A dispiriting final matchday left Mallorca forty seconds away from qualifying for the Champions League.  Sevilla manager Antonio Álvarez took a huge gamble late in that match by sending Sevilla youth product Rios Lozano Rodri into the match instead of Luís Fabiano, and Rodri broke the hearts of Los Barralets with an acrobatic goal in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time to defeat Almería 2-3 and finish fourth in La Liga, the final Champions League place.  To watch the drama unfold on the jumbo screen at the ONO Estadi was already hard enough, but the news that the club will enter administration will likely wreck an exciting squad that became one of the pleasant surprises in La Liga this season.

For those who do not know what administration means in this context, here is a brief explanation.  When a football team cannot pay off their outstanding debts, the court will assign “administrators,” mostly accountants, in charge of nearly every aspect of the club, and the accountants’ first order of business includes paying off football-related debts before any other job.  Administration serves as a rescue mechanism so that the club can continue to operate despite their debt owed to players, staff, and creditors.  In America, it is similar to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The dirty little secret behind Mallorca’s success this campaign was their massive debt accumulated over the past few seasons.  Whether Champions League money would have eased that burden and prevented them from having to seek voluntary administration will always remain an unanswered question, but their reported €85 million debt grew too large to ignore any further.

According to majority shareholder Mateu Alemany:

“Over the past two years, Mallorca has suffered a very complex economic situation, with serious financial problems and an inability to meet its commitments.  This is a legal instrument that enables Mallorca to see the future in another way: to have a budget structure that has logic and controls debt, to take stringent budgetary measures to bring spending in line with earning capacity.

These are necessary things that open a future of hope that is necessary and has not existed at the club for two years. The bankruptcy law gives us this opportunity and provides a positive expectation for the club. It is a solution, not a problem.

Whatever happens, we start a new stage. It’s exciting because it ensures the viability of this club, which has been in serious danger of disappearing.”

With all of the economics explained, how will administration affect the team for next season?

UEFA president Michel Platini has not held back his criticism of clubs who continue to run their clubs on such poor economic standing and has threatened to exclude teams from UEFA competitions who are forced to enter administration or pile up an enormous debt.  There were more than a few whispers that Mallorca would be one of those clubs shut out of Europe, but Alemany ensured that Mallorca would compete in the UEFA Europa League next season after the Spanish football federation (RFEF) granted Mallorca their UEFA license.

Gregorio Manzano, the man who led Mallorca for the past four and a half seasons, will not return next season because the club cannot afford to meet his technical and financial demands.  In his first spell with the club in the 2002-03 season, he led Mallorca to a decent ninth place finish, but his biggest achievement that season was capturing the Copa del Rey with a 3-0 triumph over Recreativo Huelva with all three goals coming from fairly decent strikers: one from Walter Pandiani and the other two from Samuel Eto’o.  The winner of the Don Balón award for coach of the year in 2008, Manzano will likely receive the award for the second time this season after guiding Mallorca to their best finish in La Liga for nine years.

For a manager to keep his players focused on the pitch when economic turmoil behind the scenes made the club unable to pay the players for a few months, Manzano performed miracles, especially at home, where the seemingly unimposing ONO Estadi transformed into a formidable fortress.  Fifteen wins and one draw out of nineteen matches was an incredible feat, and he had to maintain such a stellar record at home because of their woeful play away from the Balearic Islands.

Whether Mallorca entered administration or not, Manzano was heavily linked to the Sevilla job currently held by caretaker Antonio Álvarez, and with Mallorca having no ability to compensate for Manzano €1.5 million per year salary, Manzano will need to seek a new club.  West Ham United noted their interest in Manzano, although Avram Grant looks set to take over the reins at Upton Park for the recently fired Gianfranco Zola.

As for the squad, many of the top-rated players will likely leave in the summer as well.  For the previous season, the wage bill equaled €34.6 million, and Mallorca will cut that budget considerably.  Alemany noted this impending fire sale when he said, “There will be a philosophy of austerity.  The insolvency will affect the first team squad and those who earn the most.”

Borja Valero, the influential playmaker in the midfield, will go back to his parent club West Bromwich Albion, who will return to the Premier League next season after spending a season in the Coca-Cola Championship.  Earlier in the season, Mallorca wanted to make his loan move permanent, but with the economic realities rushing upon them, Mallorca cannot afford a €5 million+ transfer fee.

Iván Ramis, who was rumored to go to Celtic in the January transfer window, formed a pivotal partnership with Nunes in central defense and held opponents to forty-four goals, the fourth-best defense in La Liga.  Ramis will attract many European teams, and while Mallorca wanted a fee in the neighborhood of €3.5 million when Celtic coveted him in January, Mallorca’s desperation to balance the books means that anything more than €3.5 million will be highly unlikely despite Ramis’ outstanding season.

Felipe Mattioni, the 21-year-old Brazilian right back starlet, will not return, as Maga Esporte, the sporting agency that owns his rights, expects a hefty fee for this promising defender from the Grêmio youth system.

Others might be on the way out, such as Aritz Aduriz, Gonzalo Castro, and Dudu Aouate, so the Mallorca squad that came within one minute of Champions League recognition will be drastically different from the team that will play their first official match of the season in the Europa League qualifiers in August.  Valencia can commiserate with their Mallorcan neighbors, as their debt has coerced them to sell David Villa to FC Barcelona and likely give David Silva to the highest bidder (Real Madrid).  Valencia, however, has the depth to be relevant in European competition in spite of the losses of Villa and Silva, whereas Mallorca does not.

Unless the club has a billionaire owner or has a glorious history, Mallorca’s fate, unfortunately, will become more and more frequent as these smaller clubs try to compete with the Real Madrids and the Barcelonas of the world by overpaying in both transfer fees and wages.  The news that the total debt in La Liga amasses over €3.53 billion with a “b” only furthers the notion that clubs are compelled to overspend in order to stay afloat in the league.  Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Numancia were the only teams to make an operating profit, and Numancia was relegated to the Segunda División last season.

The same seven or eight teams in Europe continue to pursue the most valuable and most talented players in the world, and if the status quo remains, teams like Mallorca, Valencia, and other second-tier teams throughout Europe will eventually become mere breeding grounds for Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc. to pilfer their players when they have matured, much like what Ajax, PSV, and Lyon have become.

The rumors, for once, came to fruition, as FC Barcelona will pay a transfer fee of €40 million to Valencia for Spanish international striker David Villa.  This tango (or the sardana for a more local, Catalunyan flair) danced by the two clubs since the previous offseason will finally end as outgoing Barça president Joan Laporta landed the player he coveted for two years.

Surely, Barcelona signed Villa to be a starting forward, and his most effective position in that front line would be as the center forward of the three-pronged attack.  With Lionel Messi and Pedro Rodríguez on either side of Villa, the Barcelona attacking machine will continue to operate as efficiently and dangerously as ever.

What does this mean for Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was supposed to be the answer in the center of Barcelona’s attack.  In order to lure the Swedish hitman from Inter Milan, the Catalunyans spent a net total of €69 million (€46 million in cash, the transfer of Samuel Eto’o from Barça to Inter, valued at €20 million, and another €3 million to compensate for Alyaksandr Hleb refusing the transfer to Inter).

Ibrahimovic had the qualities that Eto’o supposedly lacked: the ability to hold the ball up for his teammates, the acumen to visualize the perfect pass before the action occurs, and the size to better compete for headers and ward off physical challenges.  Even though Eto’o scored thirty goals and led the Pichichi race for top goalscorer most of the 2008-09 La Liga season until Diego Forlán surpassed him late in the season, the Barcelona staff felt they needed more from the center forward role than a pure poacher in the box, at which Eto’o was one of the best in the world.

Through the first few months of the season, Ibrahimovic made an immediate impact with the team, scoring in the first match of the season against Sporting Gijón, providing the only goal in El Clásico against Real Madrid in November after coming back from a hamstring injury, and netting twelve goals in his first nineteen matches in all competitions.

As the season wore on, however, his efficacy in front of goal dwindled considerably.  The match against Real Zaragoza in March clearly showed how his confidence had dropped, when he fluffed three chances that Ibrahimovic would score on his worst days.  He did score in that match but only because of a late penalty that Messi gave to him so that he could regain his confidence.

Aside from the first leg in the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Arsenal where he scored twice at the Emirates Stadium, he was noticeably absent both on and off the pitch in Barcelona’s most important matches.  Pep Guardiola lost so much faith in Ibrahimovic at the climax of the campaign that in both legs of the Champions League semifinal against his former team Inter Milan, Guardiola substituted him in both matches at the hour mark because of his ineffectiveness.  In La Liga, where Real Madrid kept the title race within three points until the final matchday, Guardiola favored Bojan Krkic over Ibrahimovic as the center forward.

