How to Survive a Miracle – Osasuna, a Rare Bird and a River That Doesn’t Rise | OneFootball

Over the last decade, Osasuna have been from the gates of the inferno to threshold of football heaven. Mere minutes away from probable dissolution, a €50m debt saddled to their backs, only a 96th minute header salvaged Los Rojillo from relegation to the third tier in 2014. Nine years later, they were in a Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid. Even before the final, it was something of a miracle just to be back in La Liga. When they made the film, not a single second of football was shown due to La Liga TV rights. For 15 days in 2019 it sold more tickets in Pamplona than Robert de Niro’s The Irishman, Charlie’s Angels and The Two Popes – they had their own fixers, their own superheroes and their own creed.

Long-time General Director Fran Canal calls the people that took them to that point ‘delinquents’, and the five years that succeeded that film as the happiest period of his life. The way in which it is talked about, at times you could delude yourself into thinking defeat in the Copa final was but an anecdotal detail in the celebration of Osasuna, which means health in Basque. The goal, a cascade of Navarrese noise, is still played as a happy memory. Canal doesn’t miss the chance to point out that Osasuna had more fans in Seville than Real Madrid. In a scarce stroke of justice, Ante Budimir’s brace against Girona on the final day of the season would earn them the final European spot.

Ten months later, the tears flowed. In August of 2023, Club Brugge knocked Osasuna out in the Conference League play-off – “a bucket of cold water” – and in March 2024, Jagoba Arrasate announced his departure after seven years. A cornerstone of the house they had rebuilt, President Luis Sabalza said he was ‘destroyed’. “I won’t find another club like this, I won’t find another support like this,” Arrasate rasped. Osasuna lost five of their next six games, and only won twice in their final nine, albeit finishing comfortably in 11th. If missing out in the Copa didn’t exactly correspond to defeat, the Arrasate separation left many short on that zest for life which flees so quickly when grief knocks at the door.

“It’s hard for the team, for the club, after a period of success with the club, with Jagoba,” says target man Budimir, as pensive as he is tall. “To change to a new coach. To continue the same, knowing that the competition in La Liga is huge, and that every weekend you need to be at your level,” he admits.

With the extra European incentive gone, financial and competitive, with Arrasate on the way out, the fear was presumably further departures, and the vulture (funds) descending on the carcass of success. Even after the Arrasate scission though, the only starter to go was captain David Garcia, leaving the club for the first time at the age of 30.

“Osasuna is really unique,” explains Budimir. “It’s the only club in Navarre. They support Osasuna, not other teams, and they have a really special identity. I’ve been really grateful.” Nicknamed ‘The Swan’, it’s an ostensibly peculiar moniker for most 6’2 (190cm) Balkan forwards, but makes sense alongside his gentle manner. The Croatian hitman is a ‘rare bird’ as they say in Spain, pausing here, thinking there, as he speaks. What would he tell another player who asked about Pamplona?

Image via CA Osasuna

“I would say it’s a really nice place to be. You have everything. But on the other hand it’s not so big. Everything is very close. You feel a family atmosphere in the city, in the streets, it’s safe, everyone is nice. Everyone is respectful. They love the club, they adore it, but they also give you your time, they give you space.”

“So I really like that combination. The club is very well-organised. It’s not a club where you have 200 people working, it’s not so huge, but very well organised. It’s a club that can offer you to play on the biggest stages.”

The family atmosphere enters every room and is included in every greeting at El Sadar. Straddled by cycle and dedicated jogging paths, Pamplona is a medieval city of 200,000 people, in a region of just 650,000, Spain’s third-smallest by population. Every Tuesday afternoon a senior Osasuna player spends time helping out with the academy players. Save for one session per week, training is open: for fans, media and young footballers alike. If Spain is synonymous with heat, Pamplona, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, is more Northern warmth from the fire than searing sun.

How do you follow such a prosperous run though? Boom tends to give way to bust. Valencian coach Vicente Moreno arrived last summer, after success at Nastic, RCD Mallorca and Espanyol, but most recently a fraught spell at Almeria that lasted just 7 games – with the titanic task of being the guy after the guy. At the mention of Arrasate’s name outside El Sadar, it’s quickly understood that his legacy goes beyond results, which are barely mentioned by the fans.

