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Are Barca and Real killing Spanish football?
In our latest post on Spanish soccer, Mark Elkington in Madrid ponders the opening round of matches in La Liga and what it underlined about the growing domination of the big two.
La Liga had a familiar look to it on Tuesday morning.
Wealthy behemoths Real Madrid and Barcelona top the standings on goal difference after each recorded emphatic wins against opponents who were utterly outclassed.
Villarreal, through to the Champions League group stages after finishing fourth last term, were thrashed 5-0 by Barca at the Nou Camp on Monday night, a day after Real Madrid romped to a 6-0 victory at Real Zaragoza.
Barca’s financial clout was underlined by the fact that coach Pep Guardiola was able to start without Spanish World Cup-winners Xavi and David Villa as new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez scored on their home debuts in the league.
Villarreal president Fernando Roig said the growing financial disparity between Barca and Real and the rest of La Liga was killing Spanish football.
“If they only want to have two matches (Real v Barca), let them have two matches, but this isn’t good for football,” he told local media on Tuesday.
Do Barca really need to splash out on Cesc?
In our latest post on Spanish soccer, Iain Rogers in Madrid looks at the latest round of speculation over the future of Cesc Fabregas and classy Mali striker Frederic Kanoute’s decision to play on at Sevilla for one more season.
Do Barca really need to splash out on Cesc?
The annual ‘will Cesc Fabregas leave Arsenal and return to Barcelona’ media machine has been cranking into gear in recent weeks and the man himself showed up in Madrid last week to present a new fragrance at a trendy art gallery near Atocha railway station.
Without having the decency to ask anything about the perfume, the assembled sports hacks packing the room subjected the slightly embarrassed-looking Spain international to a sustained grilling about his future.
Depending on which Spanish newspaper you worked for, Fabregas was either definitely on his way back club he left as a 16-year-old in 2003, had committed his future to Arsenal or was cosying up to Real Madrid.
From what he has said in the past, it would be amazing if Fabregas, a born and bred Catalan, moved anywhere else apart from Barca (if he ever does leave Arsenal) and he reiterated that it had always been his dream to play for their first team, where he is seen as a natural successor to his Spain team mate and fellow playmaker Xavi.
It’s interesting, and perhaps revealing, to see that Fabregas is not one of the players Arsenal have used in the promotional photos for their new kit on their website (www.arsenal.com).
One down, three to go…..
In our latest Monday post on Spanish soccer, Mark Elkington in Madrid reviews the first of four games in three competitions in 18 days between arch rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid and takes a look at surprise La Liga package Levante.
One down, three to go
Real Madrid and Barcelona achieved their primary aims in Saturday´s 1-1 “Clasico” draw, the first of four titanic clashes between the arch rivals in 18 days.
Barca maintained their eight-point advantage at the top of La Liga and with six games left to play surely have their third consecutive league title in the bag.
Madrid did not get beaten. After five consecutive defeats against Pep Guardiola´s team they avoided a repeat of the 5-0 rout they suffered in Nou Camp last November and gave themselves the belief they could maybe upset Barca in the coming games.
Saturday´s match was like a warm-up for Wednesday´s King´s Cup final in Valencia and the Champions League semis which start next week.
Jose Mourinho ditched his standard 4-2-3-1 formation, bringing extra muscle into the midfield in the shape of centre-back Pepe and dispensed with his playmaker Mesut Ozil as he “parked the bus” (in front of their own goal) as they say in Spain.
Real in fine fettle ahead of four-game Barca showdown
In our latest Monday Spanish soccer post, Iain Rogers in Madrid looks at the calm before the “Clasico” storm, Johan Cruyff”s latest musings on the Real-Barca rivalry and the recent fine form of Valencia and striker Roberto Soldado.
Real in fine fettle ahead of four-game Barca showdown
With an unprecedented four “Clasicos” in 18 days just around the corner (unless something very strange happens in the Champions League quarter-final second legs), Real Madrid and Barcelona had a final run-out in La Liga before they meet next weekend, wins for each meaning Barca will travel to the Bernabeu with an eight-point lead with seven games remaining.
