Granada is now a Second Division team. Mallorca’s victory against Las Palmas (1-0) makes the Andalusian team’s relegation mathematical with three games remaining in the League. The duel against Real Madrid (Dazn, 6:30 p.m.) is of no use to them, which has become a very sad scenario for the faithful Granada fans, who have shown and will continue to show their anger at this relegation, the seventh in the history of the Andalusian team and less a year after his last promotion. “At least we have caused numbers to be made for salvation,” said José Ramón Sandoval, Granada’s third coach in an unfortunate season, after the clash against Sevilla last day. At the Sánchez Pizjuán, with the 3-0 defeat, the red and white team’s remote options for salvation were buried.
Sandoval, who arrived on matchday 30, has not been able to repair a desperate situation. Granada was then 13 points away from salvation, condemned after having obtained only two victories in a very discreet course. Sandoval, at least, achieved those same two victories in just six days. The relegation is the final result of very poor planning, continuous lurches and a lot of improvisation by its leaders.
Granada is a Chinese-owned club. And these leaders are largely to blame for the relegation of a team that is finding it difficult to establish itself in the elite. Mainly, because after the promotion achieved by Paco López and a group of very committed footballers, with the young Bryan Zaragoza as a star figure, the property put Granada on the market. The current owners took over the Andalusian entity in 2016, after paying 37 million euros to the Pozzo family. After last year’s promotion, they thought the time was right to sell.
The absence of convincing buyers caused a delay in summer planning. Paco López earned the renewal, but the team was not adequately reinforced, especially at the back. López led a group that rose playing football very well and where players like Neva, Miguel Ignasi, Callejón, Uzuni, Puertas, Quini, Bryan Zaragoza and Jorge Molina had formed the promotion block. This base needed quality reinforcements in First Division. They had the young Samu, who had amazed in the preseason, while Gumbau and Gonzalo Villar were signed.
Everything began to collapse very soon. Samu was hired by Atlético de Madrid for only six million euros, due to the club’s inability to raise his clause before putting him on the showcase. Later, Samu would be loaned to Alavés from Atlético. Lucas Boyé arrived, who could not be decisive. Paco López’s Granada, however, offered good feelings in the game. Furthermore, the coach had fit in with the city and was very loved by the fans. Of course, they only won one game in the first round, against Mallorca (3-2), so the team always moved to the bottom of the table. In the month of October, the property took a first quite unexpected turn of the helm. He hired a Juventus scout, Matteo Tognozzi, as the new sporting director, replacing Nico Rodríguez. Sports changes were about to come.
The 3-1 defeat on November 24 against Alavés led to López’s dismissal. Tognozzi made the most controversial decision of the season. He put the team in the hands of Cacique Medina, a Uruguayan coach with no experience in First Division. Granada radically changed its style and the sports director also took another important step in the winter market. He signed up to eleven players with the intention that Medina could achieve permanence, spending 4.5 million. The block that achieved promotion passed away. And even more so when Bayern acquired Bryan Zaragoza, who had achieved full international status with Spain, for 15 million euros. The winger has barely played for the German giant (87 minutes in five games).
Without its star or other references, Medina’s conservative football barely obtained results. He won a match of 14 matches. The club decided to dismiss Medina and tried desperately with Sandoval when there were 10 games left. Granada improved, but the reaction has been insufficient. He goes to the Second Division longing for Diego Martínez’s period on the bench (from 2018 to 2021). A stage in which Granada reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League and the semifinals of the Cup. In the League, they finished in seventh and ninth place.
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