LaLiga team achieves unprecedented negative feat
Almeria and Athletic Bilbao battled to a scoreless draw at home on Monday, cementing the former’s place in LaLiga annals.
In the first 24 rounds of La Liga, Almeria became the only side in league history to not win a single match. With just seven points, Gaiska Garitano’s team is in last place.
The Almeria loss on Monday brought its LaLiga winless streak to 27 matches, tied with Levante’s record. This winless run includes the games played towards the close of the previous term.
Before this, Huesca’s Sporting held the record. Their 1997-98 La Liga campaign began with a winless streak of 23 games. However, they eventually prevailed 2-1 against Racing Santander on the next matchday. Having accumulated 13 points, Sporting eventually finished the season in last place.
What went wrong for Almeria?
Under the ownership of the ambitious Saudi businessman Turki Al-Sheikh, Almeria earned promotion to La Liga in 2022. They managed to escape relegation last season with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Espanyol on the penultimate day.
After Coach Rubi unexpectedly departed in the summer, the club spent heavily on new players. Yet, there has been no indication of the team’s historically poor performance.
Then, Vicente Moreno faced a falling out with the club’s upper echelons, leading to his dismissal after just two points. Alberto Lasarte, the youth squad coach, took over as caretaker, and his sole game in charge reflected the struggles of the season.
Striker Luis Suarez scored a hat trick in the first five minutes of Almeria’s 3-0 halftime lead over fellow strugglers Granada at home. However, a jittery defense gave way at the first sign of a Granada comeback, leading to a 3-3 tie; Suarez’s three-month injury only made matters worse.
Even after making some defensive improvements, newly hired coach Gaizka Garitano’s squad nevertheless went winless in their first six league games. Even in the Copa del Rey, he was unable to find relief as fourth-tier Barbastro humiliatingly eliminated Almeria.
What followed was the worst chapter in soccer history, as that defeat severely eroded any remaining self-assurance.
Which club would Almeria overtake with this record?
Against strong competition, Almeria may seem to be a respectable squad. It is strange coming from a bunch that have failed to win a game all season.
Despite controlling the game for an hour on the road at Atletico Madrid, they were defeated 2-1. Additionally, they were poised to salvage a draw against champions Barcelona when Sergi Roberto scored a late winner.
They also had a fair 2-0 lead at halftime at the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid scored twice in the second half. One was with the help of VAR, and then scored the game-winning goal in the 99th minute.
The team’s inability to capitalize on good scoring opportunities is causing them to lose more games than they should. An additional example was their match against Valencia on the first weekend of February.
Gonzalo Melero, a midfielder, wasted a golden opportunity early on, and Hugo Duro, an unmarked opponent striker, scored the first goal two minutes later.
Curiously, these numbers aren’t the worst that Europe has ever seen. With 11 points in the 2007-08 Premier League season, Derby County set a record for the poorest season in the history of Europe’s main five leagues, and Almeria is only on seven.
PHOTOS: IMAGO