The Fall of Real Murcia

A mere 11 months ago, then newly-promoted Real Murcia was one of the surprises of La Liga. They started off their 100th year of futbol, or their 'Centenario' as it is known, with a win against Osasuna to lay claim to 9th place in La Liga. Things reached a fever pitch that first week in January when thoughts of UEFA Cup futbol danced in the heads of Real Murcia supporters. A newly promoted team earning a spot to the following year's UEFA Cup was unheard of. And unfortunately for Real Murcia, it still is. Following the euphoric win against the Pamplona side, Real Murcia went into a tailspin like no other eventually falling to 19th place and being relegated back down to La Segunda Division. Real Murcia was only capable of scratching out 8 points in their next 20 games. Unfortunately for them, the trend has continued and now Real Murcia once again find themselves in the relegation zone. This time, to be relegated down to the Segunda B.

What makes this so painful for the team and its supporters is that the 'Centenario' is suppose to be a special year. A club celebrating 100 years of existence is suppose to summon magic and win games against 'los gigantes' or better yet, take their fans on a wild ride in the Copa del Rey. But sometimes, the Centenarios don't work out and now Real Murcia are seeing one of their worst years ever in the year of their Centenario.

Now Real Murcia has called on former Spanish National Team Coach Javier Clemente to turn things around. Clemente himself has been around the block many many times, and is sure to eventually piss off another team in another Spanish autonomous region. He's done it in his native Basque Country, Andalucia, Catalonia, Comunidad de Madrid, Tenenrife... and even Serbia! This is also a coach who managed to take a powerful Spanish National Team and lose to Cyprus. That's not a typo. That really happened. Not surprisingly, he resigned as 'Seleccionador' three days later. Don't hold your breath the the faithful who still go to La Nueva Condomina will see a quick tunraround. Real Murcia is in trouble. Let's hope the start of their second Centenario is better than the end of the first.

On to the results.... The Xerez train keeps rolling. They are now 'lider' of La Segunda. And don't look now but the Gallegos from Celta are making their way towards the top.

Jornada 14
Tenerife - Zaragoza 1-2
Salamanca - Córdoba 1-0
Castellón - Alavés 0-1
Alicante - Levante 0-2
Gimnástic - Hércules 2-2
Albacete - Rayo 2-1
Celta - R.Sociedad 0-0
Xerez - Elche 3-1
Huesca - Las Palmas 2-1
Girona - Sevilla At 1-0
Eibar - Murcia 3-1

Clasificacion:

1. Xerez - 27
2. Salamanca - 27
3. Zaragoza - 25
4. Hércules - 23
5. Castellón - 21
6. Rayo - 21
7. Huesca - 20
8. R.Sociedad - 20
9. Tenerife - 20
10. Albacete - 20
11. Girona - 20
12. Celta - 19
13. Levante - 19
14. Alavés - 19
15. Gimnástic - 17
16. Córdoba - 16
17. Eibar - 16
18. Las Palmas - 15
19. Elche - 14
20. Murcia - 12
21. Alicante - 9
22. Sevilla At - 7