The ‘Malaguistas’, in 12th place with 24 points, are looking forward to their first home match of the second round of the League competition against Barcelona, currently in 2nd place with 45 points, and reigning Spanish champions. The first round match at the Nou Camp ended in victory for Barça thanks to a goal by Vermaelen (1-0) in the 2nd match of the season.
The Club, as MCF in the First Division, has hosted Barça 14 times at the Martiricos stadium, with 8 wins for the visitors, 5 draws and an epic Blue and Whites’ 5-1 victory in the 14th match of the 2003/04 season. Juande Ramos’ Málaga clinched victory thanks to goals from Salva Ballesta (3), Diego Alonso and Canabal.
To take into account:
- Málaga have reached 3 home games without defeat in LaLiga, whilst Barcelona have accumulated 4 matches without a loss away from the Nou Camp.
- Clos Gómez has refereed MCF at La Rosaleda during 10 LaLiga games, with 5 victories, 4 draws and just 1 defeat for the ‘Malaguistas’.
- Matches and goals. Duda is the ‘Malaguista’ who has taken part in the most First Division games (319) and scored the highest number of goals in the elite, along with Chory Castro (34), and both have scored two goals against Barça. For Barcelona, Dani Alves has played the most First Division games (408), and Leo Messi is the best goal-scorer in the history of the competition (296), and highest goal-scorer in Málaga-Barça League clashes (5 goals).
- ‘Malaguistas’, Kameni and Rosales have played 20 whole LaLiga matches (1800 minutes). In Barça, the players who have accumulated the most minutes are top scorer Luis Suárez (1620 min., 18 goals) and Neymar (1526 min., 16 goals).
- If Málaga CF defeats FC Barcelona, they will exceed CD Málaga’s 186 victories in the Spanish footballing elite.
Players in common Málaga CF-FC Barcelona
Urbano, Arnau, Xavi Torres, Rubén and Saviola.
Players in common CD Málaga-FC Barcelona
Arana, Colomé, Virgós, Peralta, Garay, Bustillo, Aicart, Fortes and Esteban Vigo.
There were also numerous players from Barcelona’s youth ranks (such as España Industrial, CD Condal, Barcelona Atlético and FC Barcelona B) who went on to join Málaga:
Stage | CD Málaga: Rosselló, Yeyo, Moix, Dalmau, Luna and Campuzano.
Stage | Málaga CF: Almagro, Zúñiga, Altimira, Emilio, Monsalvete, Roteta, Jon Bakero, Rufete, Miguel Ángel, Antonio Hidalgo, Ibán Cuadrado, Toribio, Armando Lozano and Luis Alberto.
Links MCF | FCB
Also curious are the cases of Javi Martos, the versatile defender who debuted with FC Barcelona (2005/2006) and played for Málaga CF in the Third Division (2007/2008); Sergio Magano, Atlético Malagueño defender (1993/1994), who later joined Barça’s reserve team; Manolo Hierro, who signed to Cruyff’s Barcelona (1988/1989) without making a debut; and Mario Husillos, who formed part of a tour with FC Barcelona in the United States in 1984.
Also of note is the relationship with coaches in CD Málaga and FC Barcelona: Helenio Herrera, Domingo Balmanya, Lluís Miró and Ladislao Kubala.
Ex FC Barcelona players who later coached at Málaga: Paco Bru, first Spain coach and CD Málaga coach (1943-1945); the aforementioned Manolo Hierro, MCF coach in the First Division in the second half of the 2005/2006 campaign; Marcos Alonso, Málaga CF coach in the Second Division (2006/2007); and José Mari Bakero and ‘Lobo’ Carrasco, Málaga B coaches in the Second Division. The current coach of MCF’s ‘Cadete Autonómico’ side, David Cabello, was part of FC Barcelona’s youth ranks.
The curious case of Cruyff
Dutch legend, Johan Cruyff, one of the great icons in the history of Barça and world football, suffered his first expulsion in the League as a player with Barcelona in the CD Málaga 3-2 FC Barcelona match (1974/1975 season). His second and last League sending off was in the FC Barcelona 2-1 CD Málaga match from the 1976/1977 season.
The best ‘Malaguista’ memory
On 3rd December 2003, the Málaga CF-FC Barcelona (5-1) match was held in the Spanish First Division. This was the first time that Málaga CF defeated FC Barcelona at La Rosaleda, and the last time that Barcelona conceded 5 goals in an official match.
