevilla/Malaga fixture is the biggest local derby in Andalusia. I was reading just the other day that in terms of land mass, Andalucia is bigger than Portugal, so it was not surprising that there were all sorts of stories circulating in the local newspapers in the build-up to Sunday's game. One I read concerned the outstanding payment Malaga had to pay Atletico Fenix, the Uruguayan former club of that country's international striker, Dario Silva. Malaga maintain that there is no outstanding debt, but the Malaga Director General, Antonio Mendoza, did wonder why this story had emerged during the week before the Sevilla/Malaga match, when it concerned a player who left Malaga a little acrimoniously at the end of last season to join.......Sevilla! Of course, Dario Silva's replacement at Malaga is Salva, La Liga's top scorer, who has outperformed anything that his predecessor did and has easily wiped the Malaga fan's memories of the Uruguayan with his 16 goals so far.
Unfortunately, your Malaga CF Correspondent did not make the trip to Sevilla yesterday, as this Wednesday we hope to get the keys to our new house. However, I was able to catch a glimpse of the highlights on television and I know that you Malaga supporters around the globe are interested to know how the White and Blues got on.
Again as fate would have it, Sevilla started the game on the same points total as Malaga, so a victory for either team would open up a three point gap between them. In Andalucia, if one of the teams can't win the league, then the season is not a complete failure if they are to finish above their closest rivals. As you know in Spanish football, home wins are expected, away wins are rare apart from the top clubs, and Malaga did beat Sevilla at home earlier in the season.
First of all Manager Juande Ramos, as ever, made some changes to the team for the visit to Sevilla. Our Uruguayan anchor man, Romero, returned after being out for several weeks in place of his able deputy, the Croation Leko, the Argentine Insua was preferred to Luque on the left wing, as regular Duda is still suspended after being sent off two weeks ago, and Ramos went for two up front with Canabal partnering Salva, which meant that Gerardo dropped to the bench as the Portuguese Edgar took up his position on the right wing. Team (4, 4, 2) Arnau, Josemi, Litos, Fernando Sanz, Valcarce, Edgar, Michel Angel, Romero, Insua, Canabal and Salva.
We went out for a meal last night, unable to watch the game live on television as it was infuriatingly on a Spanish Pay for View channel. However, we are walking past this bar, which had a huge television in the corner, and there is a football match on. I glanced up and recognised the all-white of Sevilla against the unique black and gold away strip of Malaga so I popped my head in to see what the score was. Well just at that minute, in the 78th minute of the match to be exact, well into the second half, with the score level on 0-0, Insua went rushing into the box down the left hand side, with both Canabal and Salva running into more central positions in the box. The nasty big defender came along and made a rough sliding tackle which took the ball away from Insua, but also took Insua's legs and down he went....penalty! Up steps, who else but, Salva and he powerfully crashed the spot kick past the hapless goalie to make the final score Sevilla 0 Malaga 1.
Salva's tally for the season has now increased to 17, just 5 behind Ronaldo's 22, but the big Brazilian is out for a few weeks and our man has an opportunity to catch up and overtake the goofy one.
A famous victory then and one which pushes Malaga into 8th spot, just three points off the European placings that the top six spots guarantee. Next week, Malaga are at home to struggling Albecete, who won promotion from the Second Division last year and have been finding it difficult in their first season with the big boys, lurking around the fringes of the three relegation slots all season. What will happen? I will let you know as your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there.

