La Liga Talk

After previous speculation that Barcelona were on the fast track to obtaining Racing defender Ezequiel Garay, Real Madrid sealed the deal and sign the Argentine international.

The dealmaker apparently for Real was he fact that they were able to pay Racing 10 million euros in one payment instead of the four payments totalling 18 million that Barcelona proposed. He would also remain at Racing for one more season, but as on a loan basis.

Garay, 21, finished playing his third season in Spain and has yet to debut for the Argentine national team, but is constantly mentioned for future Albiceleste call-ups. A key member of last year’s U-20 World Cup winning team, Garay bolted onto the scene. The former Newell’s Old Boys’ player caught the attention of teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Liverpool while playing for Racing Santander. Although he presently take up a non-EU player spot he would no longer do that by the end of next season as he would be eligible for Spanish citizenship.

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Well another La Liga year came and ended. It was quite disappointing for the most part, but there were quite

Team of the Year- Real Madrid.

Look, anyone that says that there was another team needs to have their heads checked. For those that say Villarreal was worthy of this recognition forgot the 5-0 clock-cleaning at El Madrigal. They were challenged once and Barcelona could not seal the deal. You could technically say that Barcelona were atop the standings for about 15 minutes when Ronaldinho scored one of the goals of the year against Atlético.

Surprise team- Almería

Why not Villarreal you may say? I don’t know… I just wanted to go the opposite direction of the rest of the crowd. Seriously, who expected this side to even end up in the top half of the table? At one point, yes everyone said it was a fluke. No way that a club with only 20 years in existence could keep this up. They were fighting for European spots until the final weeks of the season. My criteria for picking a team in this category is which team does the most with the least. Players that offered the leadership of Aitor López Rekarte, Veliko Paunovic, Albert Crusat, and Santiago Acasiete among others helped them get out of the first half doldrums and get out of the relegation area all the way to fight for a UEFA and Intertoto spot. Working with what they had- the team got their money’s worth.

Disappointment of the Season- Barcelona and Valencia were saved in this category. If Almería did the most with the least, then Zaragoza is their antithesis. Los Maños were supposed to be a big player in the race for the title. Their performance the previous season gave people at La Romareda hope to win a title for the first time since they won the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup back in 2004. The addition of Roberto Ayala to the defense and to have Pablo Aimar and Andrés D’ Alessandro in the midfield as well as Diego Milito and Ricardo Oliveira as a striker combo. Also their instability atop was key to their eventual destiny. Four coaches in a span of five months. The job was looking like a bad night at The Apollo. Víctor Fernández was gone and then his replacement Ander Garitano lasted a week. Jabo Irureta last lasted five matches and was quickly given the hook.

Only one win on the road was not a good precedent to go into the Son Moix and pull a win out against one of the hottest teams in the league. It seemed like yesterday when theclub proudly announced their plans to restructure in an effort to be successful in the top of the standings. Those results were favorable in the short term as they quickly earned their double in 2004. The repercussions will be great, but the extent is going to be seen throughout the summer.

Tragedy of the Year- Levante

Desperate times call for desperate measure and Levante’s players are in that now. With a special friendly to take place in the coming weeks in order to raise money to help these players get paid is just a microcosm of Levante brass’ ineptitude in running this team. I honestly think that if I were in their boots, I would do the same thing. It would be my anger speaking. When you have family to maintain, the man of hte house has to do everything in their power to make that happen. There are players that were not paid the entire season. Other like Riga Mustapha were not paid since they arrives two years ago.

Survivors of the Year- Sevilla. Coming off winning the UEFA Cup twice, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, Sevilla looked poised to go for the domestic and Champions League double- then tragedy struck. Young defender Antonio Puerta went down with what seemed to be a seizure and got back up and walked off to be checked up in the locker room. He would then experience a second “seizure” and would be rushed out to the local hospital. Those seizures in reality were myocardial infarctions and the trauma that his heart obtain after multiple episodes on the way to the hospital eventually led to his death a few days later. For them to be able to step on to any pitch, nonetheless in Monaco for the European Super Cup against Milan had to be commended.

Those types of experiences stay in a person’s mind for the rest of their lives. Then add to that the sudden departure of Juande Ramos to Spurs and things were very complicated for the club, yet they battled on. Just their ability to qualify for the knockout stags of the Champions League and battle for European cup spots domestically was praise enough.

