Los Blancos strolling to league glory and Athletic Club triumph in Basque derby
ANY fan of LaLiga will be well used to hearing claims that Spanish domestic football is a boring duopoly, with either Real Madrid or Barcelona invariably destined to win the league. It must be said, of course, that despite Atlético Madrid upsetting the applecart last season and seizing the opportunity for a rare LaLiga triumph when both of the big two were performing below par, there is a measure of validity in the assertion. Since the turn of the century, the LaLiga crown has gone to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu or the Camp Nou on no less than 18 occasions. On the other hand, at least there is some measure of competition in Spain. In Italy, before Inter were awarded the Scudetto last season, Juventus had notched up nine successive league titles. The Bundesliga, last season saw Bayern Munich complete their tenth successive league win and, in Ligue Une, anyone challenging PSG is more than likely to finish second.
That said, with Barcelona, still crawling their way out of intensive care and being ushered along to potential full recovery by Xavi, and Atléti suffering the sort of title defence barely worthy of the description, while the other contenders have been away, Los Blancos have been making hay. Even the fleeting promise of a threat from the city of Sevilla has seemingly disappeared. With Real Madrid now six points clear at the top, and apparently cantering towards a 35th league title, it seems that they have only needed to be broadly efficient to see off any pretenders to their crown. The recent run of league games over the past 10 days or so is a good illustration of the point.
On April 10, 2021, Levante visited Eibar and came away with a 0-1 victory. Since that time, they have played a further away 15 games across various parts of the country, in forlorn search of another league victory away from the Ciutat de València. Travelling to the capital on Wednesday, February 16, therefore, to face the reigning LaLiga champions, the sorry run had lasted almost 10 months and, given Atléti were facing a club adrift at the foot of the league with just a single win from 24 games this season, an end hardly looked likely. And yet, in a game wherein some reports suggest that Simeone’s team failed to register a single shot on goal in the entire game, Levante were allowed to steal a 0-1 win. Despite the recovery from Atléti that saw them win 0-3 against Osasuna at the weekend – a game that amazingly saw Simeone’s secure their first clean sheet away from the Wanda Metropolitano since May 2021 at the Camp Nou – that home defeat was an embarrassing reverse for a team defending the title. Even after the win in Pamplona, Atléti lie no less than 15 points adrift of Real Madrid and struggling for a Champions League qualifying spot, let alone challenging for the title.
Barcelona sit alongside El Cholo’s faltering champions on 42 points, but Xavi’s team have a game in hand and their 1-4 win away to Valencia offered up more indications that the little midfield maestro, at least on the pitch, has the club facing in the right direction again. A hat-trick from former Gunners’ favourite Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was encouraging, but there still remains some distance to travel if they are to threaten for major honours next term.
The Catalans are one of just three clubs in the entire league not to have lost a game in their last five league fixtures. Real Madrid are one of the others, of course, and they eased to a comfortable 3-0 win over an Alavés team that looked more intent on limiting damage to themselves, than inflicting it on their opponents. If I mention that the third club of the triumvirate are second-placed Sevilla, it may read like they are maintaining pressure on the leaders, but that’s not really the case. Over recent weeks, Lopetegui’s team has squandered a few chances to put a bit of pressure on the Real Madrid, who have drawn two of their last five games, and failed to take advantage when the door was open – last weekend’s draw with Espanyol being typical. It followed draws with Valencia, Celta Vigo and Osasuna. All games that any club professing genuine title ambitions should surely have taken maximum points from. The 2-0 win at home to Elche was their only victory in the last five encounters.
With Sevilla’s faltering form, they may well have more to concern them from below than hopes about the club ahead of them. Real Betis won again at the weekend, as a late penalty from substitute Willian José restored the lead after a header from Muriqi had squared the game with 15 minutes to play. Had Pellegrini’s team not suffered the unexpected 0-2 home defeat to Villareal a few games ago, they would have been right on the heels of Sevilla, contesting the title of top team in the city. There’s still time for that to happen though, and this weekend’s edition of El Gran Derbi when Los Verdiblancos visit the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to face their cross-city rivals, could well be decisive.
In other derby games, the local tussle between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad up north in the Basque Country swung decisively in favour of Los Leones at the San Mamés last Sunday. After a first hour or so, when the visitors seemed to offer the biggest threat in a typically closely contested encounter, Bilbao was ignited by four home goals in a little over 20 minutes, with strikes from Vivian, Sancet, Williams and, finally, Muniain. As with Betis, being just a single place behind Sevilla, Athletic Club are one point and one place below their Basque rivals, challenging for a UEFA Cup spot and, with both Athletic Club and Real Betis in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, it could still be a big season for either – or both – clubs. Let’s see how things are shaping up after this week’s games, shall we?
Hasta luego amigos!