This week has been rather intense at both ends of La Liga. The extra midweek fixture, designed to end the season a week earlier in preparation for the European Championship in June, has lurched the league a little closer to something definitive, although no-one at the top has conceded a single point, and no-one at the bottom is as yet condemned. Nevertheless, with 3 games left to play, it’s unexpectedly proving to be one of the most exciting finishes for some years.
Down at the bottom, where the grim reaper of relegation lurks – threatening three sides with exclusion from next season’s television-fuelled revenue – signs of life are beginning to stir. As the previously distant clouds of impending doom begin to look more and more like the reality of tomorrow’s weather, Getafe, thirteen games without a victory, visited Real Sociedad in Anoeta on Thursday night. The visitors deservedly took the points with a 2-1 win, despite having several key players out, and going 1-0 down to an early Carlos Vela goal. Sociedad have a habit of being the league’s ‘aspirin’ team, offering comfort to those most in pain. Earlier this season, after Malaga had failed to score in their first six outings, Sociedad invited them to end their drought in the third minute of their seventh game, and of course allowed them to take the points. Getafe, in fact, benefitted from the fact that their opponents were floating in mid table, more or less safe from the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Granada thrashed fellow strugglers Levante 5-1 to also give themselves hope. On Sunday, Levante were 2-0 up to Athletic Bilbao and also looking to cling to more than straw, when the visitors scored two in the final five minutes and dashed their hopes. But all is not lost. You could argue that Espanyol, up in 15th place on 37 points, are still potentially catchable. Whilst no side is technically down, the league retains a healthier, less corruptible look.
Phil was in Anoeta to see Sociedad vs Getafe.
This column’s assertion last week that Barcelona had a tricky run-in, precisely by virtue of their more desperate opponents, has not been borne out by the week’s events. Deportivo, in midweek still needing four points for mathematical safety, lost at home to Barcelona by the astonishing score of 8-0 – the worst home defeat in the history of a club founded in 1906. Luis Suarez scored four, and there was much wailing and gashing of Galician teeth at the scoreline, coming on the heels of a more than respectable draw away at Sevilla. But hey, it’s a funny old game, especially considering Barcelona’s ‘crisis’. Winning 8-0 away from home is always a good way to end one of those and, while demonstrating that they are indeed occasionally human, the team can usually thrash teams at will. This was repeated again on Saturday night at home to Sporting, where the 6-0 scoreline was in fact preceded by an uncomfortable 64 minutes. Suarez bagged four again, becoming the first player to score four in consecutive league matches since 1928, when the competition was inaugurated. Not surprisingly, it also put him top of the ‘Pichichi’ with 34 league goals, three more than Cristiano Ronaldo who actually sat out the roller-coaster away game at Rayo Vallecano – the first league game he has not played in all season.
Against working-class hero neighbours Rayo, the might of Real eventually won out but not before conceding twice in a calamitous opening quarter of an hour. When Ronaldo’s at home on the sofa it seems a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man; Gareth Bale. The Welshman seems to thrive on being the main guy, rather like a school prefect or head boy. Without Ronaldo to bully and glare at him, Bale reverts to his Wales persona, a role that concedes him both responsibility and leadership. He seems to enjoy this, even if after almost three years he is yet to fully grasp the Spanish lingo. If you want to assert yourself, it tends to help. Regardless, his two goals and inspired performance saved Madrid’s season. It keeps them in the chase for the league title and maintains morale for Tuesday night’s visit to Manchester City, where ex-coach Manuel Pellegrini awaits them in hope of bowing out of Manchester with more a bang than a whimper. It’s going to be an interesting affair, with both sides better going forward than in defence. Whatever happens, you get the feeling that it’s going to be an entertaining one.
Elsewhere, this column’s pick for Champions League glory – Atletico Madrid – may lose Diego Simeone for three games after a bizarre incident against Malaga, who were breaking dangerously on the counter-attack. A second ball suddenly appeared on the pitch, close to a speeding Malaga forward, and although it failed to put him off his stride, referee Mateu Lahoz sent Simeone to the stands for the second period, laying the blame at the Argentine’s door. Simeone’s phrase in the press conference, attributing the appearance of the ball to ‘el chico de al lado’ (the ball-boy to the side), promises to become a recurring metaphor for Spanish football. Nobody thus far has identified ‘el chico de al lado’, but the speculation of course is that he was under orders from Simeone himself. Will the boy sing, remain faithful to his superiors, disappear mysteriously to a monastery in Tibet or come clean and admit that it was all his own initiative? We shall see. Meanwhile, Atletico stuck to the season’s script with a 1-0 win, and will receive Bayern on Wednesday in a bullish Calderon, with Simeone able to direct affairs from the touchline. Whether he will be aided by his rumoured new cohort or not we will have to wait and see.
Bayern will not be looking forward to that game. If they can escape semi-alive, they might fancy their chances for the second leg, but it’s going to be a tight affair and if anyone can beat Bayern at this moment, it’s Atletico. Indeed, a mere glance at the top three La Liga slots reveals some startling data. After 35 games, Real Madrid have scored 104 goals and Barcelona have managed 102, and although they are unlikely to surpass Real Madrid’s 2012 record of 121, it is significant that Atletico are sandwiched in-between with a mere 59 scored. It seems almost inconceivable that with almost half the goals a team can still reel in a greater points tally, which is the current case with the two Madrid outfits. It is a good demonstration of the richness of football, and of the variety of ways you can succeed.
And what of next weekend? Real Madrid visit Real Sociedad on Saturday (I’ll be there), and you never know what might happen. Sociedad tend to play much better when up against the big sides (witness their respectable draw at Villarreal on Sunday night) and Real Madrid will be wary of the game, whatever happens in Manchester. Barcelona visit Betis, home and dry in mid-table, and Atletico entertain Rayo. If Levante lose at Malaga, they will almost certainly be relegated after a six-season run in the top flight, but it may still be the only issue to be decided next week. The drama continues.
