Ex-Champions League quarter-finalists to be forced into tiny athletics stadium

MALAGA have been forced to move to an athletics stadium with only one stand that holds less than HALF of the club’s original capacity.

The Spanish outfit will have to leave their home of 84 years at Rosaleda in 2026 to spend at least the next two seasons at Estadio Ciudad de Malaga.

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That is because the team’s stadium is to undergo a redevelopment project worth £222million ahead of the 2030 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

The Rosaleda can hold up to 30,000 fans but Malaga’s new temporary accommodation can only host a maximum of 12,500.

In fact, the venue currently has a seating capacity of 7,500 but reports suggest another 5,000 seats will be added. 

The club were initially hoping for an expansion that would have allowed 27,000 seats.

However, the city didn’t approve that plan as there is a busy road leading to the port that runs just next to the stadium.

That led to a furious reaction from Malaga fans with associations issuing a joint statement against the decision.

The supporters accused the city as well as the Andalusian and Spanish government of “empty promises, projects without a timetable and propaganda slogans”.

The fans were mainly up in arms regarding the lack of progress in the project to redevelop Rosaleda as there is no set timetable regarding the works’ completion.

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A statement read: “Behind this paralysis there seem to be political and economic interests that, instead of protecting the club’s heritage and future, seek to make it cease to exist.

“We demand that you GUARANTEE us a minimum of 23,000 seats at any time of redevelopment.”

Malaga are one of Spain’s most esteemed clubs where a number of notable players have competed in the past, such as Isco, Santi Cazorla and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The club has also left its mark in Europe having made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League back in 2013, that was 10 years after making it this far in the Europa League.

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