Malaga CF

Could Manuel Pellegrini's side Malaga CF be serious challengers
this season to take on both Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the table.

The club have now signed the likes of Santi Carzola,Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Jeremy Toulalan,

I don't expect them to win the title but at least to give the other 2 something to think about.

As much as I love Spanish football and La Liga the last couple of seasons have been pretty boring if I'm being honest.

Any comments?

I rate Pellegrini, who did very well at Villarreal and Real, a bit unlucky the way he got treated at Real...and some of the new signings are really good players, and Carzola have been in the prime of his career. Its all about the new group gelling now and if they do, and some of the other top teams faulter a bit, they will have a chance, but its just no way anybody will be able to catch the top 2 next season

Pellegrini is a great manager his season with rm had him amass a record points total. Malaga wont challenge just yet but if they get champions league then it could get very interesting. We will soon find out, they open at home to barca.

Its a shame that Malaga's first La Liga game of the season will be at home to Barcelona!

It might take some time for all the new players that Manuel Pellegrini has signed to work as a unit.

We really need another team to start putting pressure on the big 2 and this is the only club now that can do it.

i think it is early to ssay that Malaga will put pressure to the big 2 , like that of Man City , it takes more than 2 seasons to become one of the big 4 , we can hope that Malaga will do better this seson ,and i think Manuel Pellegrini a good manager!

It looks like Malaga wont be able to try and break the dominance of the big 2 in Spain.

There are reports that the clubs Qatari owner has put them up for sale.

They could also be about to lose their best player in Santi Carzola who is wanted by Arsenal.

The Andalusian side are also unable to sign any new players as they still owe money to Osasuna.

Oh dear, I do want this Carzola chap though, he sounds the lick!!

Cazorla would be an amazing signing for Arsenal and a huge shame Liverpool aren't going in for him as he's just what we need,maybe this signing would definitely spell the end for Walcott unless Wenger is gonna try Walcott as a striker.

If you believe some of the rumours circulating in Spain about Malaga it seems like the Qatari owners bought the club and then made a lot of noise about making them the next Chelsea etc. as they wanted this to help them get approval from the regional authority to build a new marina. Having got the approval they are now trying to cut loose from the club.

I dont know how much truth there is to this, but what we are seeing now does seem to add weight to the allegations. Something has clearly gone very wrong at Malaga recently. There were reports of player unrest then Cazorla hands in a transfer request. Last season (prior to that marina approval) there was a lot of money being invested into signings but this year so far not a penny has been spent. In fact, the owners have even stopped paying outstanding club debts and a sale is said to be imminent.

When they were buying players, they went for a lot of aging stars too...van nistleroy, joaquin, baptista, demichelis etc who have either left or are on big contracts and looking well past their best.

Basically, the club is a total mess. Not chance of a challenge to the big two from them (or sadly from anyone else either).

Until the financial inequality is sorted in La Liga the gap frmo Barca/Real to the rest will remain scandalously huge. In fact, seeing as teams like Atletico and Valencia are being forced to sell star players this summer the gap might even get bigger.

Ah man...this post looks further frmo reality with every day that passes.

Pellegrini has been let go now and the club say they will need to sell several more players just to meet their immediate financial commitments.

Good news for the Atletico fans among us (er..i think that's probably just 2 of us!) is that Malaga are in very real danger of being disqualified from Europe for breaking finanancial rules and if this happens their Champions League spot will to Atleti!

Sad news today that Malaga have been banned from playing in European football next season as a result of not paying their bills.

Great win against Real Madrid!

Happy for Pellegrini, always thought he did well at Real and treated so unfairly, revenge is sweet and never too late

Malaga looks really good although I dont follow them. Players like Cruz and Jaqoquin and Saviola, Demichellis, all look like they were past their time but have come together to form a top team, surprise and interesting to see.