Malaga fans looking on as their club apparently sank into crisis over the summer could have never imagined that a few months later the team would be beating seven-time European champions AC Milan.
Joaquin’s 64th-minute strike at the Rosaleda on Wednesday secured a memorable 1-0 win for the Champions League debutants, who after three wins in as many matches sit at the top of Group C with a five-point lead over the ailing Italians.
The home fans thronging their 29,500-capacity stadium for what was probably the biggest game in the La Liga club’s history, thoroughly enjoyed their first taste of life among Europe’s soccer elite.
Photo: Reuters
It was a far cry from the uncertainty of the close season, when reports Qatari owner Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nassar Al Thani was looking to sell up after only two years went unanswered, some of the team’s best players moved on and those left behind were not paid on time.
Al Thani eventually let it be known he was not seeking an exit and the club announced it was going through a process of “internal restructuring” to make it more financially viable.
Results on the pitch have been impressive, despite the instability, and Manuel Pellegrini’s side are within touching distance of a place in the Champions League knockout round.
They are third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and Pellegrini has managed to mold his squad into a side that is dangerous on the attack and mean in defense.
Al Thani, a member of the Qatar royal family, showed up for Wednesday’s game, his first appearance at the stadium this season, and told Spanish TV in a brief post-match interview there would be more money available.
Pellegrini, who was fiercely critical of the club’s management over the summer, said it was important Al Thani had come to the match.
Malaga have a chance to prove Wednesday’s result was no fluke when they play in Milan on Nov. 6.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set