Cumulatively, Ibrahimovic had twenty-one goals and ten assists in forty-one matches in all competitions, and while these are solid numbers for a player making his debut season in a new league and country, solid was not the expectation that the Blaugrana set for him.  Replacing a Barça legend in Samuel Eto’o would always become an arduous task, and the Barça boardroom sent a message to Ibrahimovic that he did not fulfill what they envisaged for him with the signing of David Villa.

As any good agent should do, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s agent, Mino Raiola, tried to quell any sort of talk that the arrival of David Villa spelled the end for Ibrahimovic at the Camp Nou.  In an interview with Calciomercato.it, Raiola reiterated his client’s standing with FC Barcelona:

“The club already said they were happy with Zlatan.  Villa’s arrival has nothing to do with Ibra, and it does not put his stay in danger seeing that Villa can play well on the wings.  He has a contract until 2014, and he is happy at Barcelona.”

As optimistic as that sounds, it could mean trouble for Pedro, Bojan, Jeffrén Suárez, and others in La Masia if Barcelona plans to keep both Ibrahimovic and Villa, but with Pedro breaking through with an outstanding season and Bojan filling Ibrahimovic’s shoes at the end of the season, it is highly doubtful that Barcelona, and specifically Pep Guardiola, would stunt the development of their own academy products in favor of Ibrahimovic.

One year for any player should not become the absolute barometer for what that player will do in the future.  There is an endless amount of cases where players struggled in their first season only to recover and perform to their highest capabilities.  In this day of immediate gratification and astronomical transfer fees, however, instantaneous results matter, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has not given Barcelona what they wanted.  If Barcelona did not make a move for Villa and Ibrahimovic was given a clean slate to go into his second season with Barcelona, a betting man would put his money on a highly successful season.

Barcelona is not a betting man and wanted reassurances with the signing of David Villa.  When Barcelona sells Ibrahimovic, they will not nearly receive the value that they paid for Ibra, but they will listen to any offers that come their way.

The last opinion that Barcelona would want of themselves is that they are acting like Real Madrid in buying top talent for exorbitant prices, so a rotation that would bench Villa and Ibrahimovic for certain matches would only further this growing perception that Barcelona is turning into their eternal rivals.

Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, and now Barcelona.  Four of the preeminent teams in European football, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could not establish a permanent home in any of those clubs.  If a club can solve the enigma that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he would become the most feared striker in the world.  If.

Once Lionel Messi scored his club record-tying 34th goal of the season in the 76th minute to increase the lead to 4-0, the 98,772 Culés at the Camp Nou, save for a few hundred Real Valladolid die-hards, began to chant the song that every team wants to hear at the end of the season, “Campeones, campeones, ¡Olé, olé, olé!”  For the final fifteen minutes, the procession commenced on the pitch.

Bojan Krkic came out for Thierry Henry, likely Henry’s final appearance for Barcelona because of his increasingly diminished role with Pedro Rodríguez and Bojan ahead of him in the pecking order.

Dani Alves departed in the 80th minute for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a player who epitomizes the cliché that there are two halves of a season.  Despite Ibrahimovic’s struggles in the last three months, the supporters gave Ibrahimovic a nice round of applause.

The heartiest plaudits, however, rained down on Pedro when Pep Guardiola took him out in the 86th minute for Andrés Iniesta.  An infrequent contributor last season, Pedro rose to the occasion nearly every time Guardiola called his name this season, and after fifty-one appearances and twenty-three goals in all competitions, Pedro made himself a fixture as one of the starting three forwards for FC Barcelona.

Referee Miguel Ángel Pérez Lasa whistled for fulltime at the ninety-minute mark, and Barcelona won its fourth La Liga crown in six years and their twentieth overall.

Despite the 4-0 scoreline, Valladolid accounted well for themselves and displayed the aggression on both ends of the pitch early that Javier Clemente-led teams always show.  Ever the entertaining yet obstinate manager during press conferences, Clemente verbalized the fighting spirit that Valladolid would have against Barcelona with colorful imagery:

“We will not go like lambs to the slaughter.  I would rather be a bull, which gives its all and dies angrily.  Let us see whether we will die or not, but if we do, we will do it with our boots on.  We have nothing left to fear.  We must go there bravely.”

Nearly invoking the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with his impassioned plea, Clemente sought the desire, will, and all of those wonderful intangibles from his players that would be necessary to achieve any sort of positive result against Barcelona.

In a bizarre twist of fate, Mr. Clemente, one of the most hated enemies of Real Madrid, could have aided Madrid’s faint hopes of winning La Liga if Valladolid could prevent Barcelona from earning the three points.  Real Madrid had to beat Málaga and pray for Barça not to win in order to secure their 32nd championship.

Besides winning two La Liga crowns in 1983 and 1984 with Athletic Bilbao on the last day of both seasons with Real finishing second both seasons, he had a reputation of excluding Real Madrid players in favor of Basque players during his tenure as Spanish national team manager in the 1990s.  No one player felt this cold shoulder more than Real Madrid legend and current Getafe manager Míchel.

Míchel was part of the illustrious Quinta del Buitre quintet of homegrown players for Real Madrid in the 1980s and early 1990s that won two UEFA Cups and five consecutive domestic titles, and Míchel made himself a fixture on the Spanish national team.  He earned sixty-six caps to his name when Clemente became Spain’s manager in 1992, and despite his continued excellent play with Los Blancos in the prime of his career, Clemente never called him up for Spain.  At a young twenty-nine years, his international career ended prematurely.

Clemente favored Barcelona right wing Ion Andoni Goikoetxea over Míchel, and while Goikoetxea featured the hard-working and industrious characteristics that Clemente loved and coveted, he did not have nearly the skill or creativity that Míchel brought to the table.  In defense of Goikoetxea, he did win the Don Balón award for Spanish player of the year in 1991 and was a significant member of Johan Cruijff’s Dream Team that won four consecutive La Liga crowns and the 1992 European Cup over Sampdoria, but for Clemente to leave Míchel completely off Spain’s squad and not even grant him a seat on the substitute’s bench stung Míchel and continues to sting him to this day.

Despite the history, the Madridistas would instantly forgive Javier Clemente Lázaro if he prevented the Barcelona machine from rolling to one last victory.

The “thank you” letters from Real Madrid, however, nearly needed to be written for Víctor Valdés, as his penchant to show his footballing skills virtually handed Valladolid the opening goal in the fourth minute.

Receiving a simple back pass from Gerard Piqué, Valdés’ first touch on the ball got away from him, and eying this unexpected opportunity, Valladolid left back Antonio Barragán pounced on the ball.  Valdés tried to recover from his error by clearing it to safety, but Barragán deflected his clearance as he slid in to tackle the ball away from Valdés, and the ball fell right into the path of Manucho just inside the top of the penalty box.  Whether Manucho felt he needed merely to guide it toward the empty net or the bounce prevented him from striking the ball cleanly, he hit the ball with his shin, but it was heading to the back of the net.

Because Manucho’s did not crack his shot with the greatest conviction, there was a slight chance that a Barcelona defender could knock his shot away from goal, and who other than the captain and defensive stalwart, Carles Puyol, to race into the box and commit to a diving clearance that sent the ball to the touchline.

When Luís Prieto deviated an innocuous Pedro cross into his own net in the 27th minute to gift Barça the 1-0 lead, the title was destined to be retained by the Catalunyans for another season.  Valladolid could not get into the game as Barcelona played their possession style, and the “plan” that Clemente championed and rightly refused to reveal prior to the match failed miserably.

Lionel Messi scored twice and assisted Pedro in the backbreaking second goal, but the man of the match award must go to Touré Yaya, who took on the responsibility of playmaker because of Xavi Hernández’s suspension.  After the first fifteen to twenty minutes, where they could not penetrate the Valladolid and resorted to long-distance efforts, Yaya controlled the match from the midfield on both offense and defense.

Nothing encapsulated Touré Yaya’s impact as the conductor more than Barça’s third goal that prevented any thought of a miracle comeback by Valladolid.  After receiving a pass from Sergio Busquets, Yaya nutmegged Raúl Rodríguez Navas and then hurdled Henrique Sereno’s sliding challenge as he charged into the box, where his cutback pass from the endline found Messi, and with a wide-open goal, he rolled it in for the 3-0 advantage.  Touré Yaya will likely leave in the summer because Busquets has succeeded him as Barça’s holding midfielder, and if this eventually becomes the final appearance for Yaya in a Barcelona uniform, he went out with one of his best performances as a Barça player.

Even though Real Madrid only managed a 1-1 draw with Málaga, the spirit and gusto of the Real players dropped considerably when they found out what was happening at the Camp Nou, so one cannot assume that this result would have occurred if the Barcelona – Valladolid match were much closer.  FC Barcelona, however, did not want to have the championship decided on Real Madrid’s result against Málaga, and they merited the La Liga trophy in typical Barça flair in their 4-0 drubbing of Real Valladolid.

