The best images from the match between Real Murcia and Betis B
/ Juan Carlos Caval
For several weeks now, many have dared to speculate about which players should stay in the Real Murcia squad for next season. Winning against Atlético Madrileño back on April 5 helped kick off that little campaign. Taking all three points from Europa three weeks ago emboldened the ever-optimistic.
It doesn’t matter that Real Murcia is putting together one of the biggest sporting embarrassments in recent memory. It doesn’t matter that Real Murcia has only won 12 out of 36 matches. It doesn’t matter that at Nueva Condomina they’ve scraped together just 23 miserable points. In these last few days, they’ve been determined to convince us that more than half the squad is good enough for the next project.
And if after 35 matchdays crawling through the Primera RFEF, there are opinion-makers insisting on renewing more than half the squad, then after yet another humiliation at home yesterday, perhaps it’s time to go a step further. Perhaps it’s time to start telling the fans that nobody should be sacked, that we’re keeping the same players, that no changes are needed.
Even though they are now fully immersed in absolute ridicule, swallowed by the vicious cycle that has gripped Real Murcia since Felipe Moreno set foot in Nueva Condomina, and unwilling to face the league table—the only thing that doesn’t lie—it wouldn’t be surprising if many of the players wearing the grana shirt today remain with the team.
But except for financial reasons—terminating current contracts will cost an arm and a leg—there is no sporting justification for such a decision. Because the Real Murcia squad has stubbornly robbed even the dignity of a fan base now condemned to praying for survival until the final matchday.
In fact, for a few weeks now, many fans have placed more faith in relegation being avoided due to rivals’ failures—Nástic seems determined to crawl even more than the Murcianistas—than in the merits of Curro Torres’ side. Many, even yesterday after failing against a Betis Deportivo team that has one foot in Segunda RFEF, looked ahead to the next matchday and prayed for Europa to beat Nástic, because nobody bets a dime on Real Murcia winning at Juventud de Torremolinos.
So, Real Murcia will have to play for their survival against Juventud Torremolinos and Eldense.
Because Real Murcia wasted yet another matchday opportunity to secure safety. Because Real Murcia, after showing a bit of form against Europa and Sabadell, decided to switch back to ‘holiday mode’ or simply stage a ‘working-to-rule’ strike, allowing Betis Deportivo to become the seventh team to win at Nueva Condomina and the twelfth to take points from a stadium that has become the grana’s own burial ground.
We’ll have to wait until today to find out how Felipe Moreno feels. Though I’m sure I’m not lying if I say he’ll have a very bad night. But certainly not as bad as the one his fans will endure, whose honor and dignity have already been stolen.
Because yesterday Curro Torres’ team had no honor to beat a Betis Deportivo side that, if they had drawn or lost, would have already been relegated to Segunda RFEF. The most likely outcome is that the Beticos will eventually go down, but thanks to Real Murcia’s generosity, they’ve managed to cling to a little hope.
Just Excuses
Many will argue that Real Murcia didn’t play badly. Many will cling to the bad luck of missed chances. But those excuses—which might be valid for teams like Torremolinos, Sanluqueño, or Algeciras—do not apply to a Real Murcia built with a big budget and with players that, as Sánchez Breis himself highlighted a few days ago, most teams in the category would fight for.
We’ll see in July and August.
