Twenty years ago they won the championship of Spain, and now they are trying to save themselves from relegation to the third division.

“We're like a meme,” says upset fan Deportivo Antonio after losing from Zaragoza in December. His team at that time vegetated at the bottom of the Segunda, gaining only 12 points in 19 games. Antonio simply cannot bear it: " Twenty years after the triumph in La Liga, the Galicians were 41 positions lower in the Spanish football pyramid, confidently approaching a disaster.

The recent history of Deportivo from A Coruna begins with the highest joy, but gradually becomes more and more depressed. The peak was May 19, 2000. A club from the north-west of Spain led the standings ahead of Barcelona by three points. It only remained to not lose to Hispaniola - whose fans would be happy to lose, but to annoy Barcelona - and the first title in history would go to A Coruna.

In theory, everything looked simple, but Depor fans were in no hurry to rejoice. There were still fresh memories in my memory of how they had lost the championship in the last round of the 1993/94 season, also in favor of Barcelona. Then Deportivo needed only to beat Valencia at home - and in addition to the second half, they got the right to break the penalty. Donato was already replaced, Bebeto could not cope with the nerves, and Miroslav Djukic came to the point. The whole season came together at a point 11 meters from the gate. His frail blow was easy prey for the goalkeeper of Valencia, whose players received a bonus from Barcelona - a goalless draw sent the champion title to Catalonia, simultaneously breaking all hearts to Estadio Riasor.

So no one was in a hurry to rejoice ahead of time before the last round of the season 1999/00. This title had to be won on the field.. And Depor did it! Goals Donato and Roy Macaya brought the Galician 2-0 victory and the first trophy in history. It was the highest point, but there were other great moments in the history of the team, nicknamed “Super Depot”. They supplemented the Champions Cup with the Spanish Super Cup following the results of that season. The Super Bowl went to Galicia in 2002, this time after Deportivo defeated Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup final in Santiago Bernabeu. “Creamy” celebrated its centenary that season, so fans from A Coruna did not miss the chance to sing “happy birthday to you” to Madrid when Deportivo raised the Cup.

Fast forward to the current season, and these same fans are chanting “out of the board” to their own board of directors. So what happened? At first, the decline was gradual. After the championship there were two second places in a row, then two third, a game in the Champions League every year and the semi-finals of the tournament in the 2003/2004 season. Deportivo could not reach the Champions League final, losing to Port 0-1 on the sum of two matches in which everything was decided by one hit from the penalty spot.

In the 2004/2005 season, Deportivo slid to eighth place. The methods of Javier Iruureta - a coach involved in all the successes of the club - became more and more obsolete. The team admitted this even before the coach left the club in the summer of 2005. Galicians could no longer lay out the previous amounts on the transfer market. Some of the leaders stayed, but most left. The lineup was already wrong. Just like a small blanket, which is always lacking, then on the one hand, then on the other.

The money tap was blocked by the charismatic president of the club, Augusto Cesar Lendoiro, who has been at the head of Deportivo since the late 80s. Initially, he spent a lot on players such as Bebeto and Rivaldo, and then on the stars that led the club to the championship, but now debts began to accumulate, and thoughts about the stars on Riasor became fantastic.

In 2009, the then coach Miguel Angel Lotina even jokingly revealed his composition to reporters, calling the SuperDepor legends left behind - Jalminho, Donato, Macaya and Diego Tristan. Glorious days were left in the past, everything passed into the stage of “but remember how...” And then crashes followed. First in 2011, then in 2013. This hit the club’s finances even more, although in both cases he managed to return immediately.. Debts of Deportivo reached a mark of 156 million euros in 2013. An external administration was introduced at the club, and the president had to resign.

When the administration published a report on the club’s financial affairs in March 2013, it was damn bad. “The real causes of Deportivo’s troubles were that the club’s management was divorced from reality, he borrowed money and made investments disproportionate to his financial capabilities”. The administration condemned the club’s business model, and before Christmas 2013, the departure of Lendoiro was announced.

At first it seemed that at the end of the tunnel light appeared. The club returned to La Liga in 2014 and stayed there for four seasons.. By then, President Tino Fernandez had halved the club’s debts and worked hard to restore Deportivo’s reputation..

Outside the field, the presidency of Fernandez proved his success. On the field, the results were worse, so over the five years of the reign of Tino Deportivo replaced nine coaches. Galicians avoided departure, but constantly hung in the balance. The situation became completely desperate in the middle of the 2017/19 season, when the Depot appointed Clarence Seedorf. It didn’t work. Under the Dutchman’s leadership, only two wins were won in 16 matches, and the club took off. The third demotion in seven years became official in April 2018 after a 2-4 loss from Barcelona, \u200b\u200bwhich became the champion that day.

Deportivo twice immediately returned to the elite, but again failed to do this trick last season. The Galicians reached the final of the playoffs for reaching La Liga, but lost to Mallorca 2: 3 in the sum of two matches. Chaos reigned in leadership. Paco Sas replaced Tino Fernandez as president, but he did not even have time to put a family photo card in the workplace, as he was replaced by Togno Armenteros. Togno held out even less, after which the club game of thrones was won by the current president Fernando Vidal.

And the fans have to suffer because of all this. Another demotion will be a disaster. In Spain, the third division is divided into four groups of 20 teams. The presence of 80 clubs indicates a huge difference in class. Fly to Deportivo in Tercera - and you will have to play with some teams that are not even in the top hundred in Spain.

For a while it seemed like everything was going to this. From mid-October to the end of 2019, Deportivo was hopelessly trailing behind the table.. One of only five clubs that have won the Spanish Championship in the last 20 years, literally knelt.

But then something special began. Fernando Vazquez, who became the team’s third coach this season, heading it right after Christmas, began to rectify the situation. After two victories in the opening 22 matches, Deportivo won the first six fights at Vazquez. Numansia, Racing Santander, Cadiz, Albacete, Las Palmas and Alcorcon - all felt the transformation of the La Coruna. 18 points out of 18, and you can already imagine how the scriptwriters write the story about "

But there was still a long way ahead, and salvation from departure was by no means guaranteed. On Valentine's Day, Girona interrupted the winning streak, and then Zaragoza inflicted Deportivo's first defeat at Vazquez.. Coronavirus found the team in 19th place, meaning a flight to Tercera. True, only three points separate the team from 14th place and seven from the seventh. I want to believe that Deportivo will be able to pack up and finish the season at the highest level - just as they did 20 years ago.

Ewan McTeer, The Guardian.