Málaga CF and RC Deportivo de A Coruña meet on Sunday at 21.30 hours in La Rosaleda, bringing back a Primera fixture that has not been played since April 2018. It is a reunion that matters because both clubs are back in LaLiga EA Sports, and because Málaga supporters will finally see a top-flight match at home again after the long climb back.
Juan Francisco Funes called the game “very special” and said the most important part is that the fans “can live a Primera match at La Rosaleda” against a rival like Deportivo. He added that last season produced “vibrant matches” between two teams with similar paths, and he expects this one to be “very difficult” against an opponent built “from defensive solidity.”
The search around Málaga Vs Deportivo also comes with the opening-week evidence that gives the match its shape. Málaga began with a 2-0 defeat to Atlético de Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, while Deportivo opened with a 1-1 draw against Elche at ABANCA Riazor after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck in the 21st minute and Marc Aguado levelled with 15 minutes left. Deportivo were the best away team in Segunda last season, finishing with 11 wins, six draws and four losses across 38 jornadas, which helps explain why they are being treated as more than just a newly promoted side.
That is the part Málaga cannot ignore. They arrive at a home stadium that should feel like a celebration, but their recent record there is thin: nine defeats in their last 13 home matches. Funes asked for “patience and perseverance,” a phrase that fits the evening as much as the standings do, because the return to Primera at La Rosaleda will be judged not by the occasion alone but by whether Málaga can turn that crowd, and that home ground, into an advantage again.
The absences also narrow the margin for error. Málaga will be without Fernando Calero, Adrián Niño, Aarón Ochoa and Diego Murillo through injury, with Moussa Diarra a doubt, while Antonio Hidalgo has only Noé Carrillo unavailable for Deportivo, with Yeremay also in the picture. For Málaga, the first test of the season is no longer about the emotion of being back. It is whether the first night of that return can become the first sign that La Rosaleda is ready to carry them through a long campaign.
