In a bizarre final matchday in Spain’s second tier of soccer, one of the most historic and recognizable clubs in the country’s recent history suffered a demoralizing drop down to Spain’s regionalized third tier of the sport.
Deportivo La Coruña, which lifted the La Liga title in 2000, won the Copa del Rey in 2002, and participated in various Champions Leagues in the first decade of this century, finished 20th in the Segunda Division standings, sending them down to an abyss from which they may never recover.
Deportivo needed one of either Lugo or Albacete to drop points in the final match day in order to have a shot to stay in the category for the 2020-21 season. In addition, they needed to beat Fuenlabrada at their home stadium of Riazor in order to stay up.
Deportivo’s match was not even played on Monday night after news broke that 7 of Fuenlabrada’s players had tested positive for COVID-19, meaning that their match will take place on a later date.
It won’t have any significance for Depor, however, as both Lugo and Albacete managed to win on Monday, guaranteeing their safety in the country’s second division.
This means that Deportivo, once one of the top clubs in Spain and in all of Europe, will instead drop down to a category which they had not seen since the early 1980s.
