Malaga CF - CD Castellon (0-1)

Jan 21, 2024

Primera Federacion Grupo II

Estadio de La Rosaleda

There is something about the stadium names in Spain. Thankfully, still untouched by the corporation-
purchased naming rights, they still sound fantastic to my non-spanish ears… Ramon Sanchez Pizhuan, Mestalla, Anoeta… and now La Rosaleda. A famous ground that used to host 1982 WorldCup and saw legendary Oleh Blokhin score a goal in one of round robin games. And you probably remember Malaga CF feature prominently in La Liga and play Champion League games.

Fast forward to 2024 and Malaga is now in the third level. But I don’t care. It’s still the team with history, fans and a wonderful ground. And so, my first game on the Spanish soil was decided to be in Malaga. The city is wonderful. I got way more than I initially hoped for. It has a proper coastal feel and it’s also old, historic, and modern. Oh, and it’s so sunny and warm in winter.

The game was scheduled for a late evening. As always, I try to walk to the ground whenever possible
and this time was no exception. La Rosaleda is quite close to the city centre along the bank of the
supposed river which is actually just a dried out canal. I took a stroll through quiet residential streets on my way to have a better feel of the local match-going experience. I also stopped along the way in one of the bars for a beer. There are two adjacent bars and one was completely full and buzzing, the other was not. First I could not understand, why most people were at one bar, but not at the other. And then I realized… that bar was serving Victoria Malaga beer and the other only had Mahou, Cruzcampo and other typical Spanish beer brands. I had to settle for Cruzcampo as I found a seat outside for myself.

This was a big game between big teams. Castellon’s team obviously can’t measure with Malaga but it’s
quite a big city from Valencia region and they were league leaders, while Malaga was also eying possible promotion.

La Rosaleda looks cool from the distance. Too bad I did not have a chance to walk around it as I was
afraid of being late for the game. I spent some time in the club shop and bought a small pennant for my
collection. A pin was bought after the game from one of the stalls.

My biggest surprise was to see quite a few away fans. Spain is notorious for a serious lack of travelling
support simply because it’s just not really a thing here. There was a small home ultras section behind the goal. They had flags and waved them before the start of the game. They were also more vocal with the chants. But other than this, you can hardly call them ultras. But, compared to, Poland, for example,
there is little need for an ultras section as the whole stadium is noisy. Regular fans are actively
participating in the entire game and it’s very noticeable in terms of decibels. 

The stadium was almost full, and it felt like a big game despite the level. Unfortunately, Malaga could not contain the league-leaders and conceded a goal in the second half. A draw should have been a fairer result but for a spectator, it was still a very decent game to watch.