Posted by hodgers at 7:46 AM | Permalink

February 29, 2004 @ 17:00h - yes it's another Sunday night match at La Roseleda. The temperature is 18C, it's sunny and in our seats we catch the sun and need both caps and sunglasses to watch the action. The pitch is immaculate, flat like a billiard table and the ground is again at capacity for the visit of Racing. They have made the long trip from the north coast - Santander is the ferry port where you arrive from Portsmouth with Brittany Ferries. They arrive in Malaga sharing 11th place on 32 points from 25 games, so a close game was always in prospect. Like Malaga, Racing have no superstars in their line-up but they are known as a hard working side, play a strict 4-4-2 set up and will be no pushovers.
Ruande again makes some changes to his line-up, enforced by suspensions and injuries. The team that lined up was (4-4-1-1) Arnau, Josemi, Litos, Juanito, Valcarce, Gerardo, Leko, Miguel Angel, Duda, Edgar and Salva. So Litos returns in place of suspended captain Fernando Sanz, Croatian Leko keeps his place in midfield with continuing absence of Romero and my favourite winger, Gerardo, makes a rare start wide on the right. So with Duda wide on the left, the Malaga set up was along the usual lines. There was no place for Luque or Diego Alonso, despite their heroics in the last few games against Celta Vigo and Real Madrid.
Malaga win the toss and elect to kick towards the goal in front of us, as the sun shines directly into the faces of the opposing defenders and goalkeeper. However, as the minutes pass by, it's clear that Racing are devoid of any other tactic than a packed defence then route one long ball attack. There are a lot of petty fouls and the game is constantly being held up by the referee for more and more free kicks. In fact 30 minutes go by and neither goalkeeper has had to make a save.
The game is bogged down in a packed midfield and neither team has much clue about how to make a difference. For Malaga, Salva, who started the season akin to a carthorse on acid, was showing a good appetite and his first touch was good but he had no support to lay off to when winning the ball time and time again in his battles with the two Racing centrebacks.
Then after 38 minutes, suddenly, out of nowhere, Leko picks up a loose ball in the centre circle and releases Gerardo on the right. He races to the byline and sends in a low cross to the advancing SALVA, who coolly brought the ball under control, took it away from the centre back and slotted it home for his 15th goal of the season.
Halftime Malaga 1 Racing 0
Malaga started the second period brightly but the fussy referee soon ensured that the pattern of the first half soon became established in the second too. Arnau still had to make a save of any consequence and we had to wait until the 57th minute before Malaga had a shot on target. Leko fired in a ferocious shot from the edge of a crowded penalty area. The shot took a massive deflection but the keeper did well to get across his box to make a diving save.
In 68 minutes, Duda was substituted for Luque. Luque has pace, is keen to shoot on sight, but is a very left footed left winger. True enough in 75 minutes, from the left wing, Luque's right foot shot again required a diving save from the Racing keeper, as Malaga tried to make the game safe.
This seemed to waken up Racing that perhaps Malaga weren't going to score another and that they were still in this game. So they changed their tactics, went three at the back and put five up front.
The tactic however allowed Malaga to have more scoring attempts on the break and first Edgar went close with a flying header and then Luque has a strong shot which went straight to the keeper. With three minutes remaining Salva was taken off to rapturous applause and Diego Alonso came on. Then Edgar was replaced by Canabal, as Ruande's response to Racing's tactics was to put on fresh strikers. It almost paid off as after typical harrying and closing down won the ball for Diego Alonso, the Argentine passed to Gerardo who was standing unmarked just outside the box. Noticing that the Racing keeper was on his six yard line, he tried a spectacular lob which cannoned back off the crossbar and fell to Luque's......right foot... and he tamely shot straight into the keeper's arms.
Final Score 1-0.
Still, that's now three wins in a row for Malaga, after their dreadful start to the year. They remain in their midtable position, but if results go their way over the coming weeks, they could soon be challenging for a European spot in the top six at the end of the season. Next week they travel to Zaragoza, who are struggling this season, languishing just above the three relegation spots. Another tough game in prospect then, but also another opportunity for "Our Boys" to advance further up the table.

