FACE TO FACE: CD Estepona-Linares Deportivo: a story that began almost 60 years ago

Some matches simply happen. Others, however, become classics eagerly awaited by the fans over the years.

The rivalry between CD Estepona and Linares belongs to that second group. A duel that began almost six decades ago and, after going through different phases, is repeated regularly every season in a division that neither team would want to be in, as both aspire to promotion.

When the ball starts rolling again tonight, it won't just be a 90-minute match at stake. It will also be a clash between decades of football history in two cities that have endured relegations, dissolutions, and numerous rebuilds .

Furthermore, this rivalry has a special connection thanks to a legendary footballer, Catanha . The international striker, one of the most fondly remembered players by the fans, wore the shirts of both clubs at different times and became one of those names that link the history of CD Estepona and Linares.

A long way since the 1960s

Linares' first recorded visit to Estepona in league competition dates back to the 1966-67 season. At that time, CD Estepona played in the Third Division and managed to beat Linares 2-1 .

A year later, in the 1967-68 season, the same outcome was repeated. The Estepona team won again at home, this time by a score of 2-0 .

Two visits and two victories for Estepona.

Nearly twenty years had to pass before the two teams met again. In the 1986-87 season, also in the Third Division, Linares broke that streak and took the victory at Estepona's ground by 0-3 .

The last match of that period, however, had a very different outcome. In the 1989-90 season, already in the Second Division B, CD Estepona once again proved strong at home and defeated Linares by a resounding 3-0 .

In total, four matches, with three victories for CD Estepona and one for Linares .

The goal difference also favors the Estepona team: 10 goals for and 4 against .

Arrival of a new era.

Following the financial problems of the former CD Estepona after its time in the ruinous old 2nd Division B, ending in the disappearance of the club, a new hope was born in the city with the unification of local football in Unión Estepona CF, whose short but intense history ended abruptly due to the lack of a few thousand euros that nobody wanted to assume to guarantee its continuity.

In the 2024-25 season, Linares visited Estepona again to face the current CD Estepona.

This time there was no winner:

CD Estepona 1-1 Linares Deportivo.

In the following season, 2025-26 , history repeated itself. It was a match in which Estepona thoroughly deserved the victory, but a header from Diego Talaverón and a controversial incident in the Linares penalty area, which wasn't called a penalty, resulted in a draw.

CD Estepona's performance

Adding together the historical encounters and the two most recent ones, CD Estepona's home record against Linares in the league is as follows:

6 matches
3 victories for CD Estepona
2 draws
1 victory for Linares
12 goals for CD Estepona
6 goals from Linares

A particularly significant fact is that Linares has only managed to win once in its six league visits to CD Estepona .

Estepona's last victory, that 3-0 win in the 1989-90 season , is now quite a distant memory. Since then, the two teams have faced each other twice more in this new era, both matches ending in draws.

An important note: Unión Estepona CF

Between the historical clashes of CD Estepona and the current ones, there was a stage that deserves separate consideration.

In the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, the team representing our city was Unión Estepona CF. Linares Deportivo also visited Estepona in those two seasons, with the following results:

2012-13
Unión Estepona CF 0-1 Linares Deportivo

2013-14
Unión Estepona CF 1-2 Linares Deportivo

If we only consider the history under the CD Estepona banner, the record of matches played in Estepona is as follows:

6 games, 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.

Almost sixty years after that first 2-1 victory in 1966 , the two teams meet again tonight at the Francisco Muñoz Pérez Stadium . Another large crowd is expected to support the Estepona side in their quest to defeat Linares once more.

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