La Liga Lowdown, Jornada 27: Pellegrini’s decision backfires on relegation-threatened Málaga

8 Mar, 2011 Luke Colbourne Europe, Latest, Spain

Things aren’t looking good for Málaga, and this week coach Manuel Pellegrini is the villain. Well, “villain” might be slightly harsh and probably sounds like something straight from a Marca editorial, but it hasn’t been the best of weeks for the former Real Madrid boss, let’s say.

So here’s the story. Málaga faced a tough trip to the Santiago Bernabéu in midweek, a difficult game for any team, never mind one that’s struggling down in the relegation zone, and Pellegrini had a tricky decision to make. Should he rest a number of key players knowing that his team had no hope of beating Madrid in order to keep his players fresh for their next game, or should he put out his best team and really go for a result?

Now, surely as a supporter you’d be looking for the second option; no one wants to see their team basically accept defeat before a game has even started. But that is not what we saw on Thursday night. Pellegrini decided that the best thing would be to put out a weakened team, omitting the likes of top goalscorer Salomón Rondón, Apoño, Sebastián Fernández, Enzo Maresca and Recio – all key players and usual regular starters. It soon transpired that it wasn’t a very good decision at all, and Málaga were duly humiliated by Madrid, eventually losing 7-0.

Post-game and Pellegrini came out to face questions about his selection, to which he responded:

“We knew we could not compete for the points tonight, this was just an obligation. It won’t affect us.”

Hardly the kind of thing you’d wish to hear as a paying supporter.

“Our game was Osasuna, not tonight. We rested players for that and we would’ve rested even more if we could have done,” he shrugged.

So fast-forward to Sunday then, to La Rosaleda for the game between Málaga and Osasuna. It was an incredibly important game, with both in the midst of a relegation dogfight. Pellegrini welcomed back a host of freshly rested, first team regulars, ready to go after sitting out the Madrid game. Osasuna were also revitalised in a way, but because of the presence of new manager José Luis Mendilibar, who has had a positive effect on things since replacing José Antonio Camacho.

The two teams stayed locked at 0-0 for the whole match, with neither team possessing enough quality to take their chances in front of goal – record signing Sebas Fernández was particularly wasteful. Then deep into stoppage time the crushingly inevitable arrived to give Pellegrini a good old slap in the face. Osasuna were awarded a corner, which was swung in towards a cluster of blue and red shirts. But rising highest was a red one. Osasuna defender Sergio Fernández connected with his head and directed the ball beyond Willy Caballero in goal.

It was a disaster for Pellegrini. “A severe blow” as the Chilean later admitted. He remained defiant after the game, amidst massive criticism over his decision to rest so many in midweek for this game. The players were supposed to perform. This was meant to be their game after all. “We did not expect to lose,” said the coach. But they did, and not only did their own result harm them, results elsewhere were not going in their favour.

Several teams in and around Málaga at the bottom picked up vital points – Almería, Sporting, Levante and Deportivo all won their games. Almería’s victory over Hércules also meant that they moved up to 19^th, leaving Málaga rock bottom. Again. Not the position the new owners had in mind when they bought the club in the summer and invested millions on new players and facilities. They now sit 10 places below the position that the owners spoke of before the season started.

Previous manager Jesualdo Ferreira spent around €17m on new players but was fired after just nine league games by the Qatari owners. Pellegrini himself has also been given funds, and has brought in a number of players, including some higher profile names such as Martín Demichelis and Júlio Baptista. But with so many new faces, integration has been a problem. They’ve been especially plagued in defence, already conceding 59 goals in 27 league games – the worst record in La Liga.

The new owners’ wish of consolidating the club’s position in La Liga is clearly not going to plan. It’s going terribly in fact, and Pellegrini was supposed to be the man to take them forwards. Instead he has guided them to just 4 wins in 17 games, with 9 losses along the way. However, they’ve still to play a number of the teams around them, games which they must win to stay up.

The question is: how long will it be before Pellegrini is given the same treatment as his predecessor? That no one knows, but he now has 11 games to turn the situation at Málaga around, or it could spell the end of his time in Andalusia. Or worse – the end of the Andalusians in the Primera Divisón.

Lower down the Lowdown

As mentioned, Almería’s victory was partly the reason for Málaga dropping to last place, but it was also an inspired victory. Hércules had been a goal up until the 69^th minute when on-loan Valencia midfielder Sofiane Feghouli rifled in an equaliser against the run of play. Then just after, Modeste M’Bami cracked in a fabulous volley to make it 2-1. Three minutes of madness had turned the game upside down and José Luis Oltra’s men held on to win the game.
Also down at the bottom, Levante pulled off a fine result against 6^th placed Espanyol. The hero once again? Felipe Caicedo. The Ecuadorian on-loan from Manchester City is having a brilliant season, and his goal this weekend was his 11^th of the season. To put that into context; he’s the highest goalscorer from a team that isn’t Real Madrid, Barcelona, Villarreal or Athletic Bilbao. Quite an impressive debut season for the 22-year-old.
Real Madrid and Barcelona both won, though Madrid’s game was the more exciting affair. They took on Racing Santander at El Sardinero without Cristiano Ronaldo, but he wasn’t really missed. Instead, Esteban Granero came into midfield and Mourinho selected both Karim Benzema and Emmanuel Adebayor – both of whom were on the scoresheet. Madrid were majestic in possesion but the real star of the show was Mesut Özil. The German was in sparkling form once again, causing absolute havoc wherever he decided to go; a real joy to watch. One of his, and Madrid’s best performances of the season.
Valencia kept up their assault on third place with an excellent win away at Mallorca. Unai Emery rotated the team once again, but this time it paid off. New Brazilian striker Jonas started alongside Aritz Aduriz, ahead of Roberto Soldado and played well, while Pablo Hernández rediscovered some form and scored both goals. And although Vicente Guaita couldn’t save Iván Ramis’ penalty, he was vital in goal for Valencia, producing a string of top class saves.

Results

Mallorca 1-2 Valencia, Barcelona 1-0 Zaragoza, Atlético 3-1 Villarreal, Sporting 2-0 Getafe, Hércules 1-2 Almería, Málaga 0-1 Osasuna, Levante 1-0 Espanyol, Athletic 2-0 Sevilla, Racing 1-3 Real Madrid, Deportivo 2-1 Real Sociedad.

Goal of the Week

José Antonio Reyes (Atlético 3-1 Villarreal)