Depor took the Segunda title by storm last season, comfortably finishing as champions and returning to where their fans believe they belong. The club last graced La Liga just a season earlier but left the premier division a shamed side, a catastrophic mess. Financial worries had intensified and goal-shy tactics surmounted in one of the darkest days in the illustrious recent history of the Galician giants as they were relegated. … [Read more...]
Celta Vigo Season Preview
The upcoming La Liga season welcomes the return of the Galician derby between two of the division's new boys. Not since 2007 has the encounter been played in the top tier but Celta Vigo's final day draw ensured they'd meet rivals Deportivo La Coruna the following season. Unlike their west coast neighbours, who only dropped down for a single campaign, Celta gained promotion back to La Liga via the scenic route, narrowly avoiding going out of business and a further relegation from the Segunda Division. Star players were sold to balance the books and … [Read more...]
San Jose and Thiago to miss Olympics
Spain's Olympic football hopes have been hit in the last few days due to injuries which will rule out two of their star players. Mikel San Jose has joined Thiago Alcantara on the flight home from the base in Las Rozas as coach Luis Milla prepares to trim his 22 man squad to 18 in the coming days. Athletic Bilbao centre-back San Jose has contracted chicken pox and was forced to leave the training camp urgently to avoid spreading the disease on Monday whilst Thiago is still recovering from a tibia injury. … [Read more...]
The reign in Spain occurs mainly on the pitch
Last night Spain rewrote history as they became the first team to retain the Henri Delaunay trophy and in some style too as they thrashed Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and put forwards their claim to be the best team of all time. Vicente del Bosque's men won their third consecutive major tournament and in an invigorating, attractive way thanks to Silva, Alba, Torres and Mata goals. Spain strode out onto the Olympic Stadium turf riled by growing criticism of their play and a desire to change that. Their dominant and patient traditions of playing had been scrutinised and labelled … [Read more...]
Spain secure second consecutive European final appearance
Spain beat Portugal on penalties last night to reach yet another major international final where they will face either Italy or Germany. The 4-2 spot-kick victory over Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal was preceeded by some pretty mundane activity but nevertheless Spain's quality ensured they prevailed at their Iberian neighbours' expence. Here is what we learned from last night's game. … [Read more...]
Lessons learnt from Spain vs Ireland
I dissect the latest Euro 2012 game in which Spain ran riot against Giovanni Trappatoni's Republic of Ireland side. Goals from Fernando Torres (2), David Silva and Cesc Fabregas sealed a 4-0 victory for Spain, but what else did we learn? Too easy for Spain as they win at a canter Nothing new to learn from this game, simply revision. Imagine you were reading the ‘Spanish handbook to winning football matches’; on … [Read more...]
Who is Tito Vilanova?
Whilst the footballing world may still be in shock that someone with the success that Pep Guardiola has enjoyed over the past few years may want to leave Barcelona, the unknown quantity of his successor has further confused us. Tito Vilanova, formerly the assistant manager behind Guardiola, has been given the job of guiding Barcelona to win back the La Liga title, which is surely headed to Madrid, as of next season. Many of football's top managers must have been licking their lips in excitement at the prospect of managing such an array of players when rumours circled of … [Read more...]
El Clasico Preview
Despite two disappointing European defeats in midweek, Real Madrid and Barcelona will face off knowing that nothing less than 100% effort will be tolerated. As always, El Clasico is vitally important for everyone and everything surrounding it, but this is a big one because the destination of the league title could be decided by its outcome. Real hold a four point lead over Barca but travel to the Nou Camp knowing a defeat would severely affect their title prospects. A 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu for Los Blancos was tough to take; a similar result in Cataluña would be even tougher to swallow. … [Read more...]
Disappointing European week for Spanish sides
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia all lost in European competitions this week in a shocking few days for the Spanish league. On the plus side however, Atletico Madrid recorded a positive 4-2 victory but only at the expense of their La Liga rivals, Valencia. Beginning on Tuesday, Real Madrid slumped to defeat in Munich as Bayern scored a late winner to give them the advantage going into the second leg next Wednesday. Franck Ribery fired the hosts ahead in the first half but Mesut Ozil leveled the score just after half-time. Real seemed … [Read more...]
La Liga – The race for Europe
9 games remain in this seasons' Primera Liga and while the title will surely head to one of the two Spanish giants, the race for European football next season could provide more excitement. Just 6 spots are made available for teams looking to challenge the continent next season but as Real Madrid and Barcelona sprint towards the title, teams below have a huge few games ahead of them to ensure they manage to finish in the top dozen. Here I survey the contenders; … [Read more...]