Chaos as thousands of Malaga fans swarm airport in sea of blue as fallen giants win promotion to Spanish second tier
MALAGA fans turned the local airport into a sea of blue as they celebrated promotion.
The fallen giants secured an immediate return to the Spanish second tier on Saturday.
Los Albicelestes drew 2-2 away to Gimnastic after extra-time to seal a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Following promotion, fans back home swarmed Malaga airport as they celebrated into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Footage from the airport showed a sea of blue as supporters welcomed the players home.
Fans chanted, clapped and waved flags during the triumphant scenes in Andalusia.
Malaga’s promotion was sealed in dramatic fashion following a 2-1 win in the first leg last weekend.
Trailing 1-0 at the end of normal time, the visitors then conceded at the start of extra-time to fall behind on aggregate.
Forward Dioni pulled one back during the second half of extra-time, though.
However, the match appeared destined for penalties before Antonito’s stoppage time winner clinched promotion.
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Malaga dropped into the third tier 12 months ago following five years outside La Liga.
Their relegation from the top flight in 2018 ended a 10-year stint which included a run to the Champions League quarter-finals.
A side including Julio Baptista and Isco made the last eight before a controversial defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
Malaga had also made the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup a decade earlier, beating Leeds during their 2002/03 European campaign.