While Spain’s La Liga contest has long been seen as a two-horse race, the Champions League is also starting to show signs of falling into the grasp of the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. That impression is, admittedly, based heavily on this week’s elimination of two English giants from the European competition, Manchesters United and City. But with the two Spanish sides strolling into the knock-out stages, their status as the best in Europe has been further burnished. So when they meet on Saturday in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu to contest the Clásico, the eyes of the world will be on them. Barcelona have eight players nominated for UEFA’s 2011 team of the year; Real Madrid have six. … [Read more...] about El Clásico offers Mourinho a glimpse of glory
Spain football
Late-blooming Benzema the apple of Real Madrid’s eye
Florentino Pérez rarely betrays emotion. A wry smile is the most common reaction from the presidential palco, maybe a broad grin upon winning a title. But on a chilly night in Lyon in February, the Real Madrid president stunned everyone when he leapt up, arms raised, to celebrate the goal just scored by Karim Benzema. It was a moment that would be a turning point for Benzema and a very public display of affection for the young man Pérez personally secured by flying to the same French city in 2009, to convince him to sign. Born to parents of Algerian descent and one of nine siblings in the working class Bron neighbourhood in Lyon, his background and shaven head gave rise to comparisons … [Read more...] about Late-blooming Benzema the apple of Real Madrid’s eye
Why Real Madrid vs. Barcelona will be crucial, for Germany
Set your mind at ease, this article is not an early preview for the December 10 el Clásico. It has no intention whatsoever of pointing out the fact that Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are useful footballers, or that 142 percent of the world’s population will be tuning in, or indeed that the players involved have between them won every single sporting gong ever conceived. Undoubtedly, all that and much more looms inevitably on the horizon. But for the moment, hold off on decommissioning all your electronic devices and moving to Greenland. Let us instead ponder the upcoming European championships. We now know who will be there and who will not. We also have a vague idea of how they may be … [Read more...] about Why Real Madrid vs. Barcelona will be crucial, for Germany
The brains behind Levante’s La Liga fairytale
The most appealing story in Spanish football this season so far has been the almost unbelievable success of Levante. The heart-warming tale of the little side on a shoestring budget socking it to La Liga’s all-conquering duopoly was catnip for the Spanish and global media – with even The New York Times sending a reporter to find out what was going on. A run of seven successive wins including 1-0 over Real Madrid and 3-0s against both big-spending Málaga and local rivals Villarreal lifted Levante to be the shock leader of the Primera División (until last weekend). The little Valencia-based club has only been in Spain's top division for seven of its 102 years and has never won a major … [Read more...] about The brains behind Levante’s La Liga fairytale
Wanted: absurdly rich tycoon to lend Spain’s La Liga intrigue
It was while perusing the scoreline of Sunday’s Manchester derby – in which a team of petrodollar-financed stars had trounced the English champions 6-1 - that my mind turned to La Liga. By a twist of fate, something akin to a parallel fixture had been played the day before in Spain, between Real Madrid and Málaga. Real Madrid, like Manchester United, was the big, established power, with a glittering history, a formidable manager and a team built on tradition, as well as money. Málaga was the Manchester City of the piece: a side with no trophies to boast of (at least in recent decades) but with oodles of money provided by a rich foreign owner – Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani of … [Read more...] about Wanted: absurdly rich tycoon to lend Spain’s La Liga intrigue
Villarreal’s wayward submarine seeks to get back on course
“It looked like Bayern won with something to spare” Juan Carlos Garrido admitted at the end of Villarreal’s 2-0 defeat at home to Bayern Munich a few weeks ago, adding: “but that’s not quite how it was, even so, they are a great team”, almost as a confused afterthought. Bayern’s players seemed surprised, even underwhelmed by the childish ease with which they dispatched a team that has become known around Europe over the last few years for their adventurous, skilful play. Any artistry that Garrido’s Villarreal may have been capable of certainly was not on display in the defensive styling of their football on the night. Set up with three largely static defensive midfielders, they were never … [Read more...] about Villarreal’s wayward submarine seeks to get back on course
Why Spain are still the team to fear
After Spain equalled the record held by Holland and France of 14 consecutive victories in official competition with their comfortable 3-1 win against Scotland on Wednesday, among the many platitudes meted out by players and staff of La Roja was a rather frank appraisal by Santi Cazorla. “The way we are playing at the moment we are favourites to win the European Championship,” the Málaga midfielder said in an unusual instance of a footballer voicing an opinion. It was a far cry from the standard Spanish players’ fare of slightly awkward modesty and explaining to the camera that it’s one game at a time. But Cazorla is quite correct. Spain will be the overwhelming favourite when the … [Read more...] about Why Spain are still the team to fear
Mourinho’s mad magic loses its lustre
José Mourinho has always insisted that his antics, provocations and pre-match hyperbole are an unselfish gambit, aimed at drawing attention away from his players. Let’s take him at his word, and examine not the state of Real Madrid, but the state of their coach. Mourinho’s appearance has always seemed to speak volumes about his state of mind. When he started at Chelsea, he dressed like George Clooney, kept physically trim and his haircuts were frequently more fashionable than those of his players. When his relationship with the London club’s owner, Roman Abramovich, started to deteriorate and the team’s performances declined, not only did Mourinho start to look tetchy and disgruntled, his … [Read more...] about Mourinho’s mad magic loses its lustre
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
La Liga dances to the beat of super-agent Mendes
One name dominated this summer’s transfer window in Spain, which closed on August 31, and it was not a player, manager or club president. Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes was everywhere, with his clients starring in many of the biggest, and also most curious, La Liga deals. The largest outlay by a Spanish club was the €40 million paid by Atlético Madrid to Porto for Mendes’s client Radamel Falcao. Falcao had a record-breaking season last year, scoring 17 goals in the Europa League, including the winner in the final. His signing was a real coup for Atléti, who had just lost Sergio Agüero to Manchester City, but the €40-million fee raised eyebrows given the Colombian’s lack of top-level … [Read more...] about La Liga dances to the beat of super-agent Mendes