The club in the shadow of itself
Real Zaragoza is a giant of Spanish football but they could be in the third tier if they don't shape up
Football is becoming more and more about metrics so here are some metrics. 10th in the all time La Liga table despite being out of the league for 14 consecutive seasons, 6 Copa del Reys the most recent in 2004, 1 Supercopa and 1 Cup Winners Cup that is seared into the minds of Arsenal fans and David Seaman for eternity. Average attendances have ranged from 14,000 to 21,000 and that includes this season when the ground is being redeveloped.
This season they even spent €3million on a striker from Serbia, it might seem pennies to English clubs but in Segunda that's big money. By any metric you look at bar one Real Zaragoza is a big club the problem is the bar one is their current league position which is fifth bottom in Segunda.
They say it's the hope that kills you and nowhere does that term fit better than Real Zaragoza. Last season they started like a house on fire winning their first five and being in the play-off mix heading towards December before collapsing and finishing 15th looking over their shoulder rather than ahead.
This season started with a tough game away to much fancied Cadiz who had just come down from La Liga with much the same side. Real Zaragoza had brought in a new core and the signings clicked magnificently as Los Maños destroyed Cadiz 0-4 in Andalucia.
After years of dour football (they'd drawn 52 games in the previous three seasons) they were playing attacking football and going for wins rather than settling for draws under Head Coach Victor Fernandez.
For those who don't know Victor is one of the most iconic coaches in Real Zaragozas proud history, he had been the coach who took them to that European final against Arsenal and overseen the best times in recent memory. He left in 1996 after 5 great seasons then returned in 2006 and again took them to Europe. In 2018 he came back again and had Real Zaragoza primed for promotion in 2020 before something called COVID got in the way and on their return and with no fans the wheels fell off.
He had returned again for a fourth spell at the end of last season to keep them up and the Cadiz result got fans giddy.
Matchday two saw them beat Cartagena, before a goalless draw with Mirandes and a defeat to Burgos. A 3-0 demolition of Elche at home got pulses racing in Aragon but that was the pinnacle not the start of something.
Their form dropped off by the start of November when they beat Granada 2-1. The following week they played the Aragon derby and took a respectable point against Huesca away. A defeat at home to Albacete hurt as did a loss away to another inconsistent side in Eibar but the real pain came against Real Oviedo. 2-0 up and piling on the pressure at La Romareda somehow they lost 2-3 a stoppage time goal saw the Asturians come away with three points.
Victor looked crestfallen at the final whistle and the following day announced he was resigning. David Navarro oversaw a narrow victory over Racing Ferrol before the club announced Miguel Angel Ramirez as the new Head Coach.
Ramirez had taken Sporting Gijon to the play-offs but his side had been far from convincing and owed their play-off place more to the blow up of Racing.
Fans were far from convinced and they couldn't really be blamed given the clubs recent history of coaching appointments under the ownership of Jorge Mas.
Mas is the money man at Inter Miami and while he's funded the reunion of Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba stateside over here the primary focus has been on the new La Romareda.
The clubs hiring of coaches and signing of players in recent seasons has been scattergun and despite capital investments in the club leading to their biggest ever salary budget in Segunda the club were in the bottom half of the table when Ramirez took over.
Truth be told though any fears of relegation felt distant and given three sides were all but relegated by Christmas most sides felt safe.
Their first game back after the winter break and under Ramirez was a narrow loss to Elche. While that result wasn't the worst a 2-2 draw against marooned Tenerife at home in his second game certainly wasn't received well.
The team bounced back in their next game as they went to Malaga and won but that was a false dawn one of many over the last decade for Real Zaragoza.
The club then lost back to back games against bottom half sides in Albacete and Burgos and fans soon started looking over their shoulders.
While three sides have effectively been down most of the season Eldense have always semi threatened to make a fight of it and the club recruited smartly in January while Real Zaragoza sold their starting striker Ivan Azon to Como probably thinking they had nothing to play for.
Ramirez was coming under serious pressure already after just six games and it even felt like his job was on the line as they took on Granada. Los Maños were 2-0 down and had been thoroughly outplayed against 10 menwhen they scored two goals out of the blue in stoppage time to prolong Ramirez reign and ultimately the pain for fans of the Aragon side.
A 1-1 draw against former side Sporting saw Ramirez make game nine of his reign in what felt a huge clash against Eldense.
In biblical rain Los Maños got themselves ahead through a penalty before two quickfire goals saw them go behind. They got another lifeline on the verge of half time as they got a scarcely deserved equaliser. Things stayed at 2-2 until the 72nd minute when Eldense snuck ahead and they then added a fourth to clinch it and stun La Romareda.
That defeat could have been enough to seal the fate of Ramirez but still nothing was announced as they prepared to face an out of form Almeria.
Almeria hadn't won in eight heading into their clash but they took apart a hapless Real Zaragoza side in a 4-1 defeat.
The team landed back in Zaragoza late on Saturday to an angry reception from fans at their latest capitulation. On social media fans are openly talking as if the club is already in the third tier so little is their faith in this current crop of players.
Similar to Leeds in the Championship, playing for Real Zaragoza brings a unique sense of pressure and not everyone is equipped for it. Just two seasons ago a similar story played out at Malaga where every defeat ramped up the pressure swirling round the club and the players couldn't handle it. Many of the squad are experienced in Segunda but not many are experienced in playing for a club that has alumni such as Nayim, Diego Milito and Jorge Valdano.
Ramirez and the Sporting Director who has overseen the last few managerial hirings were both fired within 24 hours of the Almeria defeat. Former captain of Los Maños and Atleti Gabi is the man rumoured to be coming in he's currently coaching Getafe B.
It's a huge gamble in what will be his first managerial role at first team level but over the years the club have tried every type of manager you can think of and none of them have delivered the ultimate dream of a return back to La Liga.
Whether it be Gabi or someone else their task will be simple keep the club in professional football.