Malaga relegated to third tier of Spanish football a decade after boasting team with Man Utd icon and future Arsenal ace

MALAGA have been relegated to the third tier of Spanish football - just TEN YEARS since reaching the Champions League quarter finals.

The Andalusians were demoted after a 2-1 loss to Alaves on Saturday, despite still having one game to play.

Malaga have suffered a dramatic slide since that 2012/13 season.

They dropped out of LaLiga after finishing bottom in 2018.

And after a couple of tough seasons in the second tier the cash-strapped club have bitten the dust after only managing to win 10 of their 41 league games so far.

And with a seven-point gap between themselves and Villarreal B, there is no hope of saving themselves.

It comes a decade after having a squad that was able to reach the Champions League quarter-finals in the club's first-ever time in the competition.

Their run was cut short as they lost to Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund on the German side's run to the final, which they lost at Wembley Stadium to Bayern Munich.

Led by future Manchester City and West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini the club's roster boasted the likes of former Real Madrid star Isco and former Blackburn hitman Roque Santa Cruz.

The team also included Premier League winner, defender Martín Demichelis as well as multiple medal-winning goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

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Former Arsenal loanee Júlio Baptista, Chelsea prospect Lucas Piazon and future West Brom, Newcastle and Everton striker Salomón Rondón were also members of the history-making squad.

Malaga also helped develop talents such as Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal, who would both go on to have success at Arsenal before returning to Spain.

Cazorla was a fan favourite at the Emirates Stadium following his 2012 transfer away from Malaga.

He would go on to be an integral part of the club's midfield that won two FA Cups.

Malaga was also the final home for former Premier League icon Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The former Manchester United striker spent the 2011/12 season with the club and helped them qualify for their Champions League bow the following season.

Malaga's judicial administrator Jose Maria Munoz apologised to fans after the relegation to the Primera Federación.

He said: "I apologise, as I am the one in charge at the club and, therefore, the responsibility is mine for everything that has happened.

"This relegation is upsetting and painful.

"The players, in whom there was so much confidence, have not lived up to what we all expected.

"The information to make the correct decisions at the times they should have been made wasn’t there."