Posted by hodgers at 1:00 AM | Permalink

Straight after last week's crushing 6-1 home defeat at the hands of Valencia, what better way for Malaga to bounce back than to face the mighty Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the capital. To date Madrid's home record in La Liga was Played 10, Won 10, For 26, Away 8. In comparison, Malaga to date have lost all seven of their matches played since New Year's Day.
Real Madrid had a cup game against Sevilla in midweek, for which they rested several of their stars, but it was a full team out against Malaga. Real Madrid (4-4-1-1): Casillas, Salgado, Pavon, Bravo, Roberto Carlos, Figo, Beckham, Borja, Zidane, Raul and Ronaldo.
Juande Ramos did not have anchor man Romero available, out through suspension. Arnau was suspended after being sent of last week, so Calatayud retained his position in goal. Valcarce returned to left back, with Rojas switching to right back. Josemi occupied the centre back position alongside Sanz and Juanito took Romero's position in front of the back four. Litos dropped to the bench and there was a return for Edgar, back after injury out on the right wing. Malaga (4-1-4-1): Calatayud, Rojas, Josemi, Sanz, Valcarce, Juanito, Edgar, Gerardo, Michel Angel, Duda and Salva.
Real Madrid kicked off, but it was Malaga who showed early on. They do have the same skill base as "Los Blancos" but they were going to make up for it by hard work and closing down quickly to prevent the Madrid flair players to express themselves. Edgar in particular worried Madrid with his strong runs down the right and Salva connected well fro his cross but it went straight to Casillas. We had to wait 11 minutes before Madrid showed in attack. Then Roberto Carlos's cross from the left went strongly across goal and strongly out for a throw. In 12 minutes Malaga were given an opportunity when Edgar was upended just outside the box, but Duda's free kick hit the wall. In 22 minutes Malaga had a penalty claim turned down after Salva was brought down in a Pavon/Bravo sandwich, but the referee just waved "play-on". This seemed to give Madrid a jolt and they swept upfield with a number of characteristic passes: Beckham - Zidane - Roberto Carlos - Zidane - Beckham - Figo. Figo beat Duda as he started a run but his pass into the box was met by Sanz, who clumsily hoofed the ball clear. It went straight to Beckham who sent a 20 yard cross wide right to the overlapping Salgado, who looked suspiciously offside. The Malaga defence had moved out leaving both Raul and Ronaldo alone in the six yard box. The flag stayed down and although Raul missed Salgado's cross, RONALDO was there to tap it home from three yards. Madrid's first shot at goal!
Edgar continued to cause havoc with his running but his cross when met by Salva went straight to Casillas. In 30 mins Raul was tripped by Sanz in the semicircle of the penalty box. Beckham's free kick was close, skiffing the roof of the net as it went over the bar. Just before half time, Sanz had an opportunity after a corner from Duda, but his shot was off target with the goal gaping. Then Zidane fell over just outside the Malaga penalty box and a freekick was awarded, but Beckham's effort this time went into Row Z. Half time 1-0.
Two minutes after the restart, Beckham was given a third opportunity when Ronaldo went crashing after a ling bursting run. Again the lad in Row Z had to dive for cover, as Beckham sent it well over. Then a real scare for Malaga as Ronaldo ran down the left, beat Rojas before sending a weak but placed shot wide of Calatayud. Agonisingly the ball trundled towards the goal, but came off the far post, where Juanito cleared to safety.
Disaster for Malaga in the 58 min when Raul kicked the ball off Valcarce's arm in a close challenge and the referee awarded a free kick, again in the semicircle of the penalty box. This time Beckham was pushed aside to allow ROBERTO CARLOS score with a trademark bullet, high into the top right hand corner to make it 2-0.
Malaga did not give up and in 60 mins, Casillas had to bring off two magnificent saves in quick succession to deny Gerardo, whose piledriver from 20 yards, could only be parried by Spain's No1 onto Salva's head. His header was goal bound but Casillas somehow managed to dive across to his left and turn it round the post.
With 65 minutes gone, there was a flurry of substations on both sides. First Rojas came off for Insua, an attacking substitution, with Josemi moving to right back and Juanito moving back into the back four. Raul came off for Portillo, whose first action as to get booked for a foul on Duda. Figo was then replaced by Nunez, as Madrid seemed to believe the game was won. Malaga also replaced Edgar with Manu and the disappointing Duda came off in 72 minutes for Luque to make a rare appearance on the left wing. What an appearance!. Insua won the ball in the centre circle and slipped the ball forward to Salva. Luque was running free down the left wing and Salva's pass was perfect. LUQUE took the ball into the box and hit a sweet shot past the diving Casillas and into the net at the far post. Great goal! 2-1
Malaga piled on the pressure and were unlucky not find an equaliser with shots being fired in by Gerardo, Salva, Insua and Luque. There was only one respite in the last 10 mins for Madrid, but Beckham's free kick in the 81st minute hit the wall. More practice required, son.
Real Madrid looked delighted when the final whistle was blown and their perfect home record in the league remains intact. Another defeat for Malaga, but they acquitted themselves well and must take some confidence from this performance. Next week bottom club Espanyol visit La Roseleda, so let's hope "our Boys" can get back to winning ways. Your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there!

