Ball: Rafa's losing the battle in Madrid, Messi's magical milestone

Anyway, what a curious time it has been since that debut. Like the comfy familiarity of a great song, what was it like before? Great players have come and gone, marking each era with their particular calling-card, their own peculiar style – since greatness defines and shapes the world, as opposed to the other way around. But there has never been anything quite like Messi, a physics-defying player who will surely end his career being crowned the greatest ever. He now has 425 goals, 26 titles, and 160 assists to his name. Barring serious injury or kidnap by the alien race who deposited him here in the first place, he should manage at least another five seasons before his body begins to rebel and the fleetness of foot deserts him. By that time, the statistics will indeed be extra-terrestrial. 

The win returned the Catalans to the top of the table, neck and neck (but with a game in hand) with Atlético Madrid, who won 2-0 at neighbours Rayo Vallecano. Luis Suarez’ two goals also ensured that Barcelona ended the year on 180 goals scored, two more than the record-setting season of Real Madrid with Carlo Ancelotti. Amazingly, 136 of the 180 were scored by the terrible MSN triplets, Messrs Messi, Suarez and Neymar. The BBC fared relatively well (108 from the 178) but yet again, Barcelona have stolen their thunder. With Arda Turan to add to the New Year mix, and the possibility of Villarreal’s Denis Suárez also making a move to the Camp Nou, Luis Enrique seems keen not to rest on his laurels.

Infographic: Goals Messi in 500 Barcelona games #fcblive [fcb] pic.twitter.com/MmEMyKSyfC

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) December 31, 2015

Meanwhile, the agony continues over at Real Madrid, with the club seemingly intent on eating itself alive from within, and with the supporters taking matters to such an extreme state of grumpiness that something has to give. Before Real Sociedad took to the field in the Bernabeu (where they had not won since 2004) Madrid’s last three home games had yielded 22 goals – but the haul had nevertheless failed to impress the onlookers. Historians of the game may one day look back in confusion, but the problem seems to be a fairly simple one. Madrid tabloid ‘AS’ adorned its Wednesday cover with a mug-shot of an angry-looking Rafa Benitez, framed by the headline ‘Conspiranoico’ – a cute neologism whose meaning is basically ‘Conspiracy paranoid’. It was the press’ riposte to Benitez’ Friday-afternoon tirade against the 4th Estate, accusing them of being the real villains of the piece. He stopped short of holding them responsible for the Black Death and Original Sin, but he did suggest that there was a ‘campaign’ against his president, himself, and the club. It made the headlines, of course, but it was hardly an original piece of thinking by Benitez. Almost every Real Madrid manager in the past decade has accused the city’s press of similar intentions, perhaps with the exception of Carlo Ancelotti who, although he finally won them over, was not averse to the occasional implication that he considered the capital’s rat-pack a peculiarly difficult collective to work with. 

Of course there’s a conspiracy Rafa. Doh! The Madridista scribes just don’t like Benitez, and can establish no chemistry with him, no manly bonhomie. They liked Ancelotti’s laid-back sense of humour and his wonderfully raised eyebrow, and in the end they thought he was a half-decent coach. The Italian was never looking for a fight, but he won their respect. José Mourinho was liked at first, but became too bullish, too personal in his attacks, and of course, he dropped Iker Casillas. But before them; Manuel Pellegrini, Bernd Schuster, Fabio Capello and Vanderlei Luxembourg all had cause to complain at some point or another. As John Toshack once famously stated, ‘Coaching Real Madrid isn’t difficult. The only thing that matters is your relationship with the press’. If Benitez knows the club as well as he claims to, then he should have been better prepared for this. Smiling occasionally might help, as would a sense of humour – but Benitez lost that somewhere back in his Liverpool days, to which several of the players then under him would eventually attest. 

Buenos días. ‘Conspiranoico Benítez’. Aquí tenéis la portada de este miércoles https://t.co/t4WGyTjpsu pic.twitter.com/C01DfAjXkA

— AS (@diarioas) December 30, 2015

Does his current squad feel the same? Maybe they do, but it’s a complex thing, the relationship between a coach and his players. It can never be quite as simple as it appears from the outside, but what does patently matter is that the players can never feel comfortable when they see their coach as paranoid and self-defensive. Benitez should never have risen to the bait. Now that he’s bitten on the hook, the anglers will reel him in and toss him into the bowels of the boat until his tail stops flapping. But who would take over? Perhaps Pérez himself should have a go. He seems to do everything else.

Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 3-1, but might easily have drawn or lost had it not been for an astonishing display of solidarity for Madrid’s suffering on the part of referee González González, so poor they named him twice. Seemingly unable to see the obvious foul by Pepe on Jonathas, he had no hesitation in later awarding a penalty for an alleged push by Yuri on Karim Benzema, a decision which clearly embarrassed the French forward. Even Cristiano seemed offended, and belted the ball over the bar. His body language suggested a reluctance to score, although when the referee invented another penalty just before half-time, he obviously decided it was better not to repeat the action. Sociedad equalised with a cracker from Bruma, who should have settled it with a one-on-one with Kaylor Navas shortly after, but in the end Madrid stuttered to a sterile if efficient win, with two excellent and admittedly legitimate goals on the break. But the fans seemed unimpressed, and whistled their dislike of the whole current scene.

Villarreal will move into the Champions League positions if they defeat Valencia, replacing Celta who lost 1-0 at home to Athletic. Levante lost at home to Malaga by the same score and finish 2015 at the bottom of the rung, although so far no team looks impossibly anchored down there. Only six points separate the bottom seven sides, and although the usual suspects occupy the top three positions, as the year comes to a close the league looks more interesting than at this same time last season. Lots of things can happen yet. It’s only just begun.