A historic celebration for Malaga CF's promotion

Everyone experienced this day in their own way. As for the players - the stars and architects of this triumph - they immediately made their way to the foot of the away stand, at one of the corners (Larrubia had climbed up there shortly before to celebrate his stunning goal, which ultimately secured their promotion) of the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos to celebrate, sing and enjoy the moment with their supporters, who have stood by them throughout this journey. Many continued to back the team even when they were struggling, and now they too are being rewarded for all their efforts. Around 300 supporters were gathered in that stand.

This promotion is historic, for many reasons, not least because of the bond between the squad and the fans, which has reached levels never before seen at Malaga. After half an hour of chants and expressions of gratitude, the real party began for the players.

Some, such as Dotor, had to honour a promise; Montero, from Madrid, shaved off a large chunk of his hair in the changing room (leaving him with half the hair at the back of his head). Meanwhile, Montero later turned up with his hair dyed in the club’s blue and white colours, and Murillo appeared with red hair.

The atmosphere inside the changing room was one of sheer jubilation: the players, in high spirits, interrupted head coach Juanfran Funes’s official press conference to chant “To Primera, hey! To Primera, hey!” A scene that will undoubtedly go down in the club’s history.

The party continued on the coach on the way to Malaga. Many, such as Dani Sánchez and Izan Merino, went live on Instagram to celebrate from inside the Malaga coach. Others recorded videos and posted them to their Stories, such as Chupete, who teamed up with Adrián Niño to joke about the rockets and fireworks, as it had emerged a few days earlier that Almeria had already bought pyrotechnic devices of this kind to celebrate their promotion. “Where are the rockets? Where are the rockets?”, sang both players. “Hey, can I borrow them? It’s for a school project,” said Niño in a joking tone.

There had been speculation about their return to La Rosaleda once the Primera Division squad arrived in Malaga, but the incidents that took place in the run-up to the match - which resulted in some of the bus windows being smashed - meant that the decision was taken not to stop at the stadium and instead head straight to a private party at a nightclub in the city. There, they were greeted by over a hundred supporters, who waited until well into the early hours for the team to arrive.

They sang chants and gave a warm welcome to the players and coaching staff, who embraced one another in joy at their achievement. However, it is worth remembering that the official promotion parade will take place on Monday, and that is when the real mass celebration will take place - one that is likely to be unprecedented in the city, given that the current support for the club is truly unparalleled.

Around 500 Blue-and-White supporters - who no doubt felt privileged before the match simply for having a ticket (around 344 in the away stand) - cheered on the team at the UD Almería Stadium and were then able to celebrate the promotion inside. However, there were several thousand supporters who travelled knowing full well that they would probably not be able to watch the match from inside the ground, and did so simply to cheer on Malaga as they arrived at the stadium and to celebrate afterwards in the streets. They had to find a way to watch it from outside: many were turned away from the pubs and areas around the ground "because they weren’t expecting so many people", according to some accounts.

Despite the physical distance from La Rosaleda, the streets of Almeria resounded with unmistakable cheers. The club anthem could be heard non-stop. Sitting on park benches, crammed onto the pavements, many followed the match glued to their radios and mobile phones, buzzing with excitement upon learning that Maaga were back among the elite.

And in the vicinity of the Almeria ground, chaos broke out: hundreds of Malaga fans celebrated enthusiastically in the streets of Almeria during those first few minutes of Malaga’s time as a First Division side.

Around 10,000 people of all ages took to the streets (many were already out to watch the decisive match). The city was awash with blue and white, and the crowd made their way, as is customary, to the Plaza del General Torrijos.

The area was filled with the smell of flares, blue-and-white flags and, above all, faces beaming with genuine happiness. Sweat and tears streamed down the faces of the Malaguistas, who flooded various parts of Malaga city centre with their passion and dedication. 'Malaguismo' in its purest form. Nobody, absolutely nobody, wants to wake up from this dream.