Jose Mourinho took a calculated risk by leaving Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Xabi Alonso and Marcelo out of his starting lineup for Real’s game at Athletic Bilbao. What was essentially his B-team secured a comfortable 3-1 win against a disappointing Bilbao, with Kaka netting two goals from the penalty spot and providing a splendid assist for substitute Ronaldo that suggested he may be starting to get back to something near the form that won him a World Player of the Year award in 2007.
The Brazilian playmaker, who cost Real 65 million euros from AC Milan at the end of the 2008/09 season, has taken longer than expected to recover from the knee surgery he needed after the World Cup, leading to questions over his commitment and long-term fitness.
“I am happy, smiling,” Kaka was quoted as saying in local media on Monday.
“Scoring two goals gives me more confidence for the future, even if they were penalties,” he added.
Barca closing in on La Liga title
In our latest Monday Spanish soccer post, Mark Elkington in Madrid reviews the situation in La Liga after Real Madrid’s shock 1-0 defeat at home to Sporting Gijon and looks ahead to this week’s Champions League action.
La Liga is Barca’s to lose
In a week when Real Madrid were reported by local media to have vetoed the playing of any Shakira songs in the Bernabeu because of her romance with Barcelona’s Gerard Pique, the Spain defender gained more than ample revenge.
Pique scored the only goal as the leaders survived their toughest remaining game in La Liga this season -– aside from the eagerly-awaited “Clasico” at Real in two weeks time -– volleying in the decider against Champions League qualification-chasing Villarreal.
The 1-0 win at the Madrigal put the champions on 81 points with eight left to play and they moved eight clear of Real, who were upset 1-0 by relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon at home earlier on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho was without joint La Liga top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, in-form Karim Benzema and Marcelo due to injury, while Xabi Alonso was suspended, and it was Miguel de las Cuevas who made them pay with a well-worked goal near the end.
“If Barca don’t win the league it will be because we have lost it,” Barca’s David Villa, a former Sporting player, said on Monday.
TV spat threatens La Liga matchday 30
In the latest edition of our Monday Spanish soccer blog, Mark Elkington looks at a dispute that threatens the next round of La Liga matches, Spain’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Lithuania and the problems affecting second-division leaders Rayo Vallecano.
Courtroom drama
Many of La Liga’s finest packed their bags and headed off to represent their countries last week while the action in Spain switched from the pitch to the courtroom.
The professional soccer league (LFP) voted last month to postpone the 30th round of matches due to be played on April 2/3 unless the government scrapped a rule that one La Liga game per weekend be shown on freeview television.
The league argues that removing the obligation to show the free game would strengthen their position in negotiations with media companies on selling audiovisual rights.
Negotiations between the LFP, the clubs and the government have yet to yield a solution, and have been complicated by the decision of six teams to break away and challenge the “strike” action.
The so called G6, which includes heavyweights Sevilla and Villarreal, have challenged the postponement as illegal and a judge is set to hear the case for and against on Tuesday, with a decision due to be announced on Wednesday.
New Reuters Spanish soccer blog
Starting today, Madrid-based Reuters sports correspondents Iain Rogers and Mark Elkington will be writing a regular Monday column on La Liga for the Reuters soccer blog.
In its inaugural edition, Iain looks at the how the great rivalry between Spain’s dominant clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid has taken on an added piquancy this season and reviews some talking points from the weekend league action.
Barca and Real facing off on three fronts
Catalonia versus Spain. Barcelona versus Madrid. Pep Guardiola versus Jose Mourinho. Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo. Sandro Rosell versus Florentino Perez. Victor Valdes versus Iker Casillas and so on and so on.
The well-documented and often bitter rivalry between Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid stretches back many decades and across many levels.
This season, however, “El Clasico”, as matches between the country’s two dominant clubs are known, has taken on a greater significance than perhaps ever before.
Barca and Real are fighting on three fronts in the domestic league and cup and the Champions League and fans of Spanish soccer are licking their lips at the prospect of at least two, and possibly four, meetings between the pair in coming weeks.
Real Madrid y Barcelona son dos grandes equipos y dos de ellos están en buenas condiciones … Barcelona, pero es mucho más fuerte. a sus jugadores el centro del campo son impresionantes: iniesta xavi, ambos son genios …. y del mundo messi mejor jugador del curso …
Soy un fan del Real Madrid, pero creo que el Real Madrid no tiene chanses en El Classico
Barcelona beset by injuries at crucial stage
Like many of Europe’s biggest clubs, Barcelona find themselves at a crucial point of the season, with their hopes in two of the three competitions they are contesting in the balance.