Ninety-six points in a season is a ridiculous amount, the most points accumulated in the history of La Liga prior to this season.  Unfortunately for Real Madrid, one other team eclipsed that point total in the same season.  While the 2009-10 FC Barcelona club did not defend their Champions League trophy, ninety-nine points in the league and a +74 goal difference (98 for and 24 against) are accomplishments that will be on par with any that Barcelona has ever achieved.  With all of their young talent under contract for the next several years along with the economic firepower that the club possesses, László Kubala’s five cup season of 1952, Cruijff’s “Total Football” of the 1970s, and Cruijff’s Dream Team of the 1990s could take a backseat to this current Barcelona incarnation.

It also helps that Lionel Messi declared that he could never see himself playing for Real Madrid or at any other club.

Fueras de Juego

- Another upheaval in the Bernabéu seems likely as they failed to win any silverware this season.  Manuel Pellegrini deserves another season to mold this team, but with José Mourinho possibly available in the summer (although he would employ a more pragmatic style that the Madridistas and the Real boardroom hated when Fabio Capello WON the league in 2006), Real’s failure to advance past the Round of 16 in the Champions League (although the previous seven Real managers did not pass this stage), their debacle against Alcorcón in the Copa del Rey (although Real does not really care about this competition and had not won this since 1993), and second-place in the league to Barcelona (although they amassed an obscene ninety-six points and scored 102 goals), Pellegrini may not get the chance to improve on what any other team would consider a great season.  Fabio Capello was right when he compared managing Real Madrid to living in a goldfish bowl.

- Getafe cruised to sixth place and a Europa League berth when they defeated Atlético Madrid’s B-side 0-3 at the Vicente Calderón on Saturday evening.  The players and the colchoneros in the stands celebrated their Europa League triumph and looked forward to the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on Wednesday rather than worry about a league match that did not matter to them, and Getafe could not have been happier to take advantage.

- RCD Mallorca felt the ecstasy and agony of football in a span of a couple of minutes.  After dismissing Espanyol 2-0 at the ONO Estadi, they watched the final minutes of the Almería – Sevilla match on the big screen at the stadium.  At the time, it was 2-2, and if that result held, Mallorca would be in the Champions League for finishing fourth in the league.  In the third minute of stoppage time, however, Sevilla youngster Rodri twisted himself around to score past Esteban Suárez and send Sevilla into the Champions League.  The juxtaposition of Mallorca captain Nunes’ despair with the champagne bottle standing right behind him showed how close they were to the bright lights of the top European club competition.

- Racing Santander saved themselves from relegation with a 2-0 victory over a more-than-willing Sporting Gijón, and Barça blasted Valladolid 4-0, but the other three teams in the relegation battle (Xerez, Tenerife, and Málaga) were involved in intense matches where one goal in any of those matches would have ramifications for the others.  Xerez needed to beat Osasuna and hope that two other teams involved in the relegation fight would not earn a point.  Xerez could only muster a 1-1 draw against Osasuna, so Néstor Gorosito’s reclamation project fell just short of an all-time great escape.

That left two teams for one spot in La Liga.  Málaga had the head-to-head tiebreaker over Tenerife, so Tenerife needed to better Málaga’s result for salvation, except for one caveat: if Valladolid, Málaga, and Tenerife were tied on points for 17th place and another season in the top flight, Tenerife would stay in La Liga because they scored more goals than the other two teams amongst matches against them, the fourth tiebreaker.  As complicated as that sounds, a Tenerife loss would not necessarily doom them.

Tenerife played as though they were doomed.  Tenerife keeper Sergio Aragoneses must have felt like those body-shaped silhouettes at a shooting range because Valencia pelted his goal with shot after shot after shot.  Luckily for Aragoneses, David Villa, David Silva, and Juan Mata did not start for Valencia because their clinical finishing would have converted some of the fourteen chances at goal.  Miraculously, it was 0-0 late into the match, and Nino flew down the right flank unmarked, heading toward Miguel Ángel Moyà’s goal.  Hedwiges Maduro’s incredible speed, however, caught up to Nino in the box, and the opportunity was gone.

Alexis scored in the second minute of stoppage time for Valencia to give Valencia the 1-0 win, but with the other matches falling Tenerife’s way, only a Málaga result against Real Madrid would drop them to the second division.  Málaga did the seemingly impossible and got the draw at home to revive their stay in the first division for another season.

- This final weekend of the season became swan songs for three that have served their respective professions to the highest degree: Joseba Etxeberria, Rubén Baraja, and referee Manuel Mejuto González.  Mejuto González’s last match will be on Wednesday as the referees the Copa del Rey final, but his La Liga career ended on Saturday in the Athletic Bilbao – Deportivo La Coruña match.  Etxeberria and Baraja both won, and both could not contain their emotions, as they were both given heroes’ exits by their clubs.

Will Spain's fortunes in the World Cup be similar to Euro 2008 or the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup?

On Tuesday, the goalkeepers and defenders were discussed, and Wednesday, the midfielders were discussed.  With all of the creative talent in the midfield, that will bring the pressure on the forwards to convert the multitudes of chances that Xavi, Xabi Alonso, etc. will create for them.  Obviously, the two starting men up front would be David Villa and Fernando Torres, but Torres currently faces an uphill battle to be fit enough for their first World Cup game on June 16 against Switzerland because he is still recovering from knee surgery in April that cost him the rest of the Premier League season.

Thus, the reserve forwards will have a significant role to play, and while those two spots are not secure, Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao has the third-choice forward in his hands.  Included in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup squad, he epitomizes the target-man center forward with his height and strength.  His technical skill should not be overlooked either, and with fourteen goals in La Liga and eight goals in the Europa League this season, only injury or a disastrous training camp will prevent him from making the squad.

Álvaro Negredo endured an inconsistent season with Sevilla, failing to impress enough to dislodge either Luís Fabiano or Frédéric Kanouté up front.  Because both could not continually stay fit, Manolo Jiménez and Antonio Álvarez gave Negredo numerous chances to prove himself.  His occasional run-ins with the Sevilla technical staff did nothing to paint himself in a more positive light, but when he played for the national team in his four appearances, he belonged.

His two goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina certainly showed his potential, but if Vicente del Bosque will finalize the last few spots based on current form, Negredo will have plenty of work to do in the last week of the La Liga season, the Copa del Rey final against Atlético Madrid, and the training camp to convince del Bosque that he deserves a seat on the plane to South Africa.

Dani Güiza has been the third forward since late 2007 for the Spanish national team, and his two goals in Euro 2008, including the match-winner against previous European champions Greece, showed that he could shine in the limelight of international football.  He made a newsworthy transfer in the summer of 2008 when he moved to Fenerbahçe for €17.4 million after winning the Pichichi with Mallorca in the previous season, and while he has had moderate success with the Istanbul club, he has not lived up to that transfer fee.

This season, he scored eleven goals in the Turkish Süper Lig but did not score in any of Fenerbahçe’s Europa League matches once they qualified for the group stage.  Llorente, Negredo, and Güiza are similar strikers in style, so Vicente del Bosque will have to decide among the proven international Güiza, the in-form Llorente, and the mercurial but talented Negredo.

That leaves the wild card in this discussion, Pedro Rodríguez.  A talented player from the La Masia youth academy of FC Barcelona, his original role on this year’s Barcelona squad was to be a backup to Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, but as Henry slogged through a dip in form, Pedro unexpectedly rose in prominence, and he became the first player to score in six different competitions in one calendar.

Firmly entrenched in the three-pronged attack for Barcelona, he does not just score the meaningless goals when Barcelona is up two or three goals.  In the Champions League, Copa del Rey, and important La Liga matches, he scored numerous times that either tied the match, gave Barça the lead, or provided that two-goal cushion to ease the nerves.  Uncapped at the international level, that might be a knock to most players, but with his revelation of a season combined with a skill set that is completely different from the other strikers contending for the reserve forward spots, Pedro has a better than a fifty percent chance to join some of his Barcelona teammates in South Africa.

Whatever decisions Vicente del Bosque makes for his final 23-man squad, the wealth of talent from which he has an honor to choose is unparalleled in international football.  As detailed in Spanish national team history, they have always had supreme skill yet folded in the biggest moments.  With their Euro 2008 success, this team might have exorcised those demons, but now they are co-favorites with Brazil to win World Cup 2010, and anything less than a finals appearance will be a bitter disappointment.

Vicente del Bosque’s Provisional 30-Man Squad

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina, Víctor Valdés, Diego López, and David de Gea

Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, Raúl Albiol, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevila, and César Azpilicueta

Midfielders: Xavi Hernández, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Juan Mata, David Silva, Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla, Jesús Navas, Javi Martínez, and Cesc Fàbregas

Forwards: David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Pedro Rodríguez, Dani Güiza, Álvaro Negredo

Depending on the results of the final round in La Liga this upcoming weekend, Atlético Madrid can finish as high as ninth and as low as eleventh in Spain.  Fulham completed their 2009-10 in the Barclays Premier League in twelfth position.  All mattered not as they both navigated through massive European obstacles to arrive at the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on Wednesday evening to compete for the inaugural UEFA Europa League final, the newly reorganized UEFA Cup.

