Malaga have to play Real Madrid without one of their best players

EIBAR, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 25: Diego Javier Llorente of Malaga CF reacts during the La Liga match between SD Eibar and Malaga CF at Ipurua Municipal Stadium on February 25, 2017 in Eibar, Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) /

Real Madrid face off against Malaga on Sunday for the La Liga title. Malaga will be forced to take on the giants from Madrid without one of their best players. Alex McVey tells you why Diego Llorente will be missing from the Malaga lineup.

Diego Llorente has been a bright spot in a less than stellar La Liga season for Malaga. The Spanish defender is having a standout sophomore season in La Liga, having played for Rayo Vallecano the season before. Llorente is tactically flexible, capable of being played at four different positions.

He is great at playing out of the back, has excellent positional awareness, and a strong aerial game. This makes him one of Malaga’s most valuable players.

So why would a player of this importance be left out of Malaga’s squad for the season-ender against title-hunting Real Madrid?

Llorente is currently on loan from Real Madrid, and his transfer contract contains a clause preventing Malaga from fielding him against his parent club. Llorente has stated that his former club have been in contact with him about a possible return to the Bernabeu next season, but until then, he is not allowed to suit up against the Royal Whites.

Malaga is structurally barred from being able to field their best defender against one of the best attacking outfits in the world. That’s quite the blow to this Malaga side.

These clauses are fairly common across the world of football. Chelsea had such a clause in their loan contract for Thibaut Courtois. But when it came time for the sides to meet in the Champions League, UEFA ruled the clause illegitimate.

Premiere league players are banned outright from playing against their parent clubs. Indeed, the Daily Mail called Chelsea’s stipulation that Romelu Lukkaku could not play against them while on loan an example of the “corrupting force of the loan system” which allows big clubs “to stockpile talented individuals and distribute them to other clubs to act as special agents.”

There are good arguments both for and against the restrictions. On the one hand, some say that the market should dictate rules like these. If clubs are willing to pay more to get a loan player without such clauses in their contract, or to buy the player outright, then they could avoid this situation entirely.

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Other defenders of these non-compete clauses might say these clauses even prevent teams from using loan players to manipulate matches. If a loaned player is still emotionally attached to their former club, they may not try as hard on the pitch.

On the other hand, some say that loaning players allows rich teams an unfair advantage. They can create an army of loaness, and distribute them out to the teams in their league. Then, those players can take points off of other teams, but not risk taking any off of the parent club.

Regardless of your thoughts about the validity of the non-compete loan agreements, it’s safe to say that Llorente will be a huge loss for Malaga at the weekend. Without his defensive prowess, Malaga looks a much easier side to score on. That’s huge for a Madrid team that is now on a record-breaking run of consecutive matches scoring.

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