In Spain they are a respected club that have won the Copa del Rey on six occasions and have spent 58 seasons in La Liga, the last of which was in 2012-13 but we aren't discussing that relegation. Nope, we are discussing the relegation of 2007-08 that was very much a shock relegation. La Liga has a habit of throwing up a shock relegation every now and then. We had the Atlético Madrid relegation of 1999-00 just four years after they won the league, Villarreal going down in 2011-12 was another one as was Deportivo in 2010-11 purely based on the fact that 43 points was the highest any side has gone down in La Liga with 20 teams. A shock relegation is basically a side that you wouldn't have thought would be anywhere near relegation trouble. Real Zaragoza 2007-08 fit the criteria. I remember at the time thinking they could get a champions league place or certainly go very close again.
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| Roberto Ayala source: www.losblanquillos.com |
While Real Zaragoza were very much a poor team in 2012-13 with a lack of funds to keep them out of danger the same can't be said of the team they had in 2007-08. Los Blanquillos as they are nicknamed were in summer 2007 planning an assault on the champions league places. In 2006-07 they had finished 6th to secure a UEFA cup spot but finished six points shy of Valencia who got 4th that year. For much of 2006-07 Zaragoza were in the hunt for a champions league place. So in summer 2007, they wanted to go one better for the new season and get that champions league place. What better way of signalling your ambitions than signing one of the league's best defenders in Roberto Ayala. The signing of Ayala eased the pain of losing their best defender from 2006-07 Gabriel Milito to Barcelona.
Ayala's arrival was complimented by having the likes of Peter Luccin and Gabi join from Atlético while already having the likes of Pablo Aimar, Sergio García, Ricardo Oliveira and of course Diego Milito. Basically the squad was certainly good enough to challenge for a champions league place. The coach Víctor Fernández had arrived a year previously and had overseen the 6th place finish from the season before and with his new arrivals was surely optimistic that they now had the depth to go on and push the likes of Valencia, Atlético and Villarreal.
The season started with a terrible 2-1 defeat away at newly promoted Real Murcia. They followed up with two draws at home to Racing Santander (who in this campaign would go onto have a terrific season) and away to Athletic Bilbao. Their first victory came in mid-September at home to Osasuna before being bought back down to earth with a 4-1 defeat away at Barcelona. Victories over Sevilla and Levante couldn't hide their disastrous first round UEFA cup elimination by Greeks Aris Thessaloniki on away goals. On halloween a 1-0 success away to Almería lifted them to 7th and just three points off 4th placed Atlético. However this was as close as they would get to 4th place, as they would not win again in the league until a 3-1 win over Real Murcia on January 20th. By then the picture was a lot more precarious. Los Blanquillos had dropped to 11th and were now twelve points off Atlético in 4th.
By now Zaragoza were under their 3rd coach of the season if you include Ander Garitano's one game in charge. Víctor Fernández was sacked after a 2-2 draw with Mallorca which preceded that 3-1 win over Real Murcia, the only game that Garitano over saw before Zaragoza appointed Javier Irrureta. The Basque coach's reign wasn't going to be long, six games in fact. The collected four points in his opening two games which were a draw at Santander and win at home to Athletic Bilbao. He lost the next four including a 5-0 drubbing at Sevilla. He was gone after an away defeat to Levante.
In came Manolo Villanova and he would be given the reigns till the end of the campaign. He began with a win over Atlético but the problem was at that stage Zaragoza were 15 points off Atlético who remained in 4th.
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| Zaragoza relegated source: El Mundo |
Zaragoza would only record two more wins in the season (both home wins over Recreativo de Huelva and Deportivo) along with four draws. Going into the final day which was an away trip to the Balearic islands to face Real Mallorca they were 18th on 42 points. They needed other results to go their way while also winning their own game. In the end Zaragoza lost their game 3-2 and were relegated. Unthinkable when they were unveiling Ayala, Pavón, Luccin, Gabi etc in the summer of 2007. Not even the 18 goals from Ricardo Oliveira was enough to keep them up, neither was the 15 from strike partner Diego Milito. What you will notice in the table was that Zaragoza were relegated despite having 42 points but they went down by scoring 50 goals. They had scored more goals than 6th placed Racing Santander and as with these relegations it was defense that let them down. Surprising when that defense featured Roberto Ayala and Francisco Pavón.
Summer of 2008 saw Miltio leave for Genoa,
It was a relegation that should never have happened with the caliber of players that were there. It was also a relegation they never fully recovered from. Yes the got promoted back the following season but they haven't had anywhere near the same quality of squad they had in 2007-08 since. You will find Zaragoza these days back down in the Segunda división having narrowly missed out on promotion last June in the play-offs and with it being a very tight division this season they aren't completely out of the promotion picture.
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