At the dawn of this season, Atlético Madrid held high aspirations domestically and internationally.  Los colchoneros qualified for the UEFA Champions League the past two seasons on the final matchday, holding off Sevilla in 2008 and Villarreal in 2009 to finish both years fourth in the league.  In addition, Atlético progressed easily through the Champions League group stage the previous campaign and lost on away goals to FC Porto in the first knockout round, so they expected to get at least that far if not farther.

Mediocre in the league and underwhelming in this year’s Champions League group stage, and Atlético struggled to achieve a draw against Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia in the final group stage match just to receive the parachute to the Round of 32 in the Europa League.

Sergio Asenjo, their twenty-year-old goalkeeper of the future whom they bought from Real Valladolid for €6 million, struggled mightily and eventually sat on the bench in favor of nineteen-year-old David de Gea.

The team coped with unrest in the coaching ranks as Abel Resino was sacked in late October following Atlético’s horrendous start in favor of Quique Sánchez Flores.  Sánchez Flores could relate to Resino’s position, as he was also fired after a poor beginning to the 2007-08 season by Valencia after he guided Los Che to consecutive Champions League appearances.  Valencia would regret that decision because they chose Ronald Koeman as Quique’s successor, and coupled with Valencia’s growing financial problems, the Koeman era turned into an unmitigated disaster.

Realizing that any potential accomplishment in La Liga would be a fruitless endeavor, Atlético Madrid started to focus on cup competitions to salvage any sort of pride in this season.  This change in priority and the new influence of Quique Sánchez Flores heightened the waning confidence and play of the squad members.

Despite this expected rise in form, Atlético president Enrique Cerezo Torres and the Atlético technical staff must have shaken their heads and pulled out their hair numerous times because of their team’s schizophrenic personality.  Inexplicably pathetic matches against lower table teams such as Tenerife, Almería, and Real Zaragoza would follow inspirational performances against Sevilla, Barcelona, and Valencia.  Playing to the competition is usually portrayed as a pejorative because it implies that the team takes inferior opposition for granted while gearing up for tougher clubs, but in this particular case, for some strange reason, Atlético Madrid effectively employed this policy.

On their path to the Copa del Rey final, they encountered only one La Liga team, Racing Santander, and only in this tie did Atlético perform up to their capabilities in the first leg, dismissing the Cantabrians 4-0 to render the second leg virtually meaningless.

With the quality of teams they opposed in the Europa League, however, they could not help but play at a high level since their adversaries were such accomplished teams.

Galatasaray, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Valencia, and Liverpool.  Winners of fourteen different European trophies.  In recent years, facing these types of teams in succession would occur in the Champions League knockout stages. not the UEFA Cup/Europa League, but they did not faze the men from the capital.  As many have pointed out, Atlético Madrid did not win a single match in the Champions League group stage, and they only won two matches out of eight in the Europa League knockout stage on their way to the final.  Cup competitions, however, comprise of a completely different mentality and strategy than league play, and in all four knockout ties, it would be hard to argue that Atlético Madrid was not the better team over two legs in each tie.

Rarely does any team convincingly win every round, and Atlético was no exception.  They advance on three separate occasions on the away goals rule, and in the semifinal, it took extra time to settle the tie.  In the final against Fulham, in a match destined for penalties, Atlético scored what proved to be the cup-winning goal in the 116th minute, the 26th minute of extra time.  Three different times during their run to the Europa League crown, Atlético needed a late goal in the 90th minute and beyond.  There was only one man that scored all three: the indomitable Diego Forlán.

Notoriously nicknamed “Diego Forlorn” for his goal-scoring inadequacies at Manchester United, Diego Forlán worked tirelessly to shake this reputation when he made his move from Manchester United to Villarreal in 2004.  Three successful seasons at Villarreal substantiated the talent that United saw in him when they signed him from Independiente in 2003, including the Pichichi trophy (top goal-scorer in La Liga) in 2005 and a semifinal run in the 2005-06 Champions League where they topped their group while Manchester United finished last in that same group.

Forlán, always the humble and consummate professional, never said a venomous word about his former employers, especially when Villarreal and Manchester United played twice in the group stage.  He actually praised Sir Alex Ferguson and the Manchester United fans for their support during his two season stay despite his difficulties, but deep in his heart, he must have felt a little glee about preventing United from proceeding to the knockout stage.

When Fernando Torres moved to Liverpool for a club record £26.5 million in the summer of 2007, Atlético Madrid used some of that money to buy Forlán for €21 million from Villarreal.  86 goals in 153 appearances in all competitions for Atlético demonstrated further his status as a world-class striker, but his match-winning exploits in this season’s Europa League enhances his standing as not just a goal-scorer but also as a forward who scores the most important goals.

In the 90th minute of the second leg against Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul, appropriately nicknamed “Hell” because of its intimidating atmosphere, Forlán clinched the tie that was a couple of minutes away from extra time.  Quique Sánchez Flores did not include him in the starting eleven against Galatasaray, and he only came in after Sergio Agüero suffered a facial injury near the end of the first half.  No complaints or attitude came from Forlán, and he scored the ticket into the Round of 16.

Against Liverpool in the second leg of the semifinal at Anfield, Forlán stuck the lance in Liverpool’s side again with an extra-time winner in the 102nd minute that scrapped any semblance of a successful season for Liverpool.  One of Forlán’s few positive achievements at Manchester United was a two-goal effort at Anfield to defeat Liverpool 1-2, and the Manchester United faithful still laud that accomplishment, and as the chant goes, “He came from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry.”  If Manchester United were not to win a European trophy, it was imperative for United fans that Liverpool did not win either, and the former United man was more than willing to haunt Liverpool yet again.

In the final against Fulham, the pre-game ceremonies contained more action than the first thirty minutes of the match because both teams showed their fraying nerves about competing in a European final.  Only three players from both teams’ starting elevens had competed in a showcase final of European club football, José Antonio Reyes with Arsenal, Mark Schwarzer for Middlesbrough, and Danny Murphy with Liverpool.  Elementary errors from both sides littered the opening stages of the match, and an errant pass by Paul Konchesky ultimately led to Atlético’s first goal that was scored by none other than Diego Forlán in the 32nd minute.

The goal came from a quick counter-attack, and it started with Reyes rampaging down the right flank and passing it into the center for Simão Sabrosa who purposefully made a lung-bursting run down the center of the pitch.  Simão then passed it first-time in the air to Agüero at the D; Agüero headed it down and took the shot off the volley, but he completely mishit it.  Luckily, it went into Forlán’s direction, and Forlán directed it to the left far post past a helpless Schwarzer.  It was debatable whether Forlán was offside, but Forlán’s positioning saved Agüero’s shot from rolling harmlessly wide and ascended Atlético in the lead.

After Simon Davies’ clinical volley five minutes late equalized the score at 1-1, balance reigned the rest of regulation, and extra time loomed in Hamburg.

Five minutes away from penalty kicks, Fulham looked tired and played for penalties.  Fulham’s journey to the Europa League final began on July 30 in the third qualifying round in Lithuania against FK Vètra, and sixty-three matches later and 115 minutes into the final where they left every last part of their energy on the pitch, no one would question them if they wanted to go into penalties.  Diego Forlán, however, prevented the lottery of penalty kicks with the cup-winning goal in the 116th minute.

Kun Agüero did most of the work on the left flank, making one last oxygen-inducing run to keep Antonio López lead pass from crossing the end line for a goal kick.  One-on-one with Fulham central defender Aaron Hughes, Agüero’s cross at the six-yard box was back flicked by Forlán, and it took a slight deflection off Brede Hangeland and into the back of the net.

A last flurry from Fulham in the second minute of stoppage time went for naught, and Atlético Madrid won its first European trophy in forty-eight years when they won the 1961-62 European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Amidst the immediate joy once referee Nicola Rizzoli whistled for fulltime, Diego Forlán merely raised his arms in the air and instantly went to hug and shake the hands of his opponents, specifically Chris Baird and Aaron Hughes.  He could have ran to the center circle and celebrated with his teammates, and no one would have blamed him, but the class that he carries at all times signals the kind of man and player that young player should strive to emulate.

This column would be remiss not to laud Fulham FC for its fairy-tale run from near relegation from the Football League in 1996 to seventh in the Premier League last season to a European final this season.  Roy Hodgson deservedly received the LMA Manager of the Year, voted on by his fellow managers in the Football League, and no one will ever forget their run to the final, toppling European powers Shakhtar Donetsk, Hamburg, and Juventus.

