Although the recruitment of Tomáš Ujfaluši and Johnny Heitinga pushed Pablo down the pecking order, he finished the 2008–09 season with 21 league appearances. An offer from Real Zaragoza of less than €5m was rejected by the club as insufficient, but despite the arrival of Juanito adding to the defensive competition, Pablo said he was happy to see out the remaining year of his contract. In that final season, he played rarely. He took part in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey and in the group stage of the Champions League as Atlético finished third in their group and dropped into the Europa League, but made his last appearance for the club, as a late substitute, on 20 December 2009.