Spanish outfit Deportivo de La Coruña are currently enveloped in almighty trouble. The club are facing one of the darkest periods in their 113-year history.
It is a sad state of affairs to see a giant of La Liga languishing in the lower regions of the Segunda División.
Demise or New Dawn for Deportivo de La Coruña?
Super Deportivo
Only 20 years ago this year, at the turn of the millennium, ‘Super Depor’, as they were known back then, accomplished the ultimate for any La Liga club- crowned champion of Spain for the very first time in their proud history.
Led by their experienced manager, Javier Irureta, the Galician team were a who’s who of star-studded talent. The likes of Diego Tristan, Albert Luque, Roy Makaay, Djalminha, Jorge Andrade and Juan Carlos Valerón to name a few. They lit up La Liga with flair, entertainment and goals in abundance.
It was a rosy period league-wise, with five straight finishes in the top three positions. They very much belonged to the upper echelons of Spanish football between 2000 and 2004.
Fortress Riazor of Deportivo
Not only did they dominate La Liga, but were a regular fixture in Europe too, and they were not just there to make up the numbers. Thanks to their fortress of La Riazor, which no away team relished, Deportivo conquered all before them.
Memorable Comeback
One famous night in particular, on 7th April 2004, La Coruña blitzed a Hollywood AC Milan side. They roared back from 4-1 down on aggregate from their first-leg defeat in San Siro to win 4-0. This ensured Depor performed one of the greatest feats in European football history to prevail 5-4 on aggregate. It was to be another famous chapter in their history.
Deportivo Copa Triumph
They also famously crashed Real Madrid’s centenary party by winning La Copa Del Rey in The Whites’ anniversary year back in 2002. In their sanctuary of the Santiago Bernabéu. The Spanish party poopers very much so.
A Giant Crestfallen
Those days seem so far away now for the team based in North West Spain. Deportivo’s downfall is down to a lack of finances and poor organization. Depor are a world away from those heady days. Currently, they are battling for their lives at the bottom of Spain’s Segunda División. The Galicians are potentially staring at the abyss of a first league campaign in the Segunda B División for the first time in 40 years. Not since the 1980/81 season, when their stay lasted just one season before gaining promotion once more.
Play-Off Heartache
It could have been oh so different as, at the end of last season, Deportivo were a goal away from returning to the top flight of Spain. The club made it to the playoff final against Mallorca and won the first leg in La Riazor 2-0. It was a commanding league to take to the Island, only to lose 3-0 in Son Moix. It was a bitter pill to swallow to lose out by one solitary goal. So close and yet tellingly now so very far.
That disappointment clearly had an effect on the club who were so tantalisingly close to promotion back to the elite of Spanish football. Fast forward to now and this historic and once highly successful club is on its knees. One hopes that the club doesn’t fold altogether as neutrals would dearly miss a club which has brought much joy to many supporters throughout their history. For now, though, the club is in a precarious situation and the demise of Deportivo is real… or is it?
Rejuvenation at Deportivo
Spanish football returned after a short Christmas pit stop in January. And, after three games back in the Segunda División, Deportivo showed something of a revival. They secured three straight wins against Numancia, Racing Santander and, most notably, against high flying Cádiz CF, who have been promoted to La Liga. That represented four wins on the bounce in the league after their pre-Christmas victory against Tenerife. This amazing turnaround ended with seven straight wins to be closer to the play-offs than the relegation zone.
The experienced Fernando Vázquez, who knows his way around this division and is in his second stint with the club, has been charged to steer the club into calmer waters. And it is a case of so far so good since his appointment post-Christmas.
Cup Shock Silver Lining
However, the team suffered the ignominy of being dumped out of the second round of the Copa del Rey on penalties by lowly Segunda División B outfit Unionistas Salamanca. But that could yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise to concentrate on their more pressing league duties.
Ups and Downs of Deportivo
Although the team went through a sticky patch after that remarkable run, the team initially returned well after the resumption of Spanish football. They were seven games unbeaten with three wins and four draws. However, Depor have lost their last two games against Málaga and at home to Extremadura. The Galicians sit precariously in 17th place on 48 points. The club are just two points clear of Lugo in the relegation zone. They are a team who go on sporadic runs throughout the season. They need another one desperately with two games remaining.
Although they are still in troubled waters of the relegation battle, crucially they are those two points ahead of the relegation zone. It’s a remarkable feat, considering only at Christmas Deportivo were flush bottom and completely cut adrift of the pack. The streaks of their victories show there is a spirit still very much alive in this giant.
These are delicate times for a historic outfit of Spanish football as is Deportivo de La Coruña as to whether their demise is a reality or perhaps, there is indeed a new dawn breaking.
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