The night, however, belongs to Atlético Madrid.  If one said that a Spanish and an English team would meet in a European final, and the team from Madrid won, probably the last answer purported would be Atlético Madrid defeating Fulham in the Europa League final.  For a few days and months, Atlético own the city of Madrid over their eternal rivals Real, and if Atlético complete the cup double with a win over Sevilla in the Copa del Rey next Wednesday, they will have accomplished one of the unique coups in Spanish football history.  What other team than Atlético Madrid to complete such a bipolar season: average in league, perfect in cup.

Filipe Luís Kasmirski returned on Saturday as one of the inspirational moments of the season.

The Race for the La Liga Crown

If there were a match on which Barcelona would stumble in their path to a second consecutive La Liga title, Villarreal would stand in their way.

All involved with FC Barcelona said the right statements after Inter Milan eliminated the Catalans from the UEFA Champions League.  Barça president Joan Laporta wanted to focus on the league to give the Culés some joy.  Barcelona entrenador Pep Guardiola mentioned how his players needed to get up from the floor in the three days prior to their league match against Villarreal.  Various players, including Gerard Piqué, Pedro Rodríguez, and Sergio Busquets, mentioned how their whole attention is now on securing La Liga for the second consecutive year.  These are all nice statements, but after a gutting semifinal loss with a chance of competing the final at the Santiago Bernabéu, no one would be surprised if they delivered these quotes with a shade of hollowness.

Barcelona left their European disappointments behind with a 1-4 drubbing of Villarreal at El Madrigal, a fortress for the Yellow Submarine all season long.

If Villarreal would not be the Barça stopper, Sevilla must be the answer.

The Andalusian club became one of the few teams to defeat Barcelona this season when they went to the Camp Nou and won 1-2 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 16.  Sevilla had something for which to play, as they stood only one point ahead of Mallorca for the final Champions League berth.  Frédéric Kanouté and Luís Fabiano, whom Sevilla relies on so heavily, started together up front, an all-too-rare occurrence this season.

Barcelona handled them with ease for the first hour, building a 0-3 lead and benefiting from a man-advantage after Abdoulay Konko received his second yellow card for pulling down Bojan Krkic as he sped past him.  Even the Catalans can fall into a lull with such a significant ascendancy, and who else but Kanouté and Fabiano to score two quick goals in succession to make the final twenty minutes a nervy experience for the Blaugrana.  They refocused, and Barcelona saw out the rest of the match with relative ease.

With one match remaining, Barcelona needs to win at home against Real Valladolid to assure themselves of their twentieth Spanish title.

Real Madrid is akin to that little Chihuahua that incessantly nips at the heels and tries to protect its territory.  Los Blancos have riposted every Barcelona tally with a win of their own, although the methods in which Real Madrid continue to notch their victories provide more of those “heart in mouth” moments for their fans.

Late goals against Almería, Real Zaragoza, and Osasuna within the past month kept the title race alive, and facing an obstinate Athletic Bilbao team that defeated them at the San Mamés in the first half of the campaign, Real could not afford to put on a mediocre performance.

When referee César Muñiz Fernández sent off Fernando Amorebieta in the 20th minute for what he perceived to be an intentional handball in the penalty area, he gave Real Madrid the gift they needed to relieve some of the stress and nerves that could clearly be seen by those in the Santiago Bernabéu.  Cristiano Ronaldo coolly sent the penalty kick into the back of the net, and Los Merengues looked to be on their way to securing the three points early in the match.

Similar to Barcelona, Real went on cruise control for the rest of the half when Athletic went down to ten men, and Fran Yeste burned them with an impressive solo effort, as he took on four defenders who inexplicably did not close him down at any point while he made his lateral run across the top of the box.

1-1 with seventeen minutes remaining and with Barcelona winning at the Camp Nou, twenty minutes stood from Barcelona retaining La Liga for another season.  As Real are wont to do, they scored late, and Athletic Bilbao simply could not maintain their energy with one less man for 70+ minutes.  The 5-1 final flattered the men from the Spanish capital, but they did their job, and they have extended the title race to the final matchday for the first time since the 2006/07 season, when both Barcelona and Real Madrid were tied on 73 points heading into the final day.  Barcelona won at Gimnàstic de Tarragona 1-5, but Real Madrid against Mallorca 3-1, and Real held the head-to-head tiebreaker over Barça, so Real Madrid won their 30th crown.

The Race for the Final Champions League Place

Mallorca started Jornada 37 one point behind Sevilla for that Champions League qualifying spot, and on paper, Los Barralets had the easier match, as they traveled to A Coruña and faced a weary and beaten down Deportivo La Coruña squad who wanted the campaign to end as quickly as possible, whereas Sevilla hosted league leaders FC Barcelona who has only one trophy for which to play.

A typical Galician night with a steady rain pouring on El Riazor, the Depor fans hardly showed up because of both the weather and their team’s atrocious string of results in the second half of the season.  The first sixty-five minutes of the match was not much better.  The crowd started to rise when they saw that Filipe Luís Kasmirski donned his substitute’s bib and started to warm up on the sidelines.

One of the indelible images and scenes of the 2009/10 La Liga season was Filipe Luís’ foot hanging nearly ninety degrees after his ankle was crushed underneath the weight of a diving Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz.  Constant rehabilitation and sheer perseverance and will brought Filipe Luís to this moment, and less than four months after that horrific incident, Filipe Luís miraculously played for Depor as a substitute in the 66th minute.

Of the supporters who did show up at El Riazor, they created as much clamor and noise as if the stadium were full when Filipe Luís ran onto the pitch.  To complete this Hollywood story, Filipe Luís contributed to the only goal of the match when his run down the left flank brought a couple a defenders with him.  His pass into the center led to Juan Carlos Valerón’s pinpoint through ball to Riki in the box, and Riki placed his shot past Dudu Aouate at the left near post.

Although Mallorca lost 1-0 at Depor, Sevilla could not come back from a three-goal deficit against Barcelona, falling short 2-3 despite playing with ten men for the final half-hour.  Sevilla’s lead remains at one point, and with Mallorca losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Sevilla, Mallorca has to win against Espanyol and hope that Almería can prevent Sevilla from winning in order for the debt-ridden team from the Balearic Islands to complete their unexpected journey with a shot at the Champions League group stage.

The Race for the Potential Final Europa League Spot

Depending on the result of the Copa del Rey between Sevilla and Atlético Madrid on May 19, seventh place could earn a berth into the UEFA Europa League, but Villarreal and Getafe cannot rely on that, so they continue to fight for sixth place and a certain spot into the third qualifying round of the 2010/11 Europa League.

Usually an entertaining and enthralling encounter, the Valencian derby between Villarreal and Valencia had none of those characteristics.  Valencia ensured themselves of third place and direct qualification into the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage last weekend, so their motivation was near nil.  Unai Emery, whose contract was extended this past week, sent out the B squad against Villarreal, and Villarreal took advantage of their near neighbors with a professional performance that hardly extended any of their resources.

Villarreal manager Juan Carlos Garrido gave Javi Venta his final appearance for Villarreal at El Madrigal, and the fans greeted Venta with the reverence and respect he deserved for being involved with the team from its La Liga infancy eleven years ago to its esteemed status as a European force in 2010.  Robert Pirès, also likely to be gone in the summer, received his final farewell, and the latter stages of the match became more of a testimonial as Valencia obliged to the situation.

Getafe, however, also won on Saturday against Málaga, and while Getafe and Villarreal are equal on points, Getafe holds the head-to-head edge on Villarreal, so Getafe remains in sixth place with one round remaining.

The Race to Avoid Relegation

Whereas the other three races in La Liga each involve only two teams, five teams have a chance by 9:00 PM CEST next Sunday to fall to the Segunda División for next season.  All five teams were involved in matches that included late drama this weekend, and as the results stood at the end of Saturday night, the relegation picture is more muddled than ever.

Sprightly and plucky Xerez continues to linger around, and after their thrilling 3-2 victory over Real Zaragoza, they have a legitimate chance to stay in La Liga for the first time all season.  Their destiny is not in their own hands, but surprisingly, Xerez holds many of the tiebreakers against the other four teams in the relegation scrap, and if they somehow extend their journey in La Liga for another season after they have occupied the foot of the table since Round 12 and mired in the relegation zone since Round 2, that would be one of the top three stories of La Liga this season.

Until Málaga’s loss to Getafe on Saturday, they had been unbeaten in their previous five matches.  An impressive statement on its own until delved deeper, and it is realized that all five of those matches were drawn.  Málaga deserved to win none of those matches, and save for their battling performance against Mallorca at the ONO Estadi, Málaga failed to progress forward when their other relegation rivals earned victories.

Unfortunately for Málaga, La Liga is one of the few leagues in Europe to employ head-to-head results as the first tiebreaker as opposed to goal difference, or else they would stand at 16th in the table, but hosting Real Madrid on the final day, Málaga has little chance of achieving a result, and they wrote their own writings on the wall with substandard play in the past five rounds.

