Match Reports

Yesterday, manager Gregario Manzano left Malaga CF with a year and a half of his contract still to run. He left because of "his part in bringing Malaga to such a lowly position in La Liga". Manzano had done wonders previously, particularly with Real Mallorca, with whom he won the Copa del Reyes (the King's Cup, the equivalent of the FA Cup in Spain) and had enjoyed some UEFA Cup successes. He left Atletico Madrid at end of last season to join Malaga, where he promised to get the club into the UEFA Cup next season, after the club narrowly missed out on qualification last season when they lost to Real Betis in the last game. However, after a string of defeats, notably the last home game against Real Sociedad when they lost 5-1 and most recently at the weekend when they lost 2-1 away to Racing Santander, Malaga find themselves in third bottom place, in one of the automatic relegation places alongside new boys Numancia and ironically Real Mallorca. Unless there is some quick reversal of fortune in the league, the team will find themselves isolated in this zone and unable to get out of it.
Having said all of this, this coming weekend's match represents the last game of the first half of the season, so there is plenty of time for a recovery. Malaga have appointed their Malaga B manager, Antonio Tapia, to take over first team affairs until the end of this season. Tapia has been reasonably successful with Malaga B, getting them promoted to La Segunda (Second Division) and keeping them in that tough league, playing this season against such as Celta Vigo and Valladolid, using predominantly young players, as Malaga use their B team as a feeder for the first team.
(La Segunda note - the top three teams are automatically promoted to La Liga, replaced by the bottom three teams from the higher division. If Malaga were to be relegated, no matter where Malaga B finished in the table, the B team would have to be relegated to the Third Division, as the two sides cannot coexist in the same league. Similarly, Malaga B can never be promoted from La Segunda, even if they finish in the top three. Final note - the leading side in La Segunda at the moment is another Andalucian team, Cadiz, which would be another attractive local derby, if they are promoted and Malaga manage to stay up. Cadiz is also where former Raith Rovers manager, Antonio Calderon, is youth team manager, so for me there is added interest).
Malaga B is run almost like a separate club, with its own manager and backroom staff and playing squad. Many young stars have signed for Malaga, played a season in the B team, then broken into the first team the following season. Tapia's job has been to nurture and develop this talent, which he has done well. This year's first team squad has at least six players who played for the B team last season, so Tapia knows the squad well.
He starts his tenure with two tough home games in a row. The first is at 10pm local time on Saturday against fierce Andalucian rivals Sevilla, a game which will be shown live across Spain on public TV (i.e. like the BBC) and also in the UK on Sky Sports 2. Then next week, Atletico Madrid visit La Roseleda, complete with superstar striker Fernando Torres and former Malaga favourite, Salva, who was top scorer for Malaga last season with 19 goals.
Looking forward already to Saturday evening's match - you know that your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there!