Almería is the WORST TEAM In Europe this Season
Costa del Sol, the preferred destination for millions of tourists each year. With miles of beaches, perfect climate and cerveza for a euro, there’s no wonder people from all over the world flock to the south of Spain.
Right on one of those beaches, squeezed between the mediterranean sea and the Sierra Nevada, lies Almería. A city of almost 200.000 filled with Moorish architecture, most notably the Alcazaba fortress overlooking the city, and northern European expats, looking to escape the rough climate of their homes.
This sunny, beautiful and historic city is also home to the worst team in top flight football this season – UD Almería. UD Almeria, still, has not won a single game, they’ve drawn eight and lost 17 and sit rock bottom at seven points.
| Position | Team | W | D | L | Goals For | Goals Against | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Celta Vigo | 4 | 8 | 13 | 27 | 37 | 20 |
| 18 | Cadiz | 2 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 35 | 17 |
| 19 | Granada | 2 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 49 | 14 |
| 20 | Almería | 0 | 8 | 17 | 23 | 52 | 8 |
After just barely hanging on to La Liga last season, finishing a single point out of the relegation spots, they’re now all but certain to drop out. This weekend they played 19th placed Granada, a real chance to get the first win of the season. Almería were ahead for an hour of football but in the 75th minute Granada got the 1-1 goal. Almería extended their winless streak to 28 games, an all time record in La Liga.
Background
Almeria isn’t a big club by any means. They’re fourth from the bottom for average attendance at their games. Plenty of La Segunda teams have higher attendance. It’s also not a historically significant club, having only been founded in 1989. After its founding, they quickly rose through the leagues and in just under two decades, they’d made it all the way to the top of the Spanish system.
In their first ever La Liga campaign, they managed to finish eighth, to this day, their best ever finish. Since then the club has gone back and forth to the Segunda a few times and was even close to dropping to the third tier a couple of times.
Since 2019, the club is owned by the former Saudi minister for sport Turki Al-Sheikh. Along with Almería, the Saudi national also owns the Egyptian team Pyramids FC.
Before the season
Having secured their La Liga contract on the last match day of the season, Almería came into the summer transfer window knowing they needed to improve the squad. They splashed the cash, at €52 million it was their biggest transfer window ever. Among the ins, César Montes came from Espanyol for €14.5 million, their second highest transfer fee ever, after Darwin Nunez. Three of the players they brought in this summer are in the top six for highest free ever paid by the club.
On the outs one player stood out. El Bilal Touré left the club for €29 million and went to Atalanta. Touré was the team's top scorer last season and arguably the best player on the team. As his replacement, Luis Suarez (no, not that Luis Suarez) was bought from Marseille.
Unfortunately, Suarez broke his leg in a game against Granada on the 1st of October. Before having to come off injured, the Colombian had scored a five minute hattrick and helped his team secure one of only seven points. He was out for 13 games before returning to training on New Year's day.
What’s happened until now
The club also changed managers after last season's relegation battle. Vicente Moreno was appointed in June and got an entire summer window and pre season to prepare. His tenure was short though, as after seven games, he’d lost five and was sacked.
UD Almería B manager Alberto Lasarte took over as caretaker until former Athletic Bilbao and Eibar manager Gaizka Garitano was hired. Garitano has so far been unable to improve the team.
Despite losing last season's top scorer in the transfer window and his replacement to injury, Almería actually have a, relative to their points, decent goal scoring record. Sorted only by scoring, they’re only in 17th.
They have a bigger problem with conceding, where they have the worst record in the league. In 25 games they’ve conceded 52 goals and have a negative goal difference of -29.
But perhaps where their biggest weakness lies is the mentality. Out of 17 losses, they’ve lost 10 by a single goal. They even managed to hold third placed Barcelona and second placed Girona to a draw and scored two on Real Madrid, even taking the lead, before losing 3-2.
The game against Granada was their best chance yet to get those three points, to break the terrible record – and they almost had it. After scoring 1-0 in the 9th minute they managed to hold on to the lead for almost an hour. In the 75th Granada scored the equaliser and the end of the game had a flurry of chances for both teams. Almería had two very good chances at the very end but they were unable to convert.
Looking forward
Maybe it’s just a matter of time before they get that first win of the season. The problem is motivating the players. At this point, their biggest motivator is probably “you don’t wanna be part of the team that’s famous for winning zero games”. The mentality of the team needs to shift, they need to find that killer instinct to actually go for the win.
It also makes you think about that Derby County season where they got 11 points. Almería, having one of the worst seasons of top flight ever, are on track to beat that season and they haven’t won a single game yet. If their points per game remains the same, they’ll end up with 12.
Let’s hope they shape up, that they get their W. Almería play Atletico Madrid on Saturday, that’ll be a tough one.
Football Stories Like This, Twice a Week
Join thousands of subscribers getting The Touchline - a free, twice weekly newsletter with analysis, stories and interviews from the world of football.
