Almería face uphill battle at their bogey ground as form resurges
Almería look to build on recent momentum with a trip to Cádiz's Nuevo Mirandilla, where they haven't won in 24 years despite ten consecutive visits.
Fresh off a confidence-boosting win against Ceuta, Almería now face a true test of their revival at a ground that’s been their kryptonite for over two decades.
Historical nightmare
If there’s one place that gives Almería the heebie-jeebies, it’s Cádiz’s Nuevo Mirandilla. The Andalusian outfit have gone a staggering 24 years without tasting victory there - a proper drought dating back to February 2002 when both clubs were knocking about in Segunda B.
The stats make for grim reading:
- Ten consecutive visits without a win
- Six defeats and four draws since their last victory
- 2-1 defeats on four separate occasions
Even by Almería’s standards, this is a proper bogey ground - worse than their records at the Bernabéu, Camp Nou or even Eibar’s notoriously tricky Ipurua.
Last season’s trauma
If the historical record wasn’t bad enough, last season’s visit was the stuff of nightmares. Despite going down to nine men after red cards to Kaiky and Bruno Langa, Almería somehow took the lead through Melero and nearly held on for a famous victory.
But in true Almería fashion, they conceded twice in stoppage time (96th and 98th minutes) to lose 2-1. The aftermath saw Melamed also sent off and then-manager Rubi absolutely fuming in his press conference.
Current form and absences
After three matches without a win, Almería finally got back to winning ways last weekend with a comprehensive victory over Ceuta. However, building on that momentum won’t be easy with several key players missing for Saturday’s trip:
- Lopy is sidelined through injury
- Dzodic suspended after accumulating too many yellows
- Chumi and Melamed remain doubtful
On the bright side, new signing Rodrigo Ely should make his debut after being registered with the number 5 shirt.
For a team looking to put their dodgy patch firmly behind them, they couldn’t have picked a tougher away day. But breaking this particular curse would be a proper statement that Almería’s revival is the real deal.