The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (the Spanish FA) released the full schedule for the 2010-11 La Liga season, and Jornada 1 will be held on the last weekend of August. Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will commence their campaigns away from home as they visit Mallorca and Racing de Santander respectively. Real Sociedad, the Basque football entity that spent the last two years in the Segunda División after establishing themselves in the Primera División for the previous forty seasons, will make their triumphant return to the top level of the Spanish pyramid against Villarreal. The last match of the first round of fixtures will be held that Monday night as Atlético Madrid hosts Sporting de Gijón at the Estadio Vicente Calderón.
Here are the full schedule of the opening round of the La Liga season on August 28–30:
Mallorca — Real Madrid
Hércules — Athletic Bilbao
Racing de Santander — FC Barcelona
Málaga — Valencia
Deportivo La Coruña — Real Zaragoza
Levante — Sevilla
Espanyol — Getafe
Real Sociedad — Villarreal
Osasuna — Almería
Atlético Madrid — Sporting Gijón
El Clásico matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be held on the November 27 weekend (Jornada 13) at the Camp Nou and the April 16 weekend (Jornada 32) at the Santiago Bernabéu, where José Mourinho will reacquaint himself with Pep Guardiola after Mourinho’s Inter Milan eliminated Barcelona in last season’s UEFA Champions League.
Other derbies of note include the Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao in Rounds 14 and 33, the Valencian derby between Valencia and Villarreal in Rounds 12 and 31, el derbi Barceloní between Espanyol and Barcelona in Rounds 16 and 35, and el Derbi madrileño between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in Rounds 10 and 29.
If the races for the title, Champions League places, Europa League places, and relegation come down to the final day, as it has for the past few seasons, here are the final round of fixtures:
Real Madrid — Almería
Osasuna — Villarreal
Real Sociedad — Getafe
Espanyol — Sevilla
Levante — Real Zaragoza
Deportivo La Coruña — Valencia
Málaga — Barcelona
Racing de Santander — Athletic Bilbao
Hércules — Sporting Gijón
Mallorca — Atlético Madrid
For the rest of the schedule, refer to the RFEF website here. La Liga will continue with one Monday match every round, and a Friday fixture may be included by the start of the season. While Real Madrid and Barcelona will likely lead the way as per usual, the revamped Valencia lineup, the continued solidity of Sevilla, and the always dangerous Villarreal will challenge the duopoly all season, and Hércules and Real Sociedad will surprise many as they return to La Liga.
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After Euro 2008, Vicente del Bosque took the reins of the Spanish national team from Luis Aragonés, the man that led Spain to their first international tournament conquest since 1964 when they hosted and won the second UEFA European Championships, known then as the European Nations’ Cup.
Aragonés’ tactical style went completely away from former Spain bosses Javier Clemente and, to a lesser extent, José Antonio Camacho and Iñaki Sáez with a fluid, passing, possession game that would frustrate the opposition into defending for most of the match. Aragonés lifted the underachieving moniker off this Spanish national team and infused the confidence and the mental fortitude that the Spanish player did not command for the better part of fifty years.
Whereas Aragonés displayed a more demonstrative attitude both on the training pitch and the technical area, del Bosque showed an understated and tranquil demeanor that would also work with a dressing room full of world-class players and egos.
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David Villa became the talisman for the Spanish national football team, scoring five of Spain’s six goals in the tournament. Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta controlled the midfield with their incisive passing and ball possession. Fernando Torres could not get into stride as he struggled for form from his April knee surgery and was eventually benched in favor of Pedro Rodríguez against Germany. The Cesc Fàbregas saga between Arsenal and Barcelona continued to rage as Fàbregas insisted on returning to the club of his youth while committing to Arsenal as their captain at the same time. Telecinco sports journalist Sara Carbonero somehow “distracted” boyfriend Iker Casillas before the Switzerland game and directly led to Spain’s only loss of this World Cup.
All these stories followed La Furia Roja throughout this World Cup, but the under-reported story with this team is the effectiveness of the back four, in particular the leader of the defense, Carles Puyol.
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When Spain fell to the hands of Switzerland in the opening match of World Cup 2010, the vultures suddenly appeared from the sky and circled around their “dying” carcass. No team has ever won the World Cup after losing its first match. The ghosts from yesteryear are rising from the dead and haunting this current team about their ancestors’ past failures. Previous entrenador Luis Aragonés ranted about Vicente del Bosque and indirectly undermined most of what Vicente del Bosque has done with this team. Although Spain has only made it to the quarterfinals after defeating 1–0 over Portugal in Cape Town yesterday, La Furia Roja’s form suggests that rising to the occasion will not be the same problem as it has in previous international competitions.
Spain’s only injury concern before their match against Portugal was Xabi Alonso’s sprained ankle he suffered against Chile, but del Bosque slotted him in the center of midfield after passing a late fitness test. Del Bosque saw no reason to change his starting eleven, but if he had any reservations about one of his players, it would have been Fernando Torres because of his erratic play in the group stage.