Speedbump of the Year- Barcelona. Frank Rikjaard and the team were literally thrown under the bus earlier in the week by Joan Laporta, Txiki Beguiristain, and others in charge of the Catalan giants. In Gol A Gol the other day, Joan Laporta mentioned in unconvincing fashion that Ronaldinho “needed other challenges.” What an unsubtle way to say “don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”

I understand that Laporta or any of his cronies did not score a goal of made a pass, but they were just as responsible to Barca’s lack of success this year. The summer will be very interesting as they will be furiously trying to get “their players”, but by the same token it will be interesting to watch what happens with the club’s relationship with Lio Messio now that he decided to head to Beijing without their blessing. If precedent teaches us anything about Barcelona, if a player does not do what the brass tell them to the future could be a little rockier than normal.

Now their preoccupation with these minute issues them a shot at getting both Ezequiel Garay and Diego Milito. Although they are definitely looking at bringing back Piqué from Manchester United.

Yes, the novella that is the La Liga will now head into a crazy summer as passions will burn uncontrollably and keeping up with the Joneses will be the norm.

So until two weeks from now.

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Neptuno square, where Atletico de Madrid fans celebrate all their titles, has been visited again, after eleven years living alone. Winning 1 – 0 there are again playing Champions League. In Spain this is real news because, as you know, Atletico is Spain third team after Real Madrid and Barcelona (in number of supporters). Now their problem is Aguirre, the Manager. He has reached Champions with a not really good football (Aguero and Forlan have done almost all the job), and many colchoneros think he is not the suitable person to drive Atletico over this new adventure.

One day we will dedicate one post just to analyze Atletico´s situation. El pupas (the surname used to describe this team, that literally means “the wounds”) is never happy at all. Even now, when the objective has been reached a lot of Atleticos are against Cerezo, chairman, and Aguirre. Apart from that, they are considering the option of selling Vicente Calderon, changing it for La Peineta (Olympic Game Stadium prepared for Madrid 2016), something that increase the Atleticos edginess. Anyhow, Sunday was a celebration day…

The second important theme this week is Zaragoza and, in general, the four teams that can be relegated on Saturday. Real Madrid, with the title already in their hands, drew against them in La Romareda. Zaragoza, Osasuna, Recreativo and Valladolid are living a nightmare that can finish if they win their matches. It is so curious, but all these teams depend on themselves to stay in Primera Division. That´s because Recre plays against Valladolid, so all of them can avoid relegation winning their matches. Nevertheless, Zaragoza´s situation is incredible if we look the quality of some of their players: Diego Milito, Sergio García, Aimar, Ayala, Zapater…

Finally there is another name used in every newspaper, radio gathering or TV program: Raul. In this moment Spain is divided in two sides. One of them wants Raul in Austria and Switzerland playing with la selección. The other one prefers anyone but him. First side seems to be bigger, but Aragones doesn’t like Raul (after some problems they had in the last World Cup) and after Torres, Villa and Guiza, that will be for sure in his list, he will probably call Bojan as fourth striker. Other options are Sergio García or Tamudo, but if you have to bet, choose Bojan.

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Hello there!!

First of all I would like to thanks The Gaffer for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with EPL talks. I’m Spanish and I’ll try to give you not just good information, but also the atmosphere of this country about football, something that is simply incredible. Also I would like to ask pardon for the English mistakes I could commit. I’m just learning this beautiful language, but I thing that the first hand stories I can tell you are more important than how I do it.

For the first post I cannot start with another thing than… Real Madrid. The match against Osasuna and then the one against Barcelona have completely changed the mood of Real Madrid fans. An that is because Madrid supporters start every season dreaming just with one thing: Champions League. La Liga is OK, and La Copa del Rey can be good, but Madrid´s history is linked with Europe, and losing against Rome was something really hard.

But now everything is forgotten, not just because they have won La Liga but, over all, because Barcelona is 17 points away, and the last match in Bernabeu was a humiliation for Rijkaard team. In this kind of situation, sport newspapers front page are so useful to resume each team mood. Sport´s headline (Barca´s newspaper) was a black background with a clear message: “You have disonored Barca T-shirt”. El Mundo Deportivo was more simple: “Shame”. Because of that Real Madrid supporters are so happy, probably more than the title reason, and in the last match all the stadium sung “Laporta remain” (remember Laporta is Barca´s chairman), one of the most humiliating songs remembered.

Last two matches in Spain are important just to know which other team is going to be relegated (Levante and Murcia are already in 2º Division). Osasuna, after been suffering all the season incredible referees mistakes, are now in the worst situation. Recreativo and Zaragoza, two very irregular teams this season, are fighting with them.

UEFA fight is also interesting. Sevilla, Racing and Mallorca play for 2 places. Sevilla victory on Wednesday in El Sardinero against Racing was decisive to decide this race, but also Mallorca has something to say. Manzano´s team is also news because of Dani Güiza and his incredible season. In the last match Güiza reach the first position in the top scorer table (25 goals), overcoming Luis Fabiano. He is also in the 2º position in the European Golden Boot race, after the unattainable Cristiano Ronaldo. This detail is very important because, as many countries, Spain is also looking forward to the Euro Cup, and in our case with so many hope thinking in a Torres – Güiza tandem. In June we will know if it was just a dream.