Racing de Santander and Real Valladolid arguably played the most significant match of the weekend, and it was a typical Javier Clemente match: slug it out and see what happens.  A disputed penalty and player unrest in the final fifteen minutes led to overtime work for referee Carlos Velasco Carballo, but at the end of the ninety minutes, Valladolid stole the three points that were absolutely necessary, as their final match is on the road against Barcelona.

Javier Clemente is on the brink of another successful late-season revival, and he has become the quick-fix doctor for Spanish teams whose season teeters between La Liga salvation and relegation ignominy.  No one will ever confuse Clemente’s football philosophies with Pep Guardiola or Arséne Wenger, but a team that usually wants his services does not care about style; they just want to stay in the top flight.

With Nino’s equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time to poach a vital point against Almería, Tenerife is on thirty-six points, tied with Valladolid, Racing, and Málaga and Xerez just three points behind.  The numerous permutations with these five teams will sort itself out next Sunday, and Round 38 of the 2009/10 season shapes up to be one of the most unpredictable final days for the whole table in recent memory.  Who says La Liga is boring?

The Tower of Hercules in A Coruña, built in the 2nd century CE, is the oldest Roman lighthouse currently in service.

There will be a Spanish team in a European final, but it is not the team that many expected.  Atlético Madrid completed their strange and wonderful trip to the Europa League final with an extra time goal by Diego Forlán against Liverpool.  As per usual, Atlético did not win the second leg of their Europa League semifinal against Liverpool, losing 2-1, but for the third consecutive round, Los Colchoneros progressed on the away goals rule.  Normally, if a team only wins twice throughout its whole European campaign, it has a million to one shot of advancing to a European final.

Who better than the 2009-10 Atlético Madrid team to defy any logic.

Only receiving the parachute from the Champions League to the Europa League with a last matchday group stage draw against APOEL Nicosia, Atleti completed the Champions League group with zero wins and three draws.  Their only two wins in the Europa League knockout phase came against Galatasaray with a Diego Forlán goal at the death and against Liverpool with another Forlán late show goal.

Although standing a mediocre tenth in La Liga, Atlético looks forward to their hectic May schedule with two cup finals scattered among their final four league matches.  The 2009-10 Atlético Madrid team is reminiscent of the 2000-01 Liverpool team that won the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup, and the League Cup but only finished third in the Premier League.  Atlético would have certainly taken third place in La Liga, but cup triumph is in the forefront of their minds, and they will likely be a shell of themselves when they face Sevilla on Sunday afternoon.  Atlético has nothing for which to play in the league, and Sevilla continues to fight Mallorca and Villarreal for the final Champions League berth.

Do not be surprised if Sevilla runs over Atlético Madrid with ease.

Then there is that other Spanish team that competed in a European semifinal.  Barcelona failed in its attempt to win consecutive European Cups since the AC Milan teams of Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten completed the double in 1989 and 1990.  The vaunted attack could not break through Inter Milan’s brick wall, and now they have seventy-two hours to recover from their Champions League hangover to encounter a Villarreal outfit that has enjoyed a renaissance under their second trainer of the season, Juan Carlos Garrido.

After their disastrous start to the campaign, Villarreal has climbed to within four points of Mallorca for the final Champions League place, and while they have recently done well on their travels, Villarreal relies on its solid home record, earning thirty-nine of their fifty-two total points at El Madrigal.  Because they dug themselves such a cavernous hole early in the season, they cannot afford to lose any of their last four matches if they have any inkling of joining Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Valencia in the Champions League next season.

Barcelona could only muster a draw at the Camp Nou at the beginning of the new year against Villarreal because of an inspired performance by the Yellow Submarine, David Fuster in particular, so the question arising from this match is if Barcelona can recover and regain their wits about them to focus on their slim one point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga, or will Villarreal derail the already faltering Barça train with their new-found confidence and panache.

The times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DirecTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

Note: ESPN 360 has rebranded itself as ESPN3.

May 1

Málaga vs. Sporting Gijón – 11:45 AM on DirecTV channel 456

Real Valladolid vs. Getafe – 11:45 AM on DirecTV channel 457

Tenerife vs. Racing de Santander – 11:45 AM on DirecTV channel 458

Deportivo La Coruña vs. Real Zaragoza – 11:55 AM on Gol TV

Espanyol vs. Valencia – 1:55 PM on Gol TV

Villarreal vs. FC Barcelona – 3:55 PM on Gol TV

May 2

Sevilla vs. Atlético Madrid – 10:55 AM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Real Madrid vs. Osasuna – 12:55 PM on ESPN2 HD/ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Athletic Bilbao vs. Mallorca – 2:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Unfortunately, the Xerez – Almería match at El Chapín will not be shown on US TV

Diego Milito, Iván Córdoba, and Wesley Sneijder celebrate their passage to the Champions League final.

The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff.  The Barcelona anthem, “Cant del Barça,” blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy.  This sense of confusion permeated throughout the Camp Nou after referee Frank de Bleeckere blew the whistle for fulltime, but two things were certain: FC Internazionale Milano would face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, and FC Barcelona would not.

Inter manager José Mourinho fueled the fire, in typical Mourinho fashion, in the pre-match press conference when he spoke of Barcelona’s ambition to compete in the Champions League final in Madrid:

“We (Inter Milan) have the dream of winning the Champions League, and for Barcelona, it’s an obsession.  This is the difference.  A dream is purer than an obsession.  There is pride in a dream, anywhere in the world.  For Barcelona, it was a dream to reach the final in Rome, but to reach the final at the Bernabéu is an obsession for them.”

If this quote were analyzed on its own grounds, very few people would know what the hell he was talking about; however, Mourinho’s ingenuity for creating distractions away from his team and onto himself has served him well with his previous teams.  FC Porto and Chelsea put up with his antics because they worked.  This formula seemed to sour at Inter Milan, where the Italian press were unimpressed with his brash personality, and even Inter president Massimo Moratti started to suffer from Mourinho fatigue.

With the 3-1 triumph at the San Siro in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals against Barcelona, Mourinho had free reign, and his quote struck a chord with Barça and its fans like no other manager could accomplish.  They immediately went on the defensive.

Some Barcelona supporters reportedly attacked Mourinho’s car after the press conference, punching the windows, throwing various paraphernalia, and attempting to topple the car on its side.

Barça TV, the club’s television channel, created an advertisement where various Barcelona players promised to “leave their skins” on the Camp Nou pitch to audibly declare their intentions on Wednesday night, accompanying the shirts they displayed after they beat Xerez on Saturday which showed the message, “Nos vamos a dejar la piel,” (We will leave our skin).

Another section of Barcelona fans tried to disrupt the sleep of the Inter players Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday morning outside of their team hotel, making constant noise with drum, horns, and firecrackers.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta gave his rebuttal to Mourinho’s “obsession” quote, stating that anyone who assesses Barcelona as obsessive is a second-rate psychologist.

A strong reaction from many arms of the Barça establishment, but why?  There is no doubt that José Mourinho can get under the skin (no pun intended) of his opposition, but whenever all of this huffing and puffing occurs, usually it means that there is doubt, and they engage in all of this extracurricular activity to convince themselves otherwise.

When Barcelona traveled to Stamford Bridge in last year’s Champions League semifinal second leg without scoring at the Camp Nou, this same rah-rah fervor did not exist prior to the match.  Although it took a 93rd minute goal by Andrés Iniesta to slug past Chelsea into the final, the confidence that Barcelona had of breaking through a resolute Chelsea defense was enough for them.

Although they only needed to score once at Stamford Bridge last season, a 2-0 result at the Camp Nou, even against a José Mourinho defense, was not an impossible situation by any stretch.  All of the extraneous motivation mentioned above was inconsistent with this team and teemed with a desperation not seen since the end of the Frank Rijkaard era.

When the players took to the pitch at 20:45 CET, the choreographed displays of the Catalunyan flag from each goal side and a Barça trophy resplendent in garnet, yellow, and blue from the sideline stands would inspire the most jaded of players.  Not only the Barcelona players, but the Inter Milan players who would want nothing more than to spoil Barcelona’s magnificent run since the origins of the Pep Guardiola regime.

With Carles Puyol suspended for this match, Gabriel Milito was expected to deputize in central defense, but Guardiola threw a wrench with Milito starting at left back and Touré Yaya in central defense.  In the first leg, most of Inter’s successful attacking moves originated down the right flank, and they took advantage of Maxwell’s constant forward runs and left him out of position for Maicon, Samuel Eto’o, and Wesley Sneijder to perform their duties.

For Inter Milan, yellow cards became their main concern, as, save for Lúcio, the rest of the back four was one yellow card away from missing the final should they reach that stage.  The burning question lingered about whether Maicon, Walter Samuel, and Javier Zanetti would be hesitant to throw themselves into challenges, knowing that one late tackle could mean suspension from the biggest match of their careers.  Ask Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, who missed the 1999 final when Manchester United completed their astonishing two-goal turnaround in stoppage time against Bayern Munich.  According to Keane, “Although I was putting a brave face on it, this (missing the final) was just about the worst experience I’d had in football.”

