Málaga Club de Fútbol (, Málaga Football Club), or simply Málaga, is a football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system, following their promotion from the Segunda División in the 2025–26 season.
They won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002 and qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup, reaching the quarter-final stages. They also qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, where they were quarter-finalists. Since June 2010, the owner of the club has been Qatari investor Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani.
History Club Atlético Malagueño
Málaga's history traces back to CD Málaga, a club founded in 1904. Club Atlético Malagueño was founded on 25 May 1948 as a former reserve team of CD Málaga, after the club absorbed CD Santo Tomás with the purpose of establishing a reserve team, it took over as Málaga's main team.
Club Atlético Malagueño and CD Málaga had found themselves together in the 1959–60 Tercera División after CD Málaga was relegated at the end of the 1958–59 Segunda División. As a reserve team, the former should have been relegated to regional competition. To avoid this, they separated from their parent club and registered as an independent club within the Royal Spanish Football Federation. That move made it possible for CA Malagueño to survive after CD Málaga suspended operations.
The 1992–93 season saw CA Malagueño playing in Tercera División Group 9. After a successful campaign, the club was promoted to the Segunda División B. The following season, however, the club was relegated again and, were in danger of folding due to financial struggles.
Name change to Málaga CF On 19 December 1993, in a referendum, the club's members voted in favour of changing names and, on 29 June 1994, CA Malagueño changed their name to Málaga Club de Fútbol S.A.D.
In the early 2000s, Málaga had a roster of talented young players and a modern stadium. Although they never pushed for a Champions League place, under manager Joaquín Peiro the club won trophies and was promoted to a higher division.
They made a solitary appearance in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002, clinching their only official trophy by beating Gent, Willem II and Villarreal. Málaga's run in the UEFA Cup was something of an overachievement, and ended in a defeat on penalties in the quarter-finals to Boavista, after beating Željezničar Sarajevo (who had been eliminated from the Champions League by Newcastle United), Amica Wronki, Leeds United (after a 2–1 win at Elland Road, courtesy of two Julio Dely Valdés goals) and AEK Athens.
After Peiró's retirement, a mass exodus slowly started. Darío Silva, Kiki Musampa, Dely Valdés and Pedro Contreras all left the club. Juande Ramos took over as coach and oversaw a 5–1 home thrashing of Barcelona, the club's biggest victory against the Catalan giants, with a hat-trick from loanee Salva Ballesta, who would end up missing out on the Pichichi Trophy by just two goals. Ramos, however, left for the Sevilla and Gregorio Manzano took charge.
Slow decline and financial issues
Despite steering Málaga to their second consecutive tenth-placed finish, Manzano could not prevent a lackluster side from being relegated, and they finished at the bottom of the league with a paltry 24 points to their name.
Málaga began the new second division season well. However, their form dipped dramatically and for two of the remaining six weeks were in the relegation zone. Málaga managed to address this situation and survived their first Segunda season.
The 2007–08 Segunda División also began impressively, with seven straight victories. Málaga seemed to be on track for promotion but, after another slump in form, they were overtaken as leaders by Numancia. They needed a victory in their final game, at home to Tenerife, to assure promotion. Two goals from Antonio Hidalgo secured a 2–1 triumph and Málaga returned to the top flight as runners-up.
Abdullah Al Thani era (2010–present)
Due to the club's economic problems, then-president Fernando Sanz entered conversations with sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani to launch an ambitious project. On 11 June 2010, after a week of negotiations, Al Thani became the entity's new owner, being named president on 28 July in the members' meeting.
On 28 June 2010, Jesualdo Ferreira was appointed as coach and Moayad Shatat was appointed as vice president and general manager. Following this prominent players like Salomón Rondón and Eliseu were signed. In November, however, Jesualdo was fired because he had not obtained the desired performance, leaving the club in the relegation zone. Later, Shatat confirmed Manuel Pellegrini as coach.
With "The Caretaker" in charge, it was decided to discard players of the squad and strengthen with players like centre back Martín Demichelis and midfielder Júlio Baptista. A record five consecutive La Liga wins, alongside a draw against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés at the start of January 2011, helped the team maintain momentum in the league, finishing the 2010–11 season in 11th place.
In preparation for the 2011–12 season, the club signed with Nike as supplier of the club's kits. Málaga also reached a collaboration agreement with UNESCO, which became the principal sponsor of the club's kit. The more prominent signings of that season were the Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy, the ex-Lyon French midfielder, Jérémy Toulalan, and the most expensive signing in the club's history, Santi Cazorla, who arrived from Villarreal in a €21 million deal. Other less prominent players like Isco, former Spanish international midfielder Joaquín and left back Nacho Monreal, were key in the successful season which followed. For the first time in its history, the club qualified for the Champions League after finishing the 2011–12 La Liga campaign in fourth. In the Champions League, Málaga were paired with Italian giants Milan and reigning Belgian and Russian champions Anderlecht and Zenit Saint Petersburg, respectively. Málaga made it out of the group stage unbeaten, winning their matches against all three clubs. In the round of 16, the team drew Portuguese champions Porto, losing the first away game 1–0 while winning at home 2–0, advancing to the quarter-finals. In a highly anticipated tie against German champions Borussia Dortmund, the home game ended 0–0, leaving Malagauistas with a reasonable chance to advance on the back of a draw in the away fixture. In a second leg marked by controversial referee decisions, the scoreboard showed 1–2 at the 90 minute mark, seemingly ensuring Málaga's place in the semi-finals, but two late goals by Marco Reus (90+1st minute) and Felipe Santana (90+3rd minute) turned the table in favour of the home team. Immediately after the elimination, club president Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani announced a formal complaint would be filed with UEFA and FIFA.
