Málaga

Ground: Estadio La Rosaleda

Visits: 1

Date: 20th February 2017

Match: Málaga - Las Palmas 2-1 (Primera División)

Attendance: 20 345

At 13.30 my bus, from La Linea de la Conceptión, arrived at the bus station in Málaga. From the bus station it took me 20 minutes to walk to my hotel in central Málaga. Four different hotels in as many days is not ideal but this time around I had to do it this way. My final game on the trip was Málaga v Las Palmas at Estadio La Rosaleda. The ground was a 25-minute walk from the hotel but since I only had to follow the canal it was a straightforward walk. I took a few exterior pictures before going back to the hotel for a deserved rest. Kick-off at Estadio La Rosaleda was at 20.45 and around 19.00 I was back outside the ground. As was the case in Sevilla plenty of people asked me if I wanted to buy a ticket. Fellow Swedish groundhopper Hasse, partly based in Valencia, has told med this happens at every ground in Spain and it is normally possible to get a cheap, otherwise not used, ticket this way. I had already purchased a ticket though. The turnstiles opened an hour before kick-off and I went inside to take pictures of the empty stands. As I then tried to find my seat I could not find it. I was in section 246 but there were no signs displaying sections. Instead there were Vomotorios but my ticket, which was in English, did not show Vomitoria. I asked a steward who said my seat was most likely in the lower tier. Once there I was shown my seat but I was still a bit puzzled since I was in sure I had bought a ticket in the upper tier. A few minutes later a season ticket holder showed up and said I was in his seat. Total confusion and no one around us could speak English. Two stewards eventually came but did not know where my seat was. A head steward was called to the scene and she said I should be in the upper tier. Once back in the upper tier I could finally be escorted to my seat! Still no signs showing section 246 though.

There have been many dodgy decisions against Málaga recently and as the game was about to start there were very loud chanst directed at the referees and the Spanish FA. The atmosphere was very hostile and three times the announcer said something about respect etc. The response was of course even more anger. Las Palmas brought around 30 fans to Estadio La Rosaleda and in the 19th minute they could celebrate, 0-1 from a free-kick. Málaga fought back though and before half-time it was 2-1 to the home team. The second of those goals came from a great counter-attack. In the second half both teams hit the woodwork and all in all this was by far the most entertaining game of my trip. The atmosphere was also much better than I had expected and of the 10 domestic games I have attended in Spain this is the best atmosphere so far. The 20 345 present at Estadio La Rosaleda were pleased when the final whistle was blown. 2-1 and three points for Málaga. Around 11pm I was back at my hotel and after good nights sleep I did some sightseeing in central Málaga before flying home on Tuesday afternoon.