La Liga
LA LIGA RETURNS WITHOUT BIG TWO – BARCA AND MADRID
After a brief yet turbulent close season marked by the attempted departure of Lionel Messi, little transfer activity and the renewed threat of the coronavirus in Spain, La Liga returns today amid a fixture list chaos and a decidedly gloomy outlook.
The league was forced to change the days of its fixtures for the opening weekend, announcing on Wednesday night it had given in to the “nonsense” of the Spanish Football Federation, to avoid “irreparable sporting damage to the clubs”.
The season’s original curtain-raiser between Granada and Athletic Bilbao, initially scheduled for yesterday, will be played today. And Alaves against Real Betis on Monday has been brought forward to tomorrow. The first game of the season will instead be Eibar against Celta Vigo at Ipurua.
Fans are not expected to return to Spanish stadiums until next year at the earliest as Covid-19 infection rates continue to rise across the country, depriving La Liga of the noise and colour for which it is renowned.
There is also a subdued feeling as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are among six teams missing the first weekend having finished last season late, with the latter three sides also missing the second weekend.
The financial impact of the pandemic, meanwhile, is being keenly felt across the league, afflicting even the wealthiest clubs.
Champions Real Madrid, who usually spend their summers parading big-money signings at glitzy presentation ceremonies, are not expected to bring in anyone new. Instead, they are recalling loanees such as Martin Odegaard while clearing out players surplus to requirements.
Still, Zinedine Zidane’s side are the favourites to lift the title after last season’s relentless run of 10 straight victories and the turmoil at arch-rivals Barcelona.
Barca may have clung on to Messi after a two-week saga but are still in deep trouble on many a sporting, institutional and financial level.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu is threatened by a potential vote of no confidence, while the club are trying to ease a colossal wage bill, shown by their willingness to part with Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal for cut-price deals.
New coach Ronald Koeman, a beloved former player but with a patchy record as a club manager, faces a daunting task in reshaping an ageing side whose weaknesses were woefully exposed by the 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Unlike predecessors Ernesto Valverde and Quique Setien, the Dutchman will look to impose his authority on a dressing room that many believe has had too much power for too long and it will be fascinating to see how he gels with the players.
Hope for Barca comes in teenage forward Ansu Fati, who recently became Spain’s youngest goalscorer and had a highly promising debut campaign last time round.
Atletico Madrid are used to being Spain’s third force but face competition from Sevilla, who could even challenge the usual suspects in the title race if they build on an excellent season in which they finished fourth and won the Europa League.
Sevilla have crucially kept together most of their squad, having been accustomed to parting with 10 or more players each summer.
Villarreal are also one to watch after recruiting Unai Emery as coach and making some eye-catching signings including midfielders Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin from Valencia plus exciting playmaker Takefusa Kubo, on loan from Real Madrid.
Valencia, owned by Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, are braced for a testing season after parting with their captain Parejo plus Spain forward Rodrigo due to a dire financial situation which meant they were unable to pay their players.
-Reuters/ AFP
Barcelona turned the Clasico into a coronation on Sunday, swatting aside Real Madrid 2-0 at a roaring Camp Nou to claim their 29th LaLiga title.
Hansi Flick’s side moved to an unassailable 91 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real with three games remaining.
The triumph capped a dominant campaign in which they lost only four league matches. Villarreal are third on 69 points.
Real arrived needing victory to keep their wafer-thin title hopes alive, but Marcus Rashford crushed those aspirations just nine minutes into the game.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box, and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area, and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner.
The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year.
Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting lineup.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent. Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined 500,000 euros over the incident.
Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support.
Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute.
Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute, and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him.
Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
“This title is even more special because we won it at home against Real Madrid. Now it’s time to enjoy it with the fans,” Frenkie de Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.
“Every title has to be celebrated in style. Especially LaLiga, which is a year-long competition. We’ve clearly been the best in Spain.”
-Reuters
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Real Zaragoza goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was sent off for punching Huesca captain Jorge Pulido in a fiery Spanish second division clash on Sunday that descended into a mass brawl, with Huesca keeper Dani Jimenez dismissed for punching Andrada.
Zaragoza’s Dani Tasende was also dismissed after a VAR review of the brawl.
With tensions simmering in a relegation scrap, Argentine Andrada lost his composure moments before the final whistle. Ignoring the run of play, he approached Pulido and struck him in the face with his right hand, sparking chaotic scenes eight minutes into stoppage time.
It was an ugly flashpoint in a match already short on finesse and heavy on nerves, and could carry serious consequences for the goalkeeper.
Huesca manager Jose Luis did not attempt to defend the scenes.
“It’s hard to explain; I think it’s a complete loss of control. I can put myself in their shoes, given what was at stake and all. But it’s unjustifiable. It’s just that I don’t know what to do or how to stop it; a brawl breaks out,” he said.
“It’s ugly; this was supposed to be a celebration of Aragonese football. I’d like people to talk about the match, even though it was ugly, with little play but a lot of hard work.”
Oscar Sielva’s goal secured a 1-0 win for Huesca, lifting them to 36 points in 19th place, while Zaragoza remain second-bottom on 35.
-Reuters
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Joan Laporta has been re-elected as Barcelona president after winning over 68 percent of the vote and will begin his second consecutive term, and fourth overall, from July 1, the club said on Sunday.
The 63-year-old took office in March 2021 and stepped down last month in line with club statutes in order to seek re-election.
Laporta described the election as a “celebration of democracy and civic responsibility” and said the tasks ahead included finishing work on the Camp Nou and strengthening the men’s team.
-Reuters
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