Currently without a permanent president after Manuel Llorente’s tearful resignation earlier in the month; without their new stadium which has been years in the making due to the club’s financial problems; and possibly without a manager as Ernesto Valverde is stalling over committing his future to the club - Valencia could also be without Champions League football next season. Heading into the weekend clash at Real Sociedad – their direct rivals for a coveted spot in Europe’s premier competition – Los Che’s manager led a rallying call, billing the game the most important since he took charge of the club. "This is the closest game we've had to a final until now," he said. "Real … [Read more...] about La Liga: Real Sociedad stake Champions League claim
Real Sociedad
La Liga: Real Sociedad scale the heights
In 2002, Real Sociedad were runners up in La Liga, chasing Real Madrid until the penultimate week of the season when a loss 3-2 loss away to Celta Vigo effectively put an end to their title hopes. There has not been much to shout about since, with the Basque side spending several years in the second division. But as the table currently stands, Philippe Montanier’s men have found themselves in a coveted Champions League spot with their latest victory, a 4-1 drubbing of Real Valladolid on Saturday. Though they started brightly, it wasn't until just after the half-hour mark that La Real took the lead when Antoine Griezmann lashed a strike into the bottom corner. Six minutes later, Imanol … [Read more...] about La Liga: Real Sociedad scale the heights
La Liga: Real Sociedad inflict Barça’s first loss of season
A strange thing happened at the weekend - something not witnessed at all during the 2012/13 season so far. Having drawn with Málaga in the Copa del Rey in midweek, FC Barcelona finally lost a liga game after 19 jornadas unbeaten. Tito Vilanova’s men were looking pretty much unstoppable having torn apart almost every team they have come up against, but Real Sociedad were to inflict the Catalans’ first liga defeat, coming from two goals down to claim a last-minute 3-2 victory over the league leaders. It had seemed to be business as usual for Barça, who took the lead early on with a Lionel Messi goal. The Argentine scored for a record 10th game in a row when he struck after just seven … [Read more...] about La Liga: Real Sociedad inflict Barça’s first loss of season
La Liga: Sevilla and Betis bury the hatchet as the Andalusia derby returns
Long before Real Madrid’s Pepe stamped on Lionel Messi’s hand and José Mourinho poked his finger into the eye of Barça’s Tito Vilanova, a bottle was thrown from the stands of the Ruiz de Lopera stadium which would knock Juande Ramos – then Sevilla manager – unconscious. It was to mark the height of the rivalry between Sevilla and Betis in recent times, when weeks of growing tension between the two sides finally came to a head at the latter’s stadium during a Copa del Rey clash. El derbi sevillano has always divided the Andalusian city but never more so than in 2007. Less than a month before the Ramos incident, a Liga clash also took an unsavoury turn, but this time not on the pitch or … [Read more...] about La Liga: Sevilla and Betis bury the hatchet as the Andalusia derby returns
Hands up if you find Barça’s beautiful game boring
There was something rather strange about Señor Antonio Lahoz’s half-time whistle at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastián last Saturday. It sounded like a reasonably normal whistle, as whistles go. The short blast, followed by the longer one. Goals: Barcelona 2, Real Sociedad 0. Goalscorers Xavi Hernández and Cesc Fàbregas. Possession: 75 percent to Barcelona. No, everything perfectly in order there. Except it wasn’t. In most football matches, the referee’s half-time whistle precedes a collective expulsion of breath and a moment of calm to reflect on the 45 minutes of play just witnessed. This is so much of the beauty of football, the frenetic nature of this most exalted of pursuits means that … [Read more...] about Hands up if you find Barça’s beautiful game boring