This time nine years ago, a Spanish club that was not called Barcelona or Real Madrid could have become European champions.
The 2003/04 Champions League was one of the most open in recent memory, with the semi-finals involving Deportivo de La Coruna, FC Porto, Monaco and a Chelsea side in its first year under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship.
Managed by Claudio Ranieri (who funnily enough is Monaco’s current boss), Chelsea lost out to the French side, partly thanks to the Italian’s tinkering.
But in the other semi-final, Deportivo had to get past Jose Mourinho’s Porto to reach a maiden Champions League final.
At that time, the Galician side was one of the top sides in Spain, having won the La Liga title in 2000 and the Copa del Rey in 2002, as well as regular finishes in the Top Four. In addition they had qualified for the Champions League group stages on five consecutive occasions between 2000 and 2005.
But they lost to Porto by the narrowest of margins. The first leg in Porto, which is just a stone’s throw from Galicia, ended in a tight goalless draw.
But Depor would suffer heartbreak in the second leg on home soil when Porto’s Derlei netted a penalty on the hour mark to send Porto through. Depor’s keeper Jose Molina, who had recovered from testicular cancer not long before, got his fingertip to the ball. But his effort was in vain as the ball found the back of the net.
2004 (May 4) Deportivo La Coruna (Spain) 0... by sp1873
Administration
The narrowest of margins can have the most far-reaching effects. Mourinho would go on to bigger and better things, but for Depor it was the start of a slide into obscurity.
Depor would play in the following season’s tournament after beating Shelbourne in the final qualifying round. But it was the end of the cycle.
Like any club in Spain outside the Top Two, once a particular squad reaches the end of its cycle, a period of diminishing returns normally follows.
Manager Javier Irrureta who had joined the club in 1998-99 and engineered the league title, Copa and Champions League football left at the end of 2005, a clear sign that the era of glory had ended.
His final season saw Depor finish down in 8th and outside the Champions League places for the first time in five years. With the lack of cash from the competition, the club stagnated from thereon in, hovering in mid-table. In hindsight, remaining trapped between 8th and 14th was preferable to the events that followed.
Although, the club tended to favour stability by never sacking a manager within one season, this would change in 2010/11 in a traumatic end to the season which saw the club relegated for the first time in two decades.
The relegation battle that season involved every team outside the Top Seven. In fact at the end of the campaign only six points separated Espanyol in 8th and Deportivo in 18th.
A lack of goals cost Depor as the 31 they scored that season was the lowest in the division, and counteracted their decent defensive record.
It was a painful moment as they were placed in administration. With debts of up to €150 million and no parachute payments, Depor were staring at the abyss.
But they did get their act together last season and secured promotion to La Liga at the first attempt.
However, residual effects remained from relegation just a year before. Depor entered this season with the oldest squad in the division (an average age of 29.2) and a large Portuguese contingent brought to the Riazor by super-agent Jorge Mendes (the man who brought Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson and a certain Bebe to Manchester United). Mendes was accused of having far too much influence at the club.
A dire start to the season left Depor deep in relegation trouble. But in mid-March things started to look up. Kick-started by a victory over local derby rivals Celta Vigo, Depor went on a four-game winning streak which lifted the club out of the relegation zone.
That is where the fairytale returned to its nightmare state as they would only win one of their last seven games to slip out of La Liga.
One relegation is a disaster. Two within three years must surely be verging on an apocalypse, considering the debts accumulated by the club by 2011.
With an unbalanced and ageing squad, pockmarked by Mendes’ acquisitions, major restructuring is in sore need at the Riazor.
The club owes almost €100 million in tax to the state as well as another €30 million to the banks.
But they continue to haemorrhage money despite the fact that they are in administration and have made cutbacks such as switching off the WiFi at the stadium’s press box, cancelling its pay TV subscription and cancelling payments to the directors.
That was before relegation was confirmed by the 1 – 0 defeat to fourth placed Real Sociedad. One would imagine that the next round of cuts may involve something more terminal.
