The Malaguistas with 17 points and 12th place in the standings (with one game less due to the postponement of the Levante-Malaga match last week), will face the Black and Whites with 7 points, currently in 22nd place in the table.
The match will be officiated by Álvaro Moreno Aragón. The 34-year-old from Granada, who is part of the Madrid committee, has eight seasons in the Second Division. This 2024/25 season, he has already refereed a Malaga CF match, on matchday 9 against Cádiz (2-2). He will be assisted by the Canary Island referee Raúl Martín González Francés in the VAR.
Players in common Málaga CF-FC Cartagena
Sergio Magano*, Domínguez, Kiko Ramírez, Sabino, Josemi, Alberto Aguilar, Manolo Reina, Armando Lozano, Alcalá, Carpintero, Jordi Pablo, Manu Torres, Manolo Gaspar, Rubén, Keko Gontán, Harper, Mejías, Calero, Kiko Olivas, Sadiku, Álex Gallar, Rubén Castro, Delmás, Luis Muñoz, Sangalli, Jony, Ferreiro and Sergio Guerrero ‘Mini’
(*) Atlético Malagueño player -first team-
(**) Shinji Okazaki, former FC Cartagena player, belonged to MCF in the summer of 2019
(***) Reserve team players Abel Valenzuela, Gonzales Vigil, Roberto Camacho, Gato, Poley, Óscar Sielva, Kuki Zalazar, Clavería and Aarón Escandell also played for Cartagena
Coaches in common Málaga CF-FC Cartagena
Víctor Sánchez del Amo
(*) Gustavo Munúa, ex Málaga CF goalkeeper, was coach of FC Cartagena
Match info
• David Larrubia opened his goal-scoring account in the Second Division in the previous league match, at home, against Eibar. He became the 99th Blue and White player to score a goal for MCF in the Second Division.
• Alfonso Herrero is the only Malaguista who has played all the minutes (1080) in the team’s 12 league matches to date. The captain has kept a clean sheet six times, including four times in the last five matches of the competition.
• Antoñito and Dioni, with three goals each, are the top goal scorers for Malaga in the league. Former Malaguista Luis Muñoz and Cedric Teguía, both with two goals, are the top scorers for the visiting team.
• Luismi, Puga, Víctor, Manu Molina, Sergio Castel, Nelson Monte and Juanpe, all with three yellow cards, are the Málaga players just one booking away from a suspension.
• At home Málaga CF have accumulated 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss (11 points) in six matches, with 5 goals scored and 5 goals conceded.
• Away from home in the League, FC Cartagena have obtained 2 wins and 5 defeats (6 points) in 7 games, scoring 7 goals and conceding 13.
Stats and facts
• This is the fourth time that Málaga CF and FC Cartagena will face off in an official match at La Rosaleda. In the first encounter, during the 2020/21 season, the visitors won 1-2. In the 2021/22 season, the result was a 1-1 draw; and in the most recent match, in the 2022/23 season, Málaga won 1-0 with a goal from Pablo Chavarría.
• Previously, as Club Deportivo Málaga and Cartagena Fútbol Club, in the Second Division and at La Rosaleda, there have been four previous matches. Málaga won 3 of them (2-1 in the 1961/62 season, 3-0 in the 1986/87 season, and 4-0 in the 1987/88 season), while Cartagena won 1 (1-3 in the 1985/86 season).
• CD Malacitano and Cartagena Club de Fútbol played each other in the Costa del Sol in the Second Division during the 1940/41 season (0-1). Under the name CD Málaga, there were two more encounters in Segunda 'A' against the same opponent: a victory for the visitors in the 1941/42 season (1-3) and a clear local victory in the 1951/52 season with a score of 8-2, featuring five goals – two of them from the penalty spot – by the "Cañonero de la Algaba," Pedro Bazán.
• In the previous eight seasons that Málaga Club de Fútbol played in the Second Division, on matchday 14, the team achieved 5 victories and 3 defeats.