The Cup that cheers – Well, perhaps
So, as it turned out, the game that decided the destination of this season’s Supercopa de España was played out between a team that didn’t win the league title and a team that didn’t win the Copa del Rey. All very egalitarian and that sort of thing, but not entirely reflective of what the trophy is supposed to represent. Now complete with its own minitournament staged some 6,000 kilometres away from Spain, eight months after the season finished, as football frantically chased down the last dollar it could pick up, never has a Cup been less Super.
In last week’s pages, I suggested that the coaches of the four clubs involved would probably be minded to play a few second-string options in order to avoid injury to key elements of their squad. To be fair though, whether driven on by faux glory in pursuit of a trophy that, in reality no-one really cares about, selections prompted by the urgings of the league in order not to risk blowing their handouts, a combination of both or something entirely different, the teams sent out were pretty much up to strength. It’s something that Ernesto Valverde may be regretting. "The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income," he reflected sagely over the weekend. "That's the reason we are all here.” Money isn’t everything though, and now of course such thoughts are of little concern to Señor Valverde
On Sunday, Barcelona released a statement that, following a knock to an old injury in the semi-final against Atlético Madrid, Luis Suárez required an operation to treat an injury to the lateral meniscus in his right knee. The 32-year-old is now facing four months – in essence, pretty much the rest of the season – on the sidelines. Don’t forget, this is the player who had a hand – either scoring or assisting – in Barça’s last nine LaLiga goals. The cost to the club’s aspirations could be serious.
At the same time, persistent mutterings arose about Valverde being shown the door. It all seemed a little weird for a coach who has seen his team canter to the last two league titles, currently sitting top of the table and comfortably into the Round of Sixteen of the Champions League. Initial rumours suggested that approaches to former midfield star Xavi and Dutchman Ronald Koeman both appeared to have been knocked back, at least for the moment. Then came whispers that a move for former Spurs and Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino was on the cards.
You have to wonder what more Valverde could have reasonably done to be secure in his job, but this is football and logic often flies away with capricious action. When the cards finally hit the table face up, and Valverde accepted his fate with a more than honourable demeanour, the somewhat left field choice to replace him was in fact 61-year-old former Real Betis boss, Quique Setién, who had been linked with a move to the club twelve months ago. Setién is reported to be a chess enthusiast. For his sake, let’s hope the Cules and Board at the Camp Nou don’t merely treat him as a pawn.
Back to Jeddah, and it was an entirely different Valverde who made the deciding contribution to the final on Sunday. With the scores locked at 0-0 and extra-time drifting away, a late Atléti break saw Alavro Morata driving free into a one-on-one with former Chelsea team-mate Thibaut Courtois. Now, if the goalkeeper had recollections of Morata’s finishing ability whilst in West London, he may not have been too troubled, but any lingering concerns were scattered by the ‘professional’ foul of Real Madrid’s young Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde, who upended the striker cynically and paid for his sins with a red card. The cost was probably worthwhile though, the free-kick was squandered and Los Blancos prevailed after a penalty shootout. Who said cheats don’t prosper?
Anyway, enough of such frippery and frivolity, LaLiga gets back into the swing of things after the false start of a single Matchday before the Arabian adventures, so let’s look at some of the tasty treats in store for us.
At the top end of the table, both Real Madrid and Barcelona have entirely winnable home games, and I don’t expect either to stumble, that is assuming that Blancos aren’t exclusively relying on Luka
Jovi to score their goals. The former Eintracht Frankfurt hitman built his reputation when on loan at the German club, scoring 25 goals in 54 Bundesliga games, but currently seems more than a little lost and bereft of confidence in the white shirt of Madrid. Two games and a blank return in Jeddah seemed only to offer up more reason why Zidane should be grateful for Karim Benzema’s enduring fitness. Suarez being out will pose questions for the new man in the Barcelona hot seat, but with more than a few options to drop into the gap left by the Uruguayan, the Blaugrana should be too strong for Granada, and Messi is due for a virtuoso performance, if only to ease Setién into his new role. A Leo hat-trick anyone? Luis who? Ernesto who?
As I flagged up last week, Leganés were on a bit of an upswing – well, as much as an upswing can be when they were anchored to the bottom of the table, but Aguirre has the club moving in the right direction, and I fancy them to get at least a draw on Friday against a Getafe team whose run of form may just have petered out. Despite the encouraging draw against their illustrious neighbours a couple of weeks ago, Abelardo still has plenty to do if he’s going to build some momentum to get the Budgies of Espanyol flying again. A visit to Villareal may not be what the doctor ordered for the bottom-placed club.
Also, towards the wrong end of the table, Eibar have a tough assignment facing El Cholo’s streetfighters of Atlético Madrid. If ever a manager built a team in his own image, it’s surely Simeone and Los Rojiblancos. Pragmatism oozes from the pores of the team and, let’s be honest, it’s served the club pretty well over the years. Travelling up north to Eibar is never an easy task, but with the little Basque club stuttering at the moment, they’ll do well to prise anything from Simeone. A low scoring away win looks about right.
Mallorca also face a tough game at home to Valencia, and may well have to settle for a point, at best, with Celta’s visit to Bilbao looking likely to bring three points to Athletic Club. If all those games go that way and, let’s be honest, predicting football is a bit like persuading LaLiga not to suspend Matchdays in exchange for a fistful of brass, a victory for Leganés could take them out of the drop zone. Who saw that possibility arising a few Matchdays ago? Oh, that’s right, it was me. Anyway, let’s enjoy LaLiga’s return and see how it all pans out. Hasta luego.