99% of the time, Torres would be an automatic starter, but still recovering from knee surgery in April, his lack of match sharpness became painfully obvious in his starts against Honduras and Chile when his first touch disappeared on him on numerous occasions, and his finishing would have the usual Nike T90 ball well off target, much less the unpredictable Adidas Jabulani ball.
After a strong first few minutes where he made threatening runs into the penalty area and curled a shot from the left side of the penalty box that forced a diving save from Eduardo at his far right post, Torres’ contributions were minimal. Fernando Llorente came in for Torres in the 58th minute, and after Llorente lit a second spark for the Spaniards after the hour mark, del Bosque might need to reconsider who plays alongside David Villa in the quarterfinals against Paraguay.
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With an unfathomable yet realistic possibility of an unceremonious exit from FIFA World Cup 2010, the Spanish national football team tussled with a Chilean side that has been one of the most impressive teams in this tournament thus far. Marcelo Bielsa, Chile’s manager, insisted on a positive approach with an indirect emphasis on flair that is usually reserved for their South American rivals Argentina and Brazil.
While Bielsa transformed an underachieving and underwhelming Chilean national team into a legitimate force in international football, he still has the lingering stain of Argentina’s 2002 World Cup disaster when, as Argentina manager, he failed to send La Albiceleste through the group stage for the first time since the 1970 World Cup when Argentina failed to qualify for that tournament. He stated his intention in the preceding press conference that his team would go out to win the match despite only needing a draw to ensure a place in the Round of 16, and through the first two matches, there was no reason not to take his word.
For Vicente del Bosque, his team improved dramatically as they notched a 2–0 victory against an overmatched Honduras team that looked grateful just to participate in this World Cup, but the building theme that the Spanish wanted to quash was the lack of finishing at those vital moments in the penalty area. Of the 63% of the possession Spain had against Switzerland, 34% of that 63% was in the Swiss final third, but they could not break through an obstinate Swiss defense. In the first two matches, Spain accumulated a staggering forty-six shots but only mustered eight shots on goal in each match.
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If you live in South Florida or if you’ll be here during the World Cup tournament, you can watch all of the Spain World Cup games live at Wowies Sports Grill located in Boca Raton, Florida.
Wowies features 31 big screen TVs, HD broadcasts, excellent food, three full-liquor bars and service from the beautiful Wowies servers and bartenders.
The schedule of first round games featuring Spain that will be shown at Wowies are:
- Spain v Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 9:30am
- Spain v Honduras, Monday, June 21, 2pm
- Spain v Chile, Friday, June 25, 2pm
Wowies features a happy hour every day from 12-7pm with half-priced drinks. Plus, you can get a coupon for a free beer by going to our sister site World Cup Buzz at http://www.worldcupbuzz.com/wowies
Wowies is open 9:30am for all of the World Cup games (except the 7:30am kickoffs). I look forward to seeing you there!
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This writer has not fallen off the face of the earth after the season concluded in mid-May. I am writing this as I leave on a boat from Napoli en route to Palma de Mallorca. I have been traveling through Europe these past weeks, and I was in Barcelona to cover the FC Barcelona presidential elections, and that report will be disseminated once I return to the United States next week along with columns about the Spanish national team in South Africa.
After a self-imposed hiatus from a long but thrilling La Liga season, La Liga Talk will be the home for the Spanish national team in FIFA World Cup 2010. After a couple of friendlies against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Korea Republic, where La Furia Roja did not play as well as expected, Spain still holds the co-favorite title with Brazil to win the World Cup. These international exhibitions before the tournament only matter if a player or players suffer injuries that will affect their health status for any official game time (ask Ivory Coast about Didier Drogba).
As well as covering Spain throughout their excursion in South Africa, La Liga Talk will host many articles and columns about transfer rumors (including the overanalyzed and overwritten Cesc Fàbregas saga) and other news related to the twenty teams in Spain’s first division this summer. For example, the FC Barcelona presidential elections will take place on June 13, and the man that will lead from the top will have a major role in the future direction of one of the top club teams in world football. The success of outgoing president Joan Laporta heaps more pressure on the next president to continue these successful, trophy-winning seasons.
While there are no matches played on the pitch during the close season, the constant battles waged by the clubs off the pitch can sometimes determine final placement in La Liga more than what the players do on the field. So keep updated with summer Spanish football news with La Liga Talk, as it will be out on the forefront on the top stories emanating from Spain.
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The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (the Spanish FA) released the full schedule for the 2010-11 La Liga season, and Jornada 1 will be held on the last weekend of August. Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will commence their campaigns away from home as they visit Mallorca and Racing de Santander respectively. Real Sociedad, the Basque football entity that spent the last two years in the Segunda División after establishing themselves in the Primera División for the previous forty seasons, will make their triumphant return to the top level of the Spanish pyramid against Villarreal. The last match of the first round of fixtures will be held that Monday night as Atlético Madrid hosts Sporting de Gijón at the Estadio Vicente Calderón.
