It is has already been dubbed the league title no one wants to win and with its succession of mishaps, slip-ups, fall-outs and injuries, this season’s Primera Liga plot has taken more twists than even the most low-budget Spanish afternoon soap opera.
Leaders and defending champions Real Madrid appear to be caught in a dangerous downward spiral, losing five of their last eight league matches, while Barcelona are struggling to take advantage of their arch-rivals’ errors.
Although they closed to within four points of Real at the top of the table after their flattering 4-1 win over Valladolid at the weekend, the Catalans have won just one of their last four games and continue to look unsettled and nervy when they take to the pitch.
Real, meanwhile, managed to pluck defeat from the jaws of victory against Valencia, losing out thanks to an 89th minute breakaway goal from former Atletico Madrid forward Angel Arizmendi.
Marca’s leading football correspondent Santiago Segurola described the match as an example of a new footballing genre called “epicomedia” - an unexpected reaction caused by a mixture of the epic and the comic.
The epic element came from Real’s frantic attempts to win the game by throwing everyone forward and peppering the Valencia goal with shots in the final 10 minutes. The comedy came from their defending, with Fabio Cannavaro conceding an unnecessary penalty and badly misjudging his attempt to stop Arizmendi before he snatched the win.
Barca should be rubbing their hands in delight at Real’s predicament, but instead they are suffering their own crisis of confidence. Defeat in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup at the hands of Valencia, speculation about a possible fall-out between Rijkaard and Ronaldinho, the absence through injury of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry’s failure to settle and continued defensive frailty mean that the Catalans appear as vulnerable as Real.
The weaknesses of the top two should have thrown the door open to more challengers, but of all the other possible contenders only Villarreal have managed to stay in the title race.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side are on a four-match winning streak, but they hardly set the world alight with their late 2-1 win at basement side Levante on Sunday.
The league title is there for the taking, but who will eventually triumph - an anxious Real, an unhinged Barcelona or an unfancied Villarreal?
PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Pepe gestures during their defeat by Valencia at the Bernabeu, March 23, 2008. REUTERS/Juan Medina
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2 comments so far
It seems to be shaping up to end a bit like last year’s finale. That was exciting, but the top teams seem to be lacking a bit of quality as well as nerve.
- Posted by KevWould you say the quality of the Spanish league in general is going down, Simon?
Yes, I think quality had been on the decline. Overall Spanish sides have not performed well in the Champions League in the last couple of seasons which must be the best measure of their competitiveness and they seem to lose out to other European sides when it comes to intensity and physical fitness.
Admittedly Sevilla did brilliantly with their back to back victories in the UEFA Cup as did Espanyol last season but apart from these honourable exceptions the general level appears to have declined.
Still, the unpredictabilty certainly makes for an exciting league not just at the top but also at the bottom (only seven points separate eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao from the relegation zone).
- Posted by Simon Baskett