• Second Division Classification

On June 15, 2010, a day before Spain debuted in the World Cup that later awarded its first and only star, sports information for a moment forgot the appointment of South Africa and moved their attention to Malaga. There, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani announced the purchase of Málaga CF. "In three years we will play the Champions League," promised the billionaire Qatari, who disbursed 36 million euros for the acquisition of the entity.

An omen -a priori far-fetched, but that became reality. With an investment of up to 60 million euros , with leading players such as Santi Cazorla, Joaquín, Van Nistelrooy or Isco - all of them commanded by Pellegrini-, the club reached the European Cup in just two years.

La Rosaleda enjoyed in first person the best Malaga of all time. A team that beat Milan in the group stage, a team that traced to Porto in the round of 16, a team that only a tragic outcome against Dortmund, with arbitration error included, drove him away from the semifinals. A team that, in short, fell in love with Europe in a performance that was forever sealed in Malacitan hearts.

And then, while the city continued to pinch itself after the deed, the project began to falter. The TSJ of Andalusia paralyzed the expansion of the marina of La Bajadilla , in Marbella, -one of the reasons why Al-Thani opted for Malaga-, and the sheikh turned off the tap. Not only did his stars leave -Cazorla al Arsenal, Joaquín a la Fiorentina, Isco al Madrid ...-, but the renowned signings no longer arrived. All this led to a deep crisis that led to the descent to the Second Division in April 2018.

Okazaki

But the nightmare had only just begun. The sheikh lowered his appearances around the city and paralyzed all investment. Since then Joaquín Jofre and José Luis Pérez Caminero have taken over the management. An ominous management. Málaga currently pays around fifteen million euros in salaries and its salary limit does not reach ten. Therefore, LaLiga prevented the club from enrolling the Japanese Okazaki, champion of the Premier with Leicester in 2016. But the thing is not there. LaLiga is now studying to open a file that could lead to an administrative decline, as happened to Reus.

"I am disappointed and angry," said Víctor Sánchez del Amo at the beginning of the season. "This is not the project that the club had promised us," continued the coach, who could not count on Lorenzo González and Benkhemasa during the first days, since they did not have the transfer. To further stoke the fire, nobody notified the coach of this situation, which he met at a press conference by the journalists themselves. "It's amazing that I found out about this like that," he was disgusted.

The situation of the club has crossed the borders of football and has landed in politics. The mayor, Francisco de la Torre , openly invited the sheikh to sell: «It is the best for everyone. I have told him and his family ». In addition, last Tuesday, in the municipal plenary session, the groups unanimously agreed to censor the attitude of "little transparency and lack of ethics" of the Qatari and decided, also unanimously, to withdraw their name to a roundabout near the stadium.

The fans, on the other hand, before each home game, meet around La Rosaleda to protest the alarming situation. "Al-Thani, go now!" Is the most heard scream every two Sundays. But the sheikh turns a deaf ear while embarking on absurd battles on Twitter. He and his children continue to receive an annual salary of 1.44 million as members of the Board of Directors. Meanwhile, Málaga, a team founded 115 years ago, may be living its last months of life.

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