Inter clearly frustrated Barcelona through the first twenty-seven minutes, ceding nearly 80% of the possession but allowing nothing to bother their goalkeeper Júlio César.  Then the inevitable controversy ensued when Frank de Bleeckere sent off former Barça player Thiago Motta for a hand to the face of Sergio Busquets.  As the modern game would dictate, Busquets reacted as though he suffered a knockout blow from Mike Tyson.  He had the audacity to take a peek at de Bleeckere to see if he flashed a card before “regaining his senses,” and he accomplished exactly what he set out to do when Motta raised his hand to his face.

Understandably, Motta could not believe the decision and needed to be held back not from de Bleeckere but from Busquets.  A harsh decision by de Bleeckere, but if the roles were reversed, Motta would have likely done the same thing and also try to coax that red card.

Until Gerard Piqué scored in the 84th minute, however, Barça’s one-man advantage appeared irrelevant, as Inter Milan continued to clear any ball that entered their penalty area.  Júlio César made a spectacular diving, fingertip save on a Lionel Messi curler, and Bojan Krkic missed an absolute certainty of a header two minutes before Piqué’s goal, but the vast majority of Barça’s attempts on goal were fired from the twenty-five to thirty-five yard distances, nothing that would seriously trouble Júlio César.

More newsworthy than Barça’s lack of cutting edge involved the substitution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 63rd minute in favor of Bojan Krkic.  With twenty-seven minutes on the clock, there remained plenty of time to score the necessary two goals, but Pep Guardiola believed Bojan had a better chance of galvanizing the offense than Ibrahimovic.  Ibrahimovic’s reputation had been linked to his shrinking violet act in the most important moments for both club and country, and his listless performance against Inter Milan will do him no favors in shaking this reputation.

The last ten minutes became purely riveting, as the siege on Inter’s goal had actual consequences, and when Bojan appeared to net the clinching goal in the first minute of stoppage time, the city of Barcelona actually lifted from the ground, but Frank de Bleeckere blew his whistle before Bojan’s goal transpired for a handball on Touré Yaya.

No one claimed any doubt that Touré Yaya did not intentionally handle the ball, as Walter Samuel smashed his clearance straight into Yaya’s tucked arm from less than three yards away, but that call always goes against the attacking team and in favor of the defending team.  If that same situation happened, where the offensive player kicked the ball into the defensive player’s tucked arms in their own penalty area, the referee would rightfully continue play because the handball was unintentional.

Barcelona did not do enough on the pitch, and their 1-0 result might be their most hollow victory in many years.  Legitimate questions will be asked about this Barça team.  Would Andrés Iniesta have made the difference between advancing and failing?  Does Pep Guardiola need to develop an alternate plan when the opposition decides to employ ten men behind the ball?  Did Barcelona miss the inspiration of their captain, Carles Puyol, even though Inter Milan made little to no suggestion of troubling the Barça defense?  Was the Ibrahimovic for Eto’o swap a potential bust?

All of these inquiries will either never be answered or answered over time, but now they must focus on their tenuous one point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga.  Failing to reach the Champions League final in Madrid hurts, but if Barcelona cannot hold on to the La Liga crown after having at least a share of the lead for all but a couple weeks of the season, this potentially historic team will become just another good team that played nice football.

As for now, they will seethe over José Mourinho, pejoratively referred to as “The Interpreter” in Barcelona, and how he defiantly pointed to the crowd in revelry after his Inter Milan team achieved for what they set out.  Mourinho deserved to do whatever he wanted, however, because he earned it.  He slew the beast.  Those windmills were actual giants, and he defeated the enchanter.  Joan Laporta, Pep Guardiola, and the rest of the Blaugrana nation will look internally soon enough, but this pain that they will have to put away in time for Villarreal on Saturday stings much more than the joy they felt from any of their six trophies from a year ago.

The Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona's city center links old Barcelona with modern Barcelona.

La Liga heads down the home stretch with five matches remaining, and Jornada 34 is littered with matches between the top and the bottom of the table.

FC Barcelona hosts Xerez at the Camp Nou in the early Saturday kickoff, and both teams are running opposite of their position in the standings.  Despite propping the ladder and laying six points away from relegation safety, Xerez has only lost one of their last seven contests, and they are playing with a vigor and desperation that has inspired a group of players that seemed resigned to dropping to the Segunda División as late as a couple of months ago.

As for Barcelona, Espanyol frustrated them in El Derbi Barceloní 0-0 last weekend, and then Inter Milan struck them with an unexpected upper-cut on Tuesday with a 3-1 upending of the current European champions.   Normally, the discussion about a Barcelona – Xerez matchup would center on how wide the final margin would be in favor of Barça, but the excellent form of Xerez combined with the “stumbling” and possibly unfocused Blaugrana side with the second leg of the Champions League semifinal in mid-week should create an intriguing juxtaposition between two drastically different teams.

Barcelona’s championship rivals Real Madrid travel to Aragon and encounter a Real Zaragoza team that needs to earn a few more points to disassociate themselves from the relegation fight.  Los Blancos took advantage of Barcelona’s slip at Espanyol when they defeated Valencia 2-0 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, and they sit one point behind the Catalans, prowling the landscape like a hungry wolf spying on its prey.  They cannot take Zaragoza lightly, however, because they have shared the points with Zaragoza in their last three matches at La Romareda, and if Real does not win their final five matches, any hope of snagging La Liga from Barcelona will be in vain.

Real Zaragoza comes into their match with Real Madrid in decent form, losing only one of their last five, including two draws against Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca and a 3-0 drubbing of Valencia.  Six points away from the magic forty point tally, José Aurelio Gay and his band of winter signings have turned Zaragoza’s fortunes around in the second half of the season.  Zaragoza gave a late scare to Barcelona at La Romareda in March, nearly overcoming a 0-3 deficit, and adding their anger from their 6-0 humiliation at Madrid earlier in the season, revenge will be in the forefront in the minds of the Zaragoza players on Saturday night.

Of all the teams in the relegation scrap, Málaga has done the least to ascend from the fight.  Winless in their last six matches, they visit the fortress known as the ONO Estadi on Sunday afternoon to meet a confident Mallorca side.  Mallorca continues to battle Sevilla for the final Champions League spot, and their fourteen for sixteen haul at home has been the surprise package of La Liga this season.  With Tenerife playing an Atlético Madrid team that could care less about their five remaining La Liga fixtures, Málaga will likely find themselves in the bottom three unless they can pull a monumental upset in Mallorca.

The times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DirecTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

Note: ESPN 360 has rebranded itself as ESPN3.

Apr. 24

FC Barcelona vs. Xerez – 11:55 AM on Gol TV

Real Zaragoza vs. Real Madrid – 1:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Valencia vs. Deportivo La Coruña – 3:55 PM on Gol TV

Apr. 25

Almería vs. Espanyol – 10:45 AM on DirecTV channel 456

Mallorca vs. Málaga – 10:45 AM on DirecTV channel 457

Racing de Santander vs. Villarreal – 10:55 AM on Gol TV

Atlético Madrid vs. Tenerife – 12:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Getafe vs. Sevilla – 2:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

Apr. 26

Osasuna vs. Athletic Bilbao – 2:55 PM on DirecTV channel 456

Unfortunately, the crucial bottom of the table clash between Sporting Gijón and Real Valladolid at El Molinón will not be shown on US TV.

UEFA Champions League

Barcelona finds itself requiring a multi-goal win over Inter Milan to advance to the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid on May 22.  José Mourinho’s team made Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández look pedestrian, and Inter took advantage of Barça’s normally efficient and effective back four.

As per usual after a loss, Barça had plenty to say about the referee and their opposition after the match.  This trait mars a truly historical team, who does not need to fall into this blame game nearly every time they fail to win.  Pedro Rodríguez complained how referee Olegário Benquerença interrupted the match with too many fouls, Sergio Busquets claimed that Barcelona dominated the match despite the scoreline, and the leader of the excuses, Xavi, reportedly shouted at Mourinho how Inter’s win was partly due to Benquerença’s bias for Mourinho since they are both Portuguese.

Excuses aside, Barcelona will feel confident inviting their Italian adversaries to the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.  Even though they will expect Mourinho to keep the match at 0-0 for its entirety, the power of the Culés in the massive 98,000 stadium and Barça’s constant offensive pressure will test Inter Milan’s nerve and resolve to its outstretched ends.  The fate of Serie A in the Champions League for future years rests on Internazionale.

The German Bundesliga is on Serie A’s tail in the UEFA league coefficient, and with Bayern Munich and Hamburg fighting for European finals in the Champions League and the Europa League, the Bundesliga has a decent chance of replacing Serie A as the third-ranked league in Europe, thus earning four Champions League berths.  Serie A will lose one of their Champions League places if the league falls in the ranking to fourth, so not only the Inter die-hards of the Curva Nord will support Inter but all of Italy.