Worryingly for fans, Pep Guardiola’s side have been hit by a rash of niggling injuries to key players at a highly inconvenient moment.
“Injury alarm” was the banner headline in Wednesday’s Sport, the Catalan capital’s main sports daily.
Playmaker Xavi, the fulcrum around which the whole team operates and a crucial element of Barca’s much-praised style of play, was the latest to break down when he picked up a muscle strain against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend.
The 31-year-old joined captain and central defender Carles Puyol and goalkeeper Victor Valdes on the medical list.
After tricky La Liga games against Real Mallorca and Valencia over the coming week, the Spanish champions have a 2-1 deficit to overcome at home to Arsenal in their Champions League last-16, second leg on March 8.
If things go wrong, they could find themselves out of Europe and with their five-point advantage over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga cut back or even eliminated.
Barcelona football club is full of international spanish players. That is why they have a great game and team. Read more blogs at http://fmcrowd.com
Will Arsenal get past Barca at the Nou Camp?
Arsenal did a lot of things right in Wednesday’s fine 2-1 comeback win over Barcelona, not least finishing more clinically than their La Liga visitors, but it would be a big surprise if Barca were as generous in the return leg on March 8.
World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, who netted all four goals in a 4-1 demolition at the Nou Camp last season to give Barca a 6-3 aggregate victory, missed at least two golden chances at The Emirates and Spain forward Pedro was also guilty of profligacy.
“They were very effective in front of goal and we were not,” midfielder Xavi told reporters. “In European competition you end up paying the price for that.”
Barca’s uncharacteristic defensive errors will also have concerned coach Pep Guardiola and given Arsenal fresh hope that they can get past the Spanish champions into the quarter-finals.
Goalkeeper Victor Valdes committed a rare blunder when he left room at his near post for Robin van Persie to drive in the equaliser from a tight angle.
And who was tracking Andrei Arshavin’s run when the Russian popped up to smash in the winner?
Arsenal’s win was not all about Barca playing below par, however, and there were a number of excellent performances.
Relief in Barcelona as Guardiola extends contract
During Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp last Saturday, which set a Spanish record of 16 straight La Liga victories, there was one thrilling passage of play which perfectly illustrated the work ethic Pep Guardiola has instilled among his squad of wonderfully gifted players.
The ball was played into space for Atletico forward Sergio Aguero. Lionel Messi suddenly appeared, sprinting back into defence. The World Player of the Year ran shoulder to shoulder with his Argentina team mate, stole the ball, beat Felipe Luis with an audacious piece of skill and started yet another assault on the visitors’ goal.
Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said after the match it was that commitment to the team that showed why Messi is the world’s best player and why Barca have been destroying decades-old records over the past two and a half seasons.
The 23-year-old Messi was an Alfredo Di Stefano for the 21st century, added Sanchez Flores, like Di Stefano a former Real Madrid player.
Messi’s brilliant rearguard action also partly explains why under Guardiola, who extended his contract with the La Liga champions until the end of next season on Tuesday, Barca have won eight of the 10 trophies they have contested since he succeeded Frank Rijkaard at the end of the 2007-08 season.
The softly-spoken and respectful former Barca and Spain midfielder has lived and breathed the Catalan club since he joined their youth school in 1984 at the age of 13.
His success as a coach has brought praise from all sides for his refusal to compromise on Barca’s deeply-rooted style of entertaining, attacking football.
i guess it’s hard for him as he has started his coaching career at the very very top so he looks ahead and thinks what do i do next and that i think unsettles him and makes him think she could leave barca and then return later in life. He probably wouldnt be compfotable being spain boss as a catalan…
I think that having both Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate Spanish football (and obviously even more so Barcelona) just shows that there needs to be more outside attention. This may sound hard, but out of the first 9 Premier League titles, 7 of them were won by Manchester United. Now money, outside attention (creating tv revenue), etc. has allowed more money and teams to be a bit more even. Now there is a Man U, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham who can challenge for a Champions League spot.
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Ridge Robinson
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