Almería, as expected for several weeks, completed its relegation to the Second Division. The defeat against Getafe, which they won with two goals from Greenwood and another from Mata (1-3), confirmed the return to the silver category of the Andalusian team two years after their last promotion. Almería goes down after having obtained only one victory in 33 games, with a ridiculous balance of 14 points, as a result of that only victory and 11 draws, to which are added 21 defeats. Furthermore, they have been unable to achieve a victory in their stadium. A true historical fiasco. “I am destroyed. I don’t have words to say what I feel. I can only apologize to the fans because I understand what they feel. From now on we have to work to return Almería to where it deserves, to the First Division,” admitted Robertone, captain of the Andalusian team, as soon as the match against Getafe ended.
1
Luis Maximiano, César Montes (Luka Romero, min. 80), Bruno Langa, Chumi, Marc Pubill, Lucas Robertone (Sergio Arribas, min. 62), Dion Lopy (Edgar González, min. 45), Embarba, Leo Baptistao (Marcos Peña, min. 69), Jonathan Viera and Lozano
3
David Soria, José Ángel Carmona (Gastón Álvarez, min. 80), Djene, Diego Rico, Omar Alderete, Luis Milla (Alberto Risco, min. 80), Maksimovic, Mason Greenwood, Óscar Rodríguez (Jorge Martín, min. 56), Moriba Kourouma (Yellu Santiago, min. 67) and Juan Latasa (Mata, min. 45)
Goals 0-1 min. 27: Mason Greenwood. 1-1 min. 40: Lozano. 1-2 min. 48: Mason Greenwood. 1-3 min. 61: Kill.
Referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez
Yellow cards Omar Alderete (min. 25), César Montes (min. 38), Embarba (min. 50), Lucas Robertone (min. 54), Mason Greenwood (min. 60), Jorge Martín (min. 85), Jonathan Viera ( min. 86) and Yellu Santiago (min. 92)
Mathematics certified the collapse of the Andalusian complex, owned by Saudi Arabia, acquired by millionaire Turki Al-Sheikh in the summer of 2019 for 20 million euros. “We went down when we wanted to take a leap to settle in the First Division,” an authorized source from the Andalusian club highlights to this medium. That’s how it has been. Last summer, Almería spent 52 million to strengthen the team. The second largest investment in the League after Madrid (129 million). He put himself in the hands of an experienced man, Vicente Moreno, but everything started badly and ended much worse.
Everything started to go wrong when coach Rubi felt last summer that he had hit his ceiling at Almería. The Catalan coach, after achieving an agonizing permanence in the previous year, did not want to renew. He had promoted the Andalusian team in 2022 and had achieved unknown continuity on the Andalusian bench. In the first year and a half of the sheikh’s government, up to five coaches paraded along the sidelines of the red and white stadium (Óscar Fernández, Pedro Emanuel, Guti, Mario Silva and José Gomes). The new project was headed by Vicente Moreno to attempt consolidation in First Division. Mohamed El Assy, the club’s administrator, launched an ambitious transfer policy. For example, 14 million were paid to Espanyol for César Montes; eight for Luis Suárez to Marseille; another eight for Koné to Lorient or six for Arribas to Madrid as the most notable investments until reaching the high figure of 52.
Almería had a poor start to the League in results. Moreno’s team competed in an acceptable manner, but already showed a problem that became pressing as the season went by. An alarming defensive fragility. On the fifth day, after four defeats and a single draw in Cádiz, Almería occupied the bottom position, which it has not abandoned in the entire League. There was no patience with Moreno. The Sevilla leaders watched in perplexity as the club administrator decided to dismiss him at half-time of the clash against his team at the Sánchez Pizjuán on matchday seven (5-1).
Negative records
Almería, while trying to hire Paunovic, gave the bench to the reserve team coach, Alberto Lasarte. The interim coach remained for two games, until the club decided on the arrival of Gaizka Garitano due to the impossibility of signing Paunovic. With Garitano, the results did not come despite the fact that the team offered some signs of improvement in its game. The serious injury to Luis Suárez, their main striker, greatly hindered the trajectory of a team that proved incapable of winning. Koné, the other forward who was supposed to make the difference, was also seriously injured after just eight games played. Garitano was dismissed on March 13 with Almería unable to achieve a win since his arrival in October. The Andalusian team, with the Basque team, achieved a very poor background. Seven of 57 points at stake thanks to seven draws against Betis, Mallorca, Girona, Athletic, Granada, Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla (the rest were 12 defeats).
Almería’s descent has been marked by negative data. For example, they have been the only team in the history of the League unable to win after 28 rounds and have conceded, so far, 67 goals. “I want my players to feel like footballers again,” admitted Pepe Mel, the coach who arrived to lead the team in the last 10 days. Salvation was an impossible goal, but the Almería leaders tried to get Mel to calm an unsustainable environment. A good part of the squad was facing Garitano and the Madrid coach, at least, achieved victory in Las Palmas and a draw in San Sebastián against Real. Mel, in principle, will not continue next season. There are five days left, in which Almería must offer a worthy image and begin to lay the foundations for the new project in Second Division. The objective of its leaders is to return to First Division as soon as possible.
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