Posted by hodgers at 10:43 AM | Permalink

Fellow Malaga CF followers,
It has not been a happy year so far for the blanquiazuls, Malaga having not recorded a win in any competition in 2004. After storming up La Liga to within a point of a Champion's League place towards the end of 2003, for a number of reasons, they have lost their way a little bit. The main reason for me though is that Manager Juande has stuck by and large to the same 11 throughout the first half of the season, but since the New Year, he has been forced to make changes due to suspensions and injuries. The eleven who have carried the fight so far have been, in a 4-1-4-1 formation:
Goalkeeper: Calatayud
Defence: Josemi, Litos, Fernando Sanz, Valcarce
Anchor: Romero
Midfield: Edgar, Insua, Michel Angel, Duda
Striker: Salva
In last week's away defeat to Villarreal, the team showed four changes form the "normal" eleven: Valcarce was replaced by Rojas, Romero by right winger Gerardo, with Salva replaced by Canabal and Diego Alonso up front in a new 4-4-2 line-up. Team: Calatayud, Josemi, Litos, Fernando Sanz, Rojas, Gerardo, Insua, Michel Angel, Duda, Diego Alonso and Canabal.
The biggest surprise last week was the omission of Salva, as although he has the touch and finesse of a carthorse, was still La Liga's third top scorer on 9 goals, behind Ronaldo (Real Madrid) on 15 and F Torres (Atletico Madrid) on 12. Despite last week's defeat Manager Juande saw enough promise in the play to predict that Malaga would soon overcome the current slump and with two back to back home matches against Valladolid this week and next Sunday's encounter against table-toppers Valencia, the team would show a return to winning form.
Today's opponents, Valladolid sat 10th equal with Malaga, both on 26 points, so a close fought match was in prospect. This was to be Helen's first visit to La Roseleda, courtesy of Geoff's season ticket, as Geoff and Sheila are back in England for a short while. Helen was quite looking forward to the match having enjoyed the experience 2 weeks ago when we visited Sevilla and saw Malaga go down to Betis.
Juande again made changes to the team (3 this time) to try and find that elusive first win this year. First surprise for me was the return of Arnau in goal, after being out since October with an injured arm, as young Calatayud had made a very favourable impression as Arnau's deputy. Rojas again retained his place at left back, with Romero returning in place of Insua, who dropped to the bench. Gerardo retained the right wing berth and Salva also returned, with a strike partner of Canabal in a 4-1-3-2 line-up. Team: Arnau, Josemi, Litos, Fernando Sanz, Rojas, Gerardo, Romero, Michel Angel, Duda, Salva and Canabal.
Malaga kicked off in 20C sunshine, with sunhats and sunglasses the order of the day with the bright sun still high at five o'clock. Within 8 minutes Valladolid had to make a substitution with main striker, Makukula, having to go off after a strong challenge by Sanz. After about ten minutes of play the strategy of the two teams seemed quite apparent. Malaga were the pressing team with their opponents quite content to pack their defence and depend on quick breakaways, particularly down their right wing through Sales, who gave Rojas a roasting all afternoon and their quick striker, Losada, whose twists and turns seemed to get Sanz in a fankle more than once. Arnau in goal looked a bit shaky after having been out for so long and Malaga's defence, normally their strongest suit, seemed to panic when the Valladolid front men ran at them. Although Sanz and Litos generally won the battle in the air or even in the tackle, they seemed not able to clear their lines properly and put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
However, it was the overlapping Rojas, put through via a delightful backheel by Duda, who reached the by-line and squared for SALVA to tap in at the far post to make it 1-0 after 23 minutes.
Malaga had most of the possession in the first half and Valladolid rarely looked like creating any chances except for one shot from Losada which Arnau had to clear the cobwebs away and make a diving save to his left. However, it was a mistake from Sanz almost on halftime, failing to clear, out on the left touchline, which led to the equaliser. The speedy Sales raced to the touchline and sent in a cross which was backheeled by Losada to OSCAR, lurking on the 18 yard line, who promptly sent a screamer into the back of the net, to a hushed crowd. Halftime 1-1.
It is a feature of games in Spain that teams do not have large travelling support, due to the games being played on Sunday nights and the large distances involved. However, the absolute silence which greets away goals still takes a bit of getting used to- especially when the ground is pretty much at capacity and the noise levels are high during normal play. Quite surreal.
Within 10 minutes after the restart Malaga made two changes, local hero Manu came on for the disappointing Gerardo and Diego Alonso less obviously for Canabal. Whilst Malaga was adapting to these changes, Valladolid took the lead when, after another mix-up between Sanz and Arnau, OSCAR nipped in to score his personal and his team's second. Score 1-2.
Valladolid seemed content to waste time and hang onto this lead even though there was still half an hour to play. A sense of frustration crept in to Malaga's play and the next fifteen minutes or so was very scrappy with too many interruptions to play for niggly fouls. One such was awarded to Valladolid with ten minutes to go, thirty yards out. Centre back and Roman Emperor JULIO CESAR stepped up and hammered the ball towards goal. It seemed to cannon off a few players like a bagatelle ball before nestling in the Arnau's bottom right hand corner. 1-3.
Juande made his third substitution by bringing on Insua for Romero to give the team more of an attacking bias. Many "fans" started to leave at this point, although I've never seen the value of missing any minutes of a match. Those who left missed an excellent Malaga counter. The third Valladolid goal seemed to wake Malaga up and they changed up three gears to try and salvage something from the game. Manu finally realised that he had got a game and was on the pitch. He received a 20 yard pass from Insua out wide on the right wing and evaded two tackles, the second fortuitously with the ball breaking into the penalty box. Manu got there first and sent a powerful cross to the back post where our hero SALVA came rushing in to head a great goal past the hapless Bizarri to make the score 2-3. The remainder of the game was very exciting as Malaga piled on the pressure for a deserved equaliser, but the referee blew for full time before this could be realised.
So another disappointing result for Malaga. Their next two games could not be tougher - Valencia at home and then away to Real Madrid. However, they are starting to slide down the table and need to collect some points soon if the early season promise is not going to turn into a fight for La Liga survival.
Canizares is the goalie with the best record in the league to date, having only conceded 14 goals in 20 matches. Hopefully Salva and co can do some damage to this proud record next weekend. Your Malaga CF correspondent will be there, be assured.

