Much was made over the future of Malaga this summer. The seemingly bottomless-pocket La Liga side were on the brink of being sold by their big money owners. The Club were into selling star duo Santi Cazorla and Salomon Rondon and came close to allowing promising youngster Isco the chance to leave.
They held onto the young midfielder and since then, Malaga haven’t looked back. Currently topping Group C in their debut Champions League campaign, and leading Zenit in Russia as I type, and fifth in the Primera Division, it’s been a massive turn around in fortunes for Los Boquerones.
Their exploits in Europe’s elite competition has drawn comparisons to that of Tottenham Hotspur in their own debut campaign back in 2010. The then Harry Redknapp led side had been expected to struggle in a group consisting of defending champions Inter Milan, FC Twente and Werder Bremen.
However, Spurs topped their group with 11 points and managed to defeat both Milan sides during their run to the quarter finals, where the suffered a 5-0 aggregate defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
Yet, it can be argued that Malaga’s exploits are more impressive than that of the Premiership outfit, if only just for their summer of turmoil. Now on the brink of securing qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League, it remains to be seen how far the Spanish side can go this season in the competition.
Nevertheless, the fact that they have been able to get this far already is a testament to the players and manager Manuel Pellegrini.