Javi Gracia does communion the Leeds United way - The Square Ball 22/2/23

SPOILING THE PARTY

Written by: Rob Conlon

Malaga’s home game against Real Madrid in February 2016 followed a script familiar to any Leeds United supporter. In the opening half hour, Malaga barely gave Cristiano Ronaldo a touch of the ball and created all the best chances, somehow contriving to miss two one on ones as their pressing panicked Madrid’s defence into errors.

You can probably guess what happened next. Earlier in the week, Ronaldo had walked out of a press conference after being asked about a relative goal drought — five matches — away from the Bernabeu. Toni Kroos swung a free-kick into the box, and Ronaldo, standing offside, headed Madrid into the lead. It was a stroke of luck neither Ronaldo nor Javi Gracia’s Malaga deserved, compounded by Ronaldo winning a penalty a minute later.

Real Madrid had sacked Rafa Benitez the previous month, appointing Zinedine Zidane for the first time to chase down Barcelona at the top of La Liga. It was all going to plan; Madrid were unbeaten in Zidane’s first five league matches, posting scorelines of 5-1 and 6-0 along the way, while comfortably winning at Roma on their way to claiming their eleventh European Cup. At Malaga, Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot-kick and take the chance to claw back some of the deficit to Barcelona, but ‘keeper Carlos Kameni read his penalty and saved low to his left.

When Gracia was appointed Malaga manager for the previous season, a report described his target as ‘returning Malaga CF to the path of success, as well as with the conviction and almost an obligation to recover the enthusiasm of a fan base that has experienced the last year with more shadows than lights and more disappointments than joys.’ Sound familiar?

Malaga’s previously free-spending owner Abdullah bin-Nasser al-Thani had funded the club to within a few minutes of a Champions League semi-final, but had since stopped investing in the side, selling off the most valuable assets and stripping the budget from €120m to €39m. Again, sound familiar? Gracia had just been relegated with Osasuna, the team he supported as a child, but was deemed so far down the list of people to blame he was asked to remain as manager. He left to join Malaga, tipped for a relegation battle, who trusted him to avoid the same fate as Osasuna. Malaga finished 10th in 2014/15, which still wasn’t enough to avoid another gutting of the squad.

Gracia publicly lamented the sale of Sergi Darder, who he had built his midfield around. “I can’t understand it,” he said after Darder joined Lyon. Two days were left of the transfer window, but Gracia was uninterested in signing a replacement. “I’ll trust in the kids I have here.” As far as he was concerned, that was the end of the issue. Gracia kept calm, even when his team were bottom of La Liga after thirteen matches. By the time Real Madrid visited their stadium La Rosaleda, Malaga were 11th, looking up the table rather than down. Their starting eleven cost a little over €3m. Madrid’s cost €255m, and that was without over €100m worth of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

After Ronaldo’s penalty miss, the game returned to its earlier pattern. Sergio Ramos headed a goal-bound effort off the line and over the bar. Keylor Navas prevented a Madrid own goal. Attacking midfielder Juanpi, one of the young players Gracia had put so much faith in, kept appearing where Madrid least expected and most feared, repeatedly cutting their defence open.

Tired of watching their forwards wasting so many opportunities, centre-backs Weligton and Raul Albentosa (signed on loan from Derby after struggling to get into their Championship side), decided to see if they could do any better. Like Norman Hunter and Jack Charlton joining the fun in Super Leeds’ 7-0 rout of Southampton, Weligton ghosted into the left side of the penalty area and fired the ball across to the back post, where Albentosa was waiting to equalise with a half-volley into the top corner. Kameni celebrated at the other end of the pitch by cartwheeling around Malaga’s box.

The game ended 1-1, with post-match coverage focusing on Real Madrid’s failure to win in what Marca described as ’torture’. “Let them sell the story they want,” said goalscorer Albentosa. “The spectators here know what they have seen.” Gracia has spoken in the past about defining success in football using metrics other than results and trophies won. Winning matches is great, but doing so in a style which resonates with supporters is what makes hearts feel full:

“The communion is important. The objective is for our fans to feel participants in what we do: that’s the ultimate aim of any football team. Winning in any [old] way, without a sense of conviction and without winning over fans, without involving them, doesn’t bring complete happiness; you feel a little empty. Connecting with them is where true satisfaction comes from.”

Malaga may not have beaten Madrid, but ruining a superpower’s title hopes provided their holy communion. The local newspaper lauded their heroes under the headline ‘Gigantic Malaga’. Some of the most fun days supporting Leeds in the Championship came when we could celebrate ruining the promotion parties of QPR and Watford at the end of our own dismal seasons. Malaga finished eighth after drawing with Madrid, four points off Europe, the third highest league placing in their history. Like Neil Kilkenny blowing raspberries at Adel Taarabt or Ross McCormack chipping Watford out of the top two and into the play-offs, Malaga fans savoured their defiance under Javi Gracia with a song for the team they were meant to lose to. ‘Goodbye to the league, goodbye!’