Apr. 27

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Bayern Munich – 2:30 PM on FSN HD and Fox Sports en Español (Lyon 0 – 1 Bayern Munich after the first leg)

Apr. 28

FC Barcelona vs. Inter Milan – 2:30 PM on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español (Barcelona 1 – 3 Inter Milan after the first leg)

UEFA Europa League

Atlético Madrid threw in the towel in La Liga many weeks ago, so their focus gazed upon their domestic and European cup exploits.  Atleti will face Sevilla in the final of the Copa del Rey, and through the first leg of the Europa League semifinal, they hold a tenuous 1-0 lead over Liverpool as they travel to Anfield on Thursday evening.

The volcanic ash spewing out from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland forced Liverpool to recreate their own version of the Steve Martin and John Candy comedy Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to reach Madrid, and while the Reds made no excuses about their journey to the Spanish capital, their ponderous and lethargic performance against Atlético Madrid would suggest that their travels directly affected their play.

Luckily for Liverpool, Atlético could not capitalize on most of their chances.  Los Colchoneros felt the absence of Sergio Agüero due to suspension, as even Diego Forlán’s goal was a product of a mishit from a few yards away.  Former Atlético players Maxi Rodríguez and native son Fernando Torres were unable to play for Liverpool, the former cup-tied and the latter due to knee problems, and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard created little inspiration as the match flew by with little consequence at either end of the pitch.

How typical for Atlético Madrid.  If they had won by two or more goals, it would have denied their fans, Los Colchoneros, to self-loathe and pessimistically look to the future.  Bottle the angst of the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox fans and the “lovable loser” moniker of the Chicago Cubs fans, shake it up with fury, and the football piety of Atlético Madrid supporters fizzes out.  And they would not want it any other way.

Apr. 29

Liverpool vs. Atlético Madrid – 2:55 PM on Gol TV (Liverpool 0 – 1 Atlético Madrid after the first leg)

Fulham vs. Hamburg – 2:45 PM on DirecTV channel 461 (461-1 for HD) (8:00 PM on delay on Gol TV) (Fulham 0 – 0 Hamburg after the first leg)

Even the dog felt low after Athletic Bilbao's performance against Valencia.

Sevilla failed to show up against a desperate Real Valladolid side.  Mallorca could only muster a draw against Real Zaragoza at La Romareda.  Athletic Bilbao knew that a win against Valencia on Thursday would ascend them to within one point of Mallorca for the final Champions League spot.

Sure, Athletic has not won away from the San Mamés since the middle of December, so they were not expected to win at the Mestalla against a Valencia team looking to lock up the final automatic Champions League place.  Coming off an impressive 4-1 dismantling of an in-form Almería on Sunday, however, Joaquín Caparrós and his men seemed to have the confidence necessary to defeat Valencia.

As for Valencia, they went back to the future because of their sheer amount of injuries.  Vicente Rodríguez, David Albelda, Joaquín, and Rubén Baraja all started for Los Che, hearkening back to the days when Valencia regularly competed in the later stages of the Champions League.

The apparent rift between Éver Banega and Unai Emery seemed to be repaired after Banega’s choleric behavior in being substituted against Mallorca on Sunday, but again, Banega’s inclusion in the starting eleven had more to do with the lack of midfield players at Emery’s disposal than any other factor.

With any match against Athletic Bilbao, the opposition should expect a physical affair and have a muted emphasis on quelling Bilbao’s direct style of play.  Fortunately for Valencia, Athletic played with a languid style that did not suit their personnel.

Joaquín Caparrós lamented his team’s lack of energy and intensity in his press conference after the match:

“Today we have not been at the competitive level we can show at home.  We knew it was a very good chance, but things do not go as one wants.  In the locker room, it feels like the season is already over.  We had hopes, but we knew that Valencia does really well in their home matches.  We still feel anger that we did not come out with greater aggression.”

With Athletic ceding most of the possession to Valencia, David Villa, David Silva, and the Valencia attack needed to figure out how to break through the obstinate Athletic defense.  Valencia plays it best football on the counter-attack, and it is no surprise that after Barcelona and Real Madrid, Valencia has the best away record in La Liga.  Through the first half-hour, there was no constant threat on goal from either team.  Joaquín and Rubén Baraja had headers that endangered Gorka Iraizoz’s goal, but Iraizoz handled them with relative ease.

When David Silva scored from a goal-line scramble in the 35th minute, Athletic neither stepped up their game nor fought back with anger, in line with Caparrós’ assessment of his team after the match.

Athletic’s lack of confidence away from home was clearly evident against Valencia, but they missed two key players that would have been vital in raising the spirits of their teammates: Gaizka Toquero and Pablo Orbaiz.

Gaizka Toquero has been the loyal sidekick to Fernando Llorente as the right-sided forward this season, but his contributions have gone well beyond his seven goals scored this season.  A journeyman throughout most of his career in the lower divisions of Spain, the twenty-five year old would appreciate his opportunity to play with a top-level club more than most players, and his never-ending engine only helps to endear himself to his teammates and the Basque faithful.

Toquero wears the number two jersey, a number usually designated for a fullback, but many times, he helps Andoni Iraola on the right side of defense.  Whereas Wayne Rooney sometimes receives criticism for running all over the pitch instead of focusing on his duties up front, fans laud Toquero for his abundance of energy and his willingness to help his defense when necessary.

With Pablo Orbaiz, he provides the steel in front of the defensive live that breaks up the opposition’s play as well as providing that extra slice of intimidation that comes with the Athletic Club brand.  Orbaiz has gone over the line in a couple of instances this season, including receiving a two-match ban for his part in the ugly fracas at the end of the Villarreal match in February and receiving another two-match ban in March for kicking the cajones of David Cortés.

Athletic needed that extra bite in the midfield (the legal bite) against Valencia because of their skill players up front, and Carlos Gurpegui, Javi Martínez, and David López did not supply the girth necessary to bother Valencia.

After the halftime break, the insertion of Fran Yeste and Ander Iturraspe for the lagging David López and Igor Gabilondo brought a sense of vitality into the squad, but when David Silva scored his second goal in the 62nd minute, the fight and tenacity intertwined with Athletic Club players dissipated slowly into oblivion as Valencia cruised to a facile 2-0 victory to fortify their third-place position in La Liga.

This column has covered Athletic Club’s struggles when they have had a chance to threaten fourth-place, but to come up so small with the season reaching its climax is inexcusable for a team so close to qualifying for the Champions League.  A common theme in La Liga this season has been the failure of the second tier teams below Real Madrid and Barcelona to fulfill their potential.  Sevilla, Villarreal, and Atlético Madrid have seen significant dips in form, and while Athletic Club may not have been in that tier to begin the season, they have been consistent in the top ten.

To Bilbao’s advantage, four of their final six matches are at the San Mamés, and with their Dr. Jekyll – Mr. Hyde act, they should consider themselves favorites to garner at least ten out of twelve points from those matches.  A Europa League berth based on league standing would be a good achievement for Athletic Club, but if they can finish in fourth and negotiate the playoff round in the Champions League, any European team would dread traveling to the San Mamés on a European night.

Fueras de Juego

- The golazo of the week must go to Pedro Rodríguez of Barcelona in their 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruña.  With Barça holding a slim 1-0 lead, Víctor Valdés went long with his goal kick, a rare occurrence for Valdés, because he saw Dani Alves streaking down the middle of the pitch with only one defender back.  Depor goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia came out of his area to clear the ball away from Alves.  It was not the greatest clearance, but it went as far as the halfway line.  From that point, Pedro kicked a soaring, curling ball first-time nearly from the halfway line into the back of the unguarded net.  In a season full of awe-inspiring moments for Barça, that Pedro goal ranks near the top of the list in terms of pure difficulty and technique.

- Whenever a club from the bottom half of the table needs a signature victory over a top-five team, Sevilla is the most charitable team to give those lower clubs that sense of belonging.  In Round 32, Real Valladolid took advantage of a below-par Sevilla side, and with their 2-0 victory on Wednesday evening, La Pucela climbed to within four points of Málaga and relegation safety.  As much as Quique Sánchez Flores pulls his hair out for Atlético Madrid’s inconsistency, Manolo Jiménez and now Antonio Álvarez cannot understand how their collection of talented players have shut it down for the most part at the end of the season.  Injuries took its toll on Los Nervionenses, but that is no excuse for the dearth of passion late in the season as they try to qualify for the Champions League for the third year running.

- Tenerife and Xerez, the other teams besides Valladolid in the drop zone, also won on Wednesday to increase their chances of staying in the top flight next season.  With Málaga and Real Zaragoza just above them but hardly running away from the relegation fight, a surge to end the campaign is not out of the question for the bottom three teams.