The Malaguistas and Zaragocistas faced one another at La Rosaleda 11 months since the last time. On that 8th March 2020, the Blue and White stadium vibrated with the cheers of 23,000 Malaguistas supporting their team. Fans who put on a magnificent show, unaware that it would be the last match they’d see live for a while.
The Club asked fans to flood social media with their photos in the stadium and Malaguismo responded. The lead-up to kick-off featured a beautiful tribute to the empty stands today, ahead of the eagerly awaited return of the fans.
In terms of play, both teams sought to control the pace of the game in the wide area. Everything indicated to both sides becoming more dangerous as time went on, but it was Real Zaragoza who took the lead. Igbekeme headed in a Narváez assist to open the scoring in minute 11 (0-1).
Pellicer’s men accepted the goal and moved on in search of an equaliser. Yanis (17’ and 26’), Alexander González (28’) and Caye (33’) narrowly missed out on taking the home side level, but the rival defence or a case of bad luck prevented the Blue and Whites from getting a goal. Indeed, Real Zaragoza increased their advantage just before half-time. Vigaray, again with a header, overcame Juan Soriano with a tight shot the Malaguista keeper was unable to prevent (45’). At half-time the scoreboard showed 0-2.
In the second half, Málaga went all out on the attack, generating numerous chances; Yanis and Chavarría shared the most promising attempts for the majority of the second half, but neither managed to score.
It was Luis Muñoz who put the home side on the scoreboard with an impressive shot from outside the area which the midfielder slammed into the back of the net (82’).
The goal gave the Malaguistas a much-needed boost, but they didn’t manage to turn the game around, with 1-2 the final score.