“Arrasate was Basque. He felt the colours. Even if he was from Gipuzkoa, he was very rooted here, so he understood it better. Ultimately Moreno comes from outside, he has to come into a new club and understand how it works, adapt,” says Javier, looking at his kid for confirmation. A solemn shadow falls on Beatriz’s brow. “Jagoba, I was a big Jagoba person. In addition, he was very rooted here. It took us all by surprise when he left, and we understood, but it made us sad.”

Beyond the fans, how do you go about convincing 26 players? All but four were signed or brought through by Moreno’s predecessor, and in most cases, Arrasate brought them to the pinnacle of their career.

“You have to handle it with naturalness, accept that this is the case, that it’s not easy, it’s a handicap, for any manager that would have come to Osasuna,” Moreno says through a silver beard and piercing eyes.

“Football is very fickle, and we cannot separate the work from the results, you need them on your side. We have to be respectful of what came before, give continuity to many of the things that were done previously, and have the humility to do so. And then, work hard. The more and the better you do so, the more people accept you, the more they get to know your work. Then get the results to go with it, that’s the cherry on top, and that’s what we’re working on.”

Image via CA Osasuna

“But the truth is, he’s done very well, and no problems so far,” reasons Javier with himself. “You can see that he’s a good worker, he’s a good guy.”

“We’re not very demanding,” chirps Patri, Patricia. “Well, we are. If they aren’t [good people], we go for their throat,” interjects Inma. “But not lightly,” says Patri. “It’s been ages since we’ve won a game, and it’s not a problem.”

“We’re a small team, we know that we have to fight for every game. As Diego Simeone says – game by game,” softens Inma. Left-back Juan Cruz is positive, but seems to hint that the transition has not come easy.

“Well, I think that from the start, we’ve all done our bit. Both the staff and the players, to adapt to it, because we know how hard this is. We came from a long run with Arrasate. I think we’ve adapted well.”

That’s perhaps the other major obstacle to negotiate. Osasuna have been overachieving for years. Canal explains that disregarding sales, Los Rojillo have a bottom-five budget every year – Garcia’s €8.75m sale bumped them up to 14th this season. Yet Osasuna have not finished below 11th since they returned to La Liga. Logic dictates that after tasting European cuisine, sampling the Copa euphoria and 5 consecutive comfortable finishes, the River Expectation would be rising.

“No, no,” says Canal wagging a finger – he heads the question off at the pass, with a hint of satisfaction. “The first thing for us is to have our feet on the ground. For us, that’s the most important thing. The objective is survival.”

Image via CA Osasuna. General Director Fran Canal.

If Budimir is a rare bird, and Osasuna are a miracle story, the idiosyncracies stretch to the fans too. Those that Football España spoke with were disconcertingly sensible to be supporting a football team. Players, coach and executives can be briefed on a message, but fans live for excitement and dreams.

“Get a good league position, and that’s it. I’m not aiming for much more. I’m very much a realist,” blusters Beatriz.

“The important thing is to survive in La Liga, and finish in the top 10 if we can. If one year we do well, and we finish sixth, well, very proud of it. But our place is there,” Javier says with a touch more optimism.

Image via CA Osasuna

Osasuna have survived the delinquents, and sitting 7th with a Copa del Rey quarter-final to come, look well on course to survive success. They certainly won’t be going bust any time soon. If there is one thing that is maybe incongruent with the family atmosphere idea, it’s the lack of conflict.

“I’ve a friend who says if you look at the top, and you don’t get there, grab onto the next closest thing,” says Moreno. “The priority objective – very clear, survival. From there, to dream. We have the next game, which is the most important of my life, and then there will be the next game. And that will be the most important of my life. You’re always squeezing out everything you can.” Results allowing, he seems like he’ll fit in just fine. Eighteen months from the success, eleven months removed from the break-up, Osasuna are a picture of health.