The Blue and Whites, with 25 points and in 7th place in the standings will face this rival with 16 points in 16th position.
Juan Luis Pulido Santana from the Canary Islands will be officiating. Up to now he has refereed nine Málaga CF games, all in LaLiga SmartBank. The Malaguista results are six wins, one draw and two defeats. Heading up the VAR is Saúl Ais Reig from Valencia.
Players in common Málaga CF-FC Cartagena
Sergio Magano*, Domínguez, Kiko Ramírez, Sabino, Josemi, Alberto Aguilar, Manolo Reina, Armando, Carpintero, Jordi Pablo, Manu Torres, Manolo Gaspar, Rubén, Keko, Harper, Mejías
*Atlético Malagueño player
(**) Former reserve team player Clavería is part of the current FC Cartagena squad.
Homegrown players Abel Valenzuela, Gonzales Vigil, Roberto Camacho, Gato, Poley, Óscar Sielva and Kuki Zalazar also played for Cartagena.
Coaches in common Málaga CF-FC Cartagena
None
*Gustavo Munúa, ex Málaga CF player, was coach of FC Cartagena.
To take into account
Juande and Chavarría, with five yellow cards, will miss out on this game. Caye Quintana is also suspended from this match.
Juande is MCF’s league 'pichichi' with four goals. Rubén Castro, with eight goals, is Cartagena’s top scorer.
Counting the debut of Quintana, there are now 385 players who have worn the Málaga CF jersey in an official match.
At home, Málaga CF have obtained two victories, three draws and two defeats (nine points), scored six goals and conceded eight.
Away from home in LaLiga SmartBank, FC Cartagena have obtained a total of one win, three draws and four defeats (six points), scored seven goals and conceded 12.
Stats and facts
The first time Málaga CF and FC Cartagena will play each other in an official match. This will be the team’s 62nd rival in the silver division of Spanish football.
Although this match is unprecedented, this won’t be FC Cartagena’s first time at La Rosaleda. On 19th July they achieved Second Division promotion at Martiricos after beating Atlético Baleares on penalties.
In the past five seasons in the silver division, on matchday 17, MCF have obtained three victories (2-1 against CD Numancia, 1-0 against CD Tenerife and 1-2 against RCD Mallorca) and two draws (1-1 against Hércules de Alicante and 3-3 against Elche CF).