The following season, Málaga was banned by UEFA, along with other clubs for its debts. In a statement the agency declared that the club would be excluded from a subsequent competition, for which it would otherwise qualify, in the next four seasons. However, the ban was eventually downgraded to one season and the club was excluded from the 2013–14 Europa League.
In the summer of 2013, Isco was sold to Real Madrid, Joaquín to Fiorentina and midfielder Jérémy Toulalan to Monaco. The manager also changed, with Bernd Schuster taking over from Manuel Pellegrini.
Following 2013, Málaga encountered a steady decline that would result in them finishing in a lower position in the league each year. On 19 April 2018, Málaga faced Levante U.D. hoping to end their run of ten consecutive defeats that left them placed 20th in LaLiga. However, fate took a turn for the worse and Málaga conceded a goal to Levante's Emmanuel Boateng in stoppage time to see the final score at 0–1. This loss meant that Málaga would be relegated to the Segunda División, ending a run of ten consecutive seasons in the top flight.
In 2019, Málaga came close to being promoted to La Liga, finishing third in the Segunda División, but was eliminated in the first round of the play-offs by Deportivo de La Coruña. For the 2019–20 Segunda División season, Víctor Sánchez del Amo continued as coach.
In early 2020, reports emerged that club owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani and his family who owe Málaga €7.3m in loans and credit lines, were buying out shares from smaller shareholders to be directed to their personal expenses and business interests, yet up to February 2022 no evidence has proven any misconduct to allow the courts to rule that a criminal case is justified. In August 2020, the court appointed administrator issued a statement that he would lay off the entire first-team squad to save the club from oblivion.
In May 2023, Málaga fell into the third tier for the first time since 1998. In their first season back in the Primera Federación, the team finished third in Group 2 before earning promotion by defeating Gimnàstic 4–3 on aggregate in the 2024 Primera Federación play-offs. Málaga secured their return to La Liga after eight years with a 2–1 away victory over Almería in the second leg of the 2026 Segunda División play-offs.
Honours
Domestic Segunda División Winners (1): 1998–99 Segunda División B Winners (1): 1997–98 Tercera División Winners (3): 1963–64, 1992–93, 1994–95
International UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals (1): 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Quarter-finals (1): 2002–03 UEFA Intertoto Cup: Winners (1): 2002
Friendly Trofeo Costa del Sol Winners (10): 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2025, 2026 Schalke 04 Cup Winners (1): 2014 Copa EuroAmericana Runner-up (1): 2015
Trofeo Costa del Sol Between 1961 and 1983, the club organised its own summer tournament, the Trofeo Costa del Sol. In this first age of the tournament, the club won this competition themselves on three occasions, beating Real Madrid, Red Star Belgrade and Derby County in the finals. After a long time of inactivity from 1983 onwards, the competition was revived in 2003. Since then, the club has won the competition on seven occasions, beating Newcastle United, Real Betis, Parma, Peñarol, Everton, Lekhwiya, Sampdoria and Fulham in the finals. All ten trophies are currently placed together in the Museo Malaguista in La Rosaleda.
Eastern Andalusia Derby
Málaga's main rivalry is with Granada CF, known as the Derby of eastern Andalusia. The two clubs are located approximately 90 kilometers apart.
First-team squad
Reserve team
Out on loan
Personnel
Current technical staff
Seasons
Recent seasons
Season Div. Pos. Pld W D L GF GA PtsCopa del ReyNotes1999–20001D12th38111512555048Second Round2000–011D8th3816814606156Second Round2001–021D10th38131411444453Round of 322002–031D13th38111314444946Round of 162003–041D10th3815617505551Round of 162004–051D10th3815617404851Round of 322005–061D20th385924366824Third Round2006–072D15th42141315495055Round of 162007–082D2nd42201210584272Round of 322008–091D8th38151013555955Round of 322009–101D 17th3871615424837Round of 162010–111D 11th3813718546846Round of 162011–121D 4th3817714545358Round of 162012–131D 6th3816913535057Quarter-finalsQuarter-finals Champions League2013–141D 11th3812917394645Round of 322014–151D 9th3814816424850Quarter-finals2015–161D 8th38121214383548Round of 322016–171D 11th38121016495546Round of 322017–181D 20th385528246120Round of 322018–192D 3rd44211112533674Second Round2019–202D 14th42112011353353First Round2020–212D 12th42141117374753Round of 322021–222D 18th42111219365745Second Round2022–232D 20th42101418374444Second Round 2023–243D 3rd3819136522570Round of 32 2024–252D 16th42121713424653First Round2025–262D 4th42211011755273Second Round
European record