Guiza celebrates a goal

Apart from that, the real emotion is now in our 2º Division, and the teams that can be promoted. Numancia has almost one of the three places and they will probably reach their dream this weekend. Málaga, Sporting and Real Sociedad (just one year after been relegated) fight for the other two places.

Conclusion: we still have many things to see this season. So pay attention, ¡La Liga is still alive!

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It has been announced today that Frank Rijkaard will be leaving Barcelona at the end of this season. After two seasons without trophies, and yesterdays 4-1 loss to Real Madrid, Barcelona has opted to terminate his contract. Taking his place will be former player Pep Guardiola. This summer is shaping up to be a massive clearing out at Barcelona in an attempt to bring back the success they once enjoyed. While viewing ”el clasico” I couldn’t help but notice a broken spirit at Barca. Messi was invisible for the first part of the game, Valdez seemed to have no confidence, and Puyol seemed to have trouble every time Madrid came forward. The scene that for me summed up the feeling at Barcelona was seeing Rijkaard’s look toward the end of the game, almost if knowing that this was the end for him. Its the end of an era at Barca and who knows what the team is going to look like next season.

I would also like to thank The Gaffer for letting me take a shot here. Here’s hoping I don’t screw it up.

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Sometimes players are as good as their last game. Well, I guess that is why Ronald Koeman said goodbye today. Valencia looked hungover from their midweek Copa del Rey title as Athletic Bilbao beat them into submission and brought them back to the reality that was this season for Los Ches. Their 5-1 loss at San Mamés was the final nail in the proverbial coffin. [Read more →]

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Argento-croat striker Dario Cvitanich decided that he will not head to Espanyol, so now they will have to look at Plan B. The Banfield net piercer saw the opportunity to go to Ajax and penned a five-year, 6 million euro deal to play for Ajax. Expect him to really shine next year where he will have one of the best teachers in the craft of scoring in Marco Van Basten. Spanish sports daily As reported on Sunday that Cvitanich will not see action at the Olimpic Monjuic next season. [Read more →]

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Real Madrid announced on Thursday that they will be traveling to Colombia to face local club Millonarios this coming Agusut 7th. The announcement was confirmed through Spanish sports daily As. [Read more →]

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Barcelona are for all intents and purpose done. Their failure to come up with the three points in Huelva virtually made it a two-team race. Both of them will be playing tomorrow.

An injured Samuel Eto’o was partnered with a recovering Lionel Messi, but that was still not enough as former River Plate and Rosario Central star Marco Ruben’s brace put Barcelona’s Liga title hopes on life support. [Read more →]

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Amid the poor result Sunday at the Nou Camp, Barcelona club members and fans showed their displeasure with president Joan Laporta. In the dying minutes of thegame, fans became waving white towels symbolizing the members’ request for Laporta to step down. This act did not occur since 2003 and could symbolize the inevitable downfall of one of the most successful teams of the past few years. [Read more →]

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According to reports coming out of Catalunya, all signs point towards Josep Guardiola taking over for Frank Rijkaard at the Nou Camp. The former Olympic gold medalist and member of the much ballyhooed Dream Team of the 1990’s will be promoted to the big team at the end of this season. Catalan network TV3 began reporting this bombshell early today, although the club denied this in an official statement released on their website. The club states that the former Dutch international is under contract until 2009 and the board ¨has placed their trust in him¨. [Read more →]

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Club brass decided to take their suspension to the highest authority in the land. Real Betis look to appeal their two-match stadium ban and loss to Athletic Bilbao this past weekend after Basque goalkeeper Armando was struck with a water bottle by a Betis supporter. [Read more →]

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Leverkusen - Zenit
Rangers - Sporting
Bayern - Getafe
Fiorentina - PSV

Away Leg will take place on April 3rd. Return leg will take place on April 10th.

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FIFA’s head honcho once again threatened the Spanish Football Federation regarding the possibility of that country’s government intervening in the federation’s affairs. Both the federation and the Superior Sports Council (CSD) are currently in conflict over the elections that are to take place. The CSD found various irregularities and violations that the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) violated. According to FIFA, if federation president Ángel Villar is removed from his post because he did not call for elections, there could be some trouble. [Read more →]

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New Spanish Head Coach

We can officially call these next few weeks and months Luis Aragonés’ swan song at the helm of the Spanish National Team. The Spanish media went bonkers after the announcement was made today that Real Madrid’s beloved Vicente Del Bosque would finally be given his due as he was announced as the next head coach of La Furia. [Read more →]

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