Long gone are the days of Edmilson, Andrés D’Alessandro, David Villa, or Frank Rijkaard – yes, even the Dutch ace played at Romareda before moving to Milan. Today, Real Zaragoza is the pale shadow of its history: mired in Segunda División for several seasons, this year on the brink of a traumatic relegation. We are indeed talking about a club rich in prestige within the hierarchy of Spanish football. It has not played in the third tier since 1949, enriching its trophy cabinet with six Copa del Rey titles and one Supercopa de España. Yet this could be the next fate of the Blanquillos: second to last in the standings – the last four are relegated – with four matches to play and direct salvation three points away, along with three other teams in the standings.
A discouraging and completely unexpected situation: even in terms of market value, Zaragoza’s squad certainly did not present itself with aspirations for a title fight – 22 million euros, tenth in this regard in the league – but had the declared goal of improving upon the desperate salvation of last season, which ended in 18th place. Those 51 points, compared to the current 35, are already certainly better than any current haul. And the paradox is that behind the technical area, holding the reins of the club, since 2022 there has been a wealthy American investment fund led by Jorge Mas, a Cuban billionaire.
It was thought to be the beginning of a resurgence for Real, which has been languishing in Segunda since 2013. Yet things have deteriorated inexorably: tenth place in 2022, 13th in 2023, 15th in 2024, and 18th in 2025. There is also a major project on the table to build a new stadium, taking over from the old Romareda in view of the World Cup that Spain will co-host in 2030. In short, the classic ambitious revival project. The works are already underway, with an estimated cost of 160 million euros, and the paradox is that Real Zaragoza will soon find itself with a Champions League facility and a team from Primera Federación – as the third tier of Spanish football is now called.
The break between the club and the fans is now total, with the management accused of being completely absent and only interested in Real for speculative purposes. And on the field, the Blanquillos are increasingly feeling the pressure: in the last two matchdays, they lost 1-0 in two decisive clashes against Huesca and Granada – the first of which was marked by the expulsion à la Soviero of goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, resulting in a 13-match ban and unmentionable images that went viral online. A bit of a summary of the general frustration. In this 2025/26 season, the team, in total technical and character confusion, has already changed three coaches and has collected just two points in the last two months.
In Zaragoza, there is talk of relegation already written, of a sports project at an end, of saying goodbye to professional football after 93 years of history – until the Seventies, in fact, the Tercera División did not have a amateur character. And compared to other recent football collapses, Real has faced a slow but inexorable decline. The last season of grandeur illusion came in 2004: the goals of Dani, Villa, and Galletti defeated the Real Madrid of the Galacticos in extra time – goals from Beckham and Roberto Carlos – bringing a splendid Copa del Rey to the banks of the Ebro. A few months later, Zaragoza repeated itself and won the Supercopa against Claudio Ranieri’s Valencia. To this day, it is their last trophy. And no one would have imagined the sad epilogue of the story, even if the final word is still to come.