Posted by hodgers at 12:35 AM | Permalink

Well, what a game! We expected a tough match from Barcelona, as we know Malaga are quite strong at the back but are weak up front, relying on Salva (ex Bolton Wanderers!) and our Angolan import, Edgar, to score our goals for us. (Edgar has so far failed to score this season and 3 of Salva's goals so far have been from the penalty spot.) Last Saturday, the televised match on Spanish TV was Atletico Madrid vs Malaga and it was clear that Our Boys can match the best teams except for putting the ball in the net and before tonight's game our goal difference was -1.
One change was made in the team to meet Klivert, Saviloli, Overmars, Luis Enrique and Co, with Manu dropping to the bench in favour of nippy winger Insui. We were a bit worried too about Malaga's usual tentative and nervous starting at the beginning of each half and feared that Barcelona might dominate things early and take control. What a surprise then for all of us. Insui played inside and Edgar went out onto the right wing and left full back Valcarce was up front wide on the left wing with playmaker Duda playing a sort of wing back role. Within the first 10 minutes Malaga were ahead with Edgar causing the damage down the right wing delivering a cross which defeated the Barcelona defence and ended up with Salva drilling the ball home. Salva ended up scoring a hat-trick, all in open play, the second when he took a ball from Valcarce on the left and drove it home and the third by beating the goalie one on one from a difficult angle. After his third, he was promptly substituted by Diego Alonso, who was on the park two minutes before he too scored an excellent goal to make it 4-0.
Barcelona had only managed one real shot on target so far and that was from a free kick on the edge of the box which our Malaga-born goalkeeper Cataluyd dived across the goalmouth and saved magnificently, one-handed around the post. Unfortunately our normally reliable captain Fernando Sanz lost a bit of concentration amid all the euphoria and under no real pressure turned the ball past his own keeper in an ill-timed pass back to put respectability on the scoreline that Barca did not deserve. Malaga's tactic of closing down every player, especially the back four, led to the final goal, scored by another substitute, Canibal, who rarely gets a game for Malaga, despite being named as sub every week, but finished another sparkling move with a run down the right wing and sending a screamer between the hapless Barca goalie and the near post for a final score of 5-1. You can only imagine the bedlam inside the capacity filled stadium when the final whistle was blown. Barca looked shell-shocked and will have to do much better at the weekend when they play Real Madrid or they will gave another drubbing.
Malaga have risen to sixth position after tonight's games and some of us are already dreaming of a UEFA Cup spot. Another tough match away next weekend at Deportivo La Coruna awaits Our Boys. As for me I will just have to wait the ten days until the next home match against Real Mallorca. Can't wait!

Your Malaga CF Correspondent

PS- Wow. In my haste to get the report on last night's game off to you, I did omit to inform you adequately about the strength of the Barcelona squad. As well as Puyol, Luis Enrique, Saviola, Kluivert and Overmars, Frank Rijkaard also had recent signings Rustu (Fenerbahce), Luis Garcia (Atletico Madrid), Mario (Valladolid), Quaresma (Sporting Lisbon), Marquez (Monaco) , Van Bronkhorst (Arsenal) and Ronaldinho (PSG) either in the team or on the bench, apart from the latter who is out with an injury just now. Some team it was in prospect, but not on the night when the mighty minnows of Malaga undid them with superior teamwork and tactics.

Posted by hodgers at 1:15 AM | Permalink