The past returns to the Muñoz Pérez stadium: CD Estepona vs. Xerez CD

Some matches are simply another game.

And some parties have long memories.

This Saturday, CD Estepona returns to competition at the Francisco Muñoz Pérez stadium for the first matchday of the 2026/27 season.

They will be facing Xerez CD .

And on their bench, Xavi Molist .

Yes. The same Xavi Molist who managed CD Estepona for nine matches last season.

9 matches.
1 win.
8 defeats.
0 ties.

A period that left the team in an increasingly complicated situation and that ended up leading to a dynamic that seemed to have no other outcome than relegation to the 3rd RFEF.

And there was one phrase that many fans still remember.

When asked about the team's situation and his future with the club, Molist replied:

"It doesn't matter which coach is in charge."

He also spoke then of a “very complicated” situation, of a “very cruel and very large” physical deficit, and that, despite everything, he liked the squad.

And during that period other expressions also emerged that were etched in the memory of the fans: “first swords”, “second swords”...

At times, those press conferences seemed more like an armory than a football dressing room .

But beyond the words, there was a fundamental issue. Molist insisted that he had encountered a “very complicated” situation, with a “very cruel and very large” physical deficit, and that, given that reality, “it didn’t matter which coach was in charge.”

Time, however, ended up offering another answer.

Months later, we all know how that story ended.

Julen Guerrero and Manolo Sánchez arrived.

A new coaching staff has arrived.

A new way of understanding football has arrived.

And that team that in December seemed practically doomed...

HE SURVIVED.

He not only survived.

He returned to competition.

He won again.

He inspired hope again.

And he ended up making Francisco Muñoz Pérez , who months before had been suffering for his team, experience one of the most exciting nights ever remembered.

That's why this Saturday there's more to it than just three points.

There is memory.

Because the fans of CD Estepona know where they come from.

He knows what he suffered.

He knows who arrived when all seemed lost.

And he also knows that it did matter who was on the bench.

Now Xavi Molist returns to the Muñoz Pérez stadium.

This time, he was sitting on the visiting team's bench.

And in front of them will be a fanbase that just a few months ago was fighting to prevent their Second RFEF team from disappearing, and which today faces a new season with more than 1,500 season ticket holders and a completely renewed enthusiasm.

Football has decreed that this should be the first match.

Let the grass do the talking.

Let Muñoz Pérez speak.

Let the fans speak.

Because here, nobody forgets where they come from.

THIS SATURDAY, EVERYONE WEAR RED TO MUÑOZ PÉREZ.

Because we have a date with the past.

But above all, we have a date with the future.

The journey begins at home.

And we all have to play it.