On November 10th, the fourth round of the Copa del Rey officially started, with Ospitalet and Real Madrid taking the lead.
After ninety minutes of fierce fighting, Ospitalet, who played at home, was defeated by Real Madrid 0-6!
You must know that Real Madrid did not play as the main force, but used a bunch of substitute players.
The gap is so big, which makes Santa Malaga feel lucky that they did not encounter a giant like Real Madrid, otherwise they would have been greeted by a disastrous defeat.
Immediately afterwards, there was an upset. The Spanish second division team Albacete defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 with the advantage of home court!
This game had serious consequences. Soon after, Atletico Madrid coach Manzano resigned as coach, and Argentinian Simeone took over as the team's new coach.
Atletico Madrid's defeat gave Santa Malaga hope that the Serie A team is not invincible!
In order to narrow the gap between low-level league teams and first-level teams and add suspense to the game, the fourth round is different from the first three rounds. The home court is not drawn by lot but designated - the low-level team is the home court.
Santa Malaga is only a D-level team, and their home stadium is the Park Stadium.
For D-level competitions, there is definitely no problem at the Park Stadium, but for the King's Cup... that's not possible.
No matter in terms of turf quality, stadium seats, safety, etc., the park stadium does not meet the requirements of Spanish football, so Santa Malaga can only find another stadium.
There is only one stadium in Malaga that meets the requirements of professional competitions, and that is Malaga’s home stadium - La Rosaleda!
Juan almost broke his leg because of the stadium, but Malaga just refused to let Santa Malaga use it!
"Can we only solve the problem with the Spanish Football Federation?"
The exhausted Juan drank a glass of beer in one gulp and wiped the foam from the corners of his mouth.
Going to the Spanish Football Federation is the last resort, but there are huge risks involved. Once Malaga does not agree, then Santa Malaga will have no way out and can only find a stadium in other cities.
Even Malaga is so difficult to get, and other cities are even more difficult.
Pablo's light desktop: "I have an idea, I don't know if it will work."
Juan smiled bitterly and said: "At this point, we have to try any method, just say it!"
Pablo touched his chin and said: "Media!"
"media?!"
Juan's eyes lit up. This was definitely a good idea. He slapped his thigh hard: "Damn it! Why didn't I think of it!"
Pablo looked at him and said: "Remember to sell miserably!"
Juan nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'm good at these things!"
…
"Santa Malaga is faced with the embarrassing situation of not having a home ground!"
"The home stadium of Santa Malaga is not in Malaga?"
"Malaga is obstructing this, and Santa Málaga may be disqualified from the Copa del Rey!"
The media in Malaga suddenly broke out such an article, and Malaga TV station heard about it and interviewed Juan, the owner of Santa Malaga.
"Our home stadium is the Park Stadium, but the Park Stadium does not meet the requirements of the King's Cup, so we are likely to be disqualified from the King's Cup by the Football Association. For us, this is quite painful!"
The reporter asked: "The Rose Garden Stadium meets the requirements of the King's Cup, didn't you contact us?"
Juan said with a miserable face: "We have contacted you, but... we don't agree."
Reporters chased her: "Who disagrees? The Rose Garden or other aspects?"
Juan choked and said: "It's not the Rose Garden Stadium, it's... ugh..."
Not the Rose Garden?
“Malaga doesn’t agree?”
Juan nodded: "Yes, they don't agree for the time being. They said they are still discussing it, but the game will start in a week. According to the requirements of the Football Association, if the venue is not determined three days before the game, it will be cancelled."
Qualification for the competition!”
The reporter asked: "If Malaga does not agree, do you have other options? For example, go to other cities to play home games."
Juan sighed: "Of course this is a solution, but even we in Malaga can't solve it. Other cities... hey..."
At the end of the interview, the reporter said to the camera: "Santa Malaga is now the pride of our city. It successfully entered the fourth round of the King's Cup and created the best result for a D-level team in the King's Cup!!
You must know that all three rounds of their games are away games, so you can imagine how difficult it is!
Now they can finally play at home, but they face another terrible situation - because Malaga does not agree, they cannot play at the Rose Garden.
Then there are only two fates for them - either go to other cities to play, thereby losing the home advantage, or lose the qualification to compete!
Malaga will also participate in the Copa del Rey this round, but they are playing away from home and will not use the Rose Garden Stadium at all.
They would rather leave the stadium empty than let Santa Malaga use it. What is their psychology?
If Santa Malaga loses the qualification due to the stadium, it will be a scandal in Spanish football!
Spanish football will be ridiculed by the whole world!
Because there has never been any precedent in the world of someone being disqualified from a competition because of the stadium!
Therefore, we hope that Malaga will carefully consider this serious consequence!"
…
Things got complicated when Malaga TV followed suit.
Malaga has been thrust into the spotlight.
In addition to the local media in Malaga, the media in other places also immediately became motivated. The media in Madrid asked the Spanish Football Association, if Malaga is really unwilling to use the Rose Garden Stadium for Santa Malaga, will the Spanish Football Association step in to solve the problem?
If stadiums in other cities are not willing to be used by Santa Malaga, will the Football Association disqualify Santa Malaga from participating in the competition?
The press officer of the Football Association immediately stated that the Spanish Football Federation has learned about this matter from the media, and they will pay close attention to it. If the matter develops to a stage that they do not want to see, they will take action to solve it.
Disqualified?
What a joke, the Spanish Football Federation will never allow this to happen!
…
In the office of the president of the Malaga Club headquarters, Chairman Arsani angrily left the newspaper on the ground and roared: "Juan actually used this method to make me submit! Damn it, damn it, someone kill him!"
The club officials in the room quickly tried to persuade him to calm down.
General manager Hierro said: "Mr. Chairman, let's forget it and give it to them."
Hierro, the former captain of Real Madrid and a famous star in Spanish history, was born in the small town of Pampu near Barcelona. Hierro grew up under the sunshine of the Mediterranean Sea in Andalucia and started his football career in Malaga.
The second year after Hierro entered La Liga, he was noticed by Real Madrid chairman Mendoza at the time, and the transfer fee of one million US dollars was not sensational at the time, but a legend of the Iron Age began.
By the time he retired, Hierro had played more than 600 times for Real Madrid, scoring 127 goals for Real Madrid, 102 goals in the league, and 29 goals for the Spanish national team. He was the third top scorer in the history of the national team.
After retiring, Hierro embarked on the road of coaching, coaching the Spanish second division team Oviedo, and then served as the technical director of the Spanish Football Federation.
Today in June Hierro resigned as technical director of the Spanish Football Federation and came to Malaga to serve as general manager at the warm invitation of Malaga President Arsani.
Hierro returned to Malaga as general manager, which can be regarded as a return to his roots.
Hierro's status in the heart of Malaga president Arsani is still very high. Arsani suppressed his anger: "When they came to me, I didn't refuse. I just said that the club wanted to discuss it. Who knew they would actually stab me?"
On to the media!
How could they do this?"
Hierro smiled and said: "Just calm down. This matter has reached this level and must be solved. Last night...well, Vera called me..."
Arsani frowned. Did Villa, the chairman of the Football Association, call Hierro?
"That's it, but the rent for the venue cannot be less!"
Arsani did not ask what Villa had said to Hierro, and made a decision after thinking for a moment.
On the same day, Malaga held a press conference to respond to the matter about the Rose Garden Stadium.
The press officer told the media: "We congratulate Santa Malaga for reaching the fourth round of the Copa del Rey. After hearing that they did not have a suitable home venue, the club has been concerned about this matter.
After discussions between the clubs, it was decided to make the Rose Garden the home stadium of Santa Malaga!"