The final indignity for a former Champions League club is now official.
And for a former Liverpool winger, it marks a brief stint as manager that he will certainly never come close to repeating – nor will he want to.
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Bordeaux is one of the biggest and oldest clubs in France.
They have won the top division title six times and the French Cup on four occasions.
But now bankrupt Bordeaux have been relegated for the second time in a month – to the fourth division.
Problems arose last season, with the club finishing 12th in second-tier Ligue 2 but needing £35m (€40m) to balance the books.
Negotiations with Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group broke down in mid-July.
Bankruptcy and relegation followed – initially to the third tier, Nacional 1.
Bordeaux went into receivership and also went part-time – reverting to “amateur” status after nine decades as a professional club.
France’s federal financial watchdog, the National Management Control Directorate, then delivered another hammer blow this month.
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The NDMC acted as if clubs in receivership were “demoted to the division immediately lower than that for which they would qualify for the following season”.
That meant something unthinkable for Bordeaux just a year ago – dropping down to Nacional 2.
It also explains why a former Anfield cult hero, who played on loan for Manchester City, may be relieved to have stepped down as Bordeaux manager in July.
Albert Riera, 42, won 16 caps for Spain, having also played for Bordeaux, Galatasaray and Watford, among others.
The full-back, who can also play at left-back, arrived at Liverpool as a deadline-day £8 million signing from Espanyol on September 1, 2008.
But he was transfer-listed two years later after reportedly expressing his frustration to the Spanish media at his limited appearances under Rafa Benitez.
And in the summer of the same year he left Anfield for Olympiacos.
After retiring in 2018, he became assistant coach at Galatasaray before taking charge of Slovenian top-flight side Olimpija Ljubljana four years later.
Riera led Olimpija to their first title in five seasons.
But when there was no offer of a new contract, he moved to rivals Celje – just two days before the start of 2023-324.
He soon put Celje in a strong position to challenge for the Slovenian title – but after three months he left for Bordeaux.
But that big move turned into a huge heartbreak – despite finishing mid-table – when the club declared bankruptcy and Riera left after just nine months.
Now he has returned to Celje, while Bordeaux has fallen… twice.
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