The 2025-2026 Real Zaragoza squad would have been relegated weeks ago if they hadn’t crossed paths with Cádiz on their descent into hell. Cádiz’s unprecedented collapse—collecting just 5 points from their last 54—will go down in Spanish professional football history. That extraordinary meltdown continued last Friday with another defeat, this time against Deportivo. The 0-1 result at Nuevo Mirandilla handed Zaragoza yet another lifeline, as had happened in previous matchdays.
David Navarro and his players arrived in Valladolid in a deeply negative spiral, battered by their own physical, mental, and footballing collapse—yet another numerical gap had opened, one more chance. Perhaps that sliver of light was just a deceptive mirage, but it existed, and factually it still hasn’t disappeared. A win at Zorrilla would have brought them within a point of safety with three games remaining.
Despite all that, Real Zaragoza once again failed miserably. The team entered the match with arms hanging down, resigned to their fate, devoid of energy or self-belief, and without any footballing rationale. In the third minute, Insua buried any hope of clinging to Cádiz’s sinking ship with two pathetic actions. First, he conceded a corner by clearing the ball as if sending the entire season to the wind. Then, he lost track of Latasa from the corner kick. 1-0, and goodbye.
Within moments, Real Zaragoza buried themselves. The rest of the match was a snapshot of the entire season: absolute impotence in controlling the areas, total inability to score, and another lamentable defensive error—this time from Ale Gomes for the 2-0. The only salvageable element was the personal and footballing dignity of Rober, the sole player able to hold his head high and stay upright.
The result was another missed opportunity born from pure ineptitude. It was another step toward an apparently inevitable fate—though not yet the final one, because rivals keep piling up defeats. Who knows if this was the third-to-last or second-to-last step. Valladolid arrived in a concerning state, but Real Zaragoza managed to perform even worse, with players in ridiculous form—especially those who should have borne the greatest responsibility and had the broadest shoulders to carry the weight of a revival.
Insua had already had a poor year at Granada, but his season at Zaragoza has been terrifying. Likewise, Radovanovic has mysteriously disappeared from the picture. The months of El Yamiq will sit on the shelf of worst memories. Keidi Bare has been overtaken by time—his engine no longer has any horsepower. In trying to help, Francho is only tarnishing his own name. He never had an abundance of pure quality, but his physical grit allowed him to keep his head above water and stand out in the current context. Kodro has vanished into thin air, and Dani Gómez ended up lost in a stupid fight against himself due to a lack of IQ. Andrada needs no mention—in a hundred years, he’ll only be remembered for the punch he threw at the history of a glorious club. Adri Rodríguez looks like a cursed goalkeeper. Aguirregabiria, Larios, Tachi, Juan Sebastián, Tasende, Pomares, and Ale Gomes—what a defense. Toni Moya, oh Toni Moya, Raúl Guti, Mawuli, Saidu, Akouokou—for whom the SAD wasted months of negotiations as if he were a treasure—Moyano, Paulino, Soberón, Valery, Cuenca, Hugo Pinilla, Cumic, Agada, and Sinan Bakis—the latter two pathetic metaphors for how to squander roster spots on completely useless players. The season of nearly 13 million euros in salary cap is about to end in terrible fashion.
