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#4 Malaga CF
The club was started in the year 1904. It intended to be a sports society to encourage the new sport of football. The club often played against British sailors who frequented the city. After a brief interruption due to the Spanish civil war, the club was promoted to the La Liga in 1949.
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In its early days, Malaga had a rocky period in the La Liga. It finished second in the league on multiple occasions but was also relegated a few times. The club regained its place in the top league in the early 1970’s. The next 5 years was the most successful period of the club. This period saw wins against prominent clubs such as Barcelona.
Although, the club had a good youth system in place its performances were never more than mediocre. This led to the gradual decline of the club. The club was facing financial uncertainty and was once again relegated to the second division in 2007. The club was desperately in need of investments.
Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family bought the club in 2010. The investments from Qatar led to the purchase of players such as Martín Demichelis and Júlio Baptista. The club improved its performance drastically, finishing 4th in the 2011-2012 season of the La Liga.
The club for the first time in its history took part in the champions league. The club had an impressive performance in the group stage winning all of their matches and even beating Italian giants AC Milan. The club almost reached the semi-finals, if not for a controversial referee decision.
After the exit of manager Manuel Pellegrini, the club's performance declined. The club has found itself in the middle of the league table. The best they could manage in the last 5 years was an 8th place finish, in the La Liga during the 2015-16 season. The club has produced talented players like Isco from its youth system but it has failed to win trophies.
In recent years the Sheikh seems to have backed off from the investment front. This has hurt the club's performance. The club hasn’t signed any significant talent in the last few seasons. The club needs his money now more than ever.
