Another tight title race
Upon the full-time whistle that brought the 2020-21 season to a close, Diego Simeone simply burst out laughing on the sidelines at Valladolid. The Atletico Madrid boss had just won his second La Liga title and the club’s first since 2014. “I can’t stop laughing for some reason,” he told reporters after the game.
Atleti have always thrived under their underdog status, but last campaign was different. They led the league from the off and by the halfway point had 50 points – a double-digit points lead over their rivals.
Perhaps inevitably, their form dipped – collecting 17 points from their following 13 games – and the advantage was slowly whittled away by Real Madrid and Barcelona, who hit their strides in the second half of the campaign. Sevilla, who finished on a club-record points tally of 77, joined them in a four-way title race.
Spanish clubs won seven of the ten Champions League finals between 2009 and 2018, but La Liga has not produced
The flaws in La Liga’s top teams produced a league more competitive than ever before
a finalist since then with the balance of power shifting away from Spain.
What was bad news for La Liga’s European coefficient proved to be a godsend for its title race, as the flaws in its top teams produced a league more competitive than ever before. Going into the closing weeks of the campaign, four teams still held ambitions of the title while six teams harboured genuine relegation worries. Six of the ten matches on the final day had a direct influence on the title race, fight for European spots or relegation.
Atletico were worthy title winners but achieved it through the only way they know: lots of suffering. Edgy, 1-0 wins over relegation-threatened Alaves and Elche saw their opponents miss late penalties in each encounter, while the penultimate day of the season saw them fall behind at home to Osasuna in the 74th minute only to launch a late winning comeback.
A similar pattern repeated itself on the final day – knowing only a win at Real Valladolid, themselves fighting for survival, would suffice - they fell behind, only to edge out a 2-1 win. No wonder Simeone was laughing; the relief was palpable.
Atleti will undoubtedly have their eyes on another league title this year; but will rely on Jan Oblak – arguably the world’s best goalkeeper – and star striker Luis Suarez, who netted 21 La Liga goals last season, to remain in top form.
Across the capital, Real Madrid have not enjoyed the same level of stability. Boss Zinedine Zidane left the club for the third time in his career, replaced by the returning Carlo Ancelotti. Club captain Sergio Ramos is gone too; his 16-year career in Madrid over after losing a game of poker with the club in lengthy contract negotiations. The likelihood is Raphael Varane – out of contract next year – will also depart, with the club unable to offer him an improved wage.
Madrid are not short of experience; Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Karim Benzema remain elite-level performers, while the versatile David Alaba has arrived on a free from Bayern Munich. The returning Martin Odegaard may offer some much-needed creativity in the final third and there are hopes that Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Marco Asensio may produce a consistent run of performances. However, the ongoing fitness issues of Eden Hazard and financial restrictions may mean they fall just short again this season.
The financial problems at Madrid pale in comparison to the drastic situation at arch-rivals Barcelona though, whose entire club debt stands at over €1 billion. A series of sellable assets – including striker Suarez, who was ironically decisive in Atletico’s title success – last year has not quelled the financial issues.
Players such as Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann (the latter linked with a return to his former club Atletico Madrid) are now notable drains on the club’s resources.
The club have added free agents Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay, while re-signing Emerson Royal from Real Betis. However, their most significant piece of business was getting Lionel Messi to agree to a new five-year deal on half of his previous salary – its official announcement dependent on player departures to fund the deal.
Another positive for Barca is the form of tremendously gifted teenage midfielder Pedri – signed last year from Las Palmas and Euro 2020’s Young Player of the Tournament. They have similarly high hopes for sensational young forward Ansu Fati, although a knee injury picked up last November has required three surgeries and there are worries over the curtailment to his development.
Sevilla will be hopeful of not only keeping pace with the leading pack but storming into the top three, while Europa League winners Villarreal will aim to better a disappointing seventh-place league finish. Real Sociedad and Real Betis will compete in the Europa League – burdens which may stretch their squads beyond potential domestic success.
Real Madrid’s Ancelotti is one of four new coaching appointments, with Jose Bordalas swapping Getafe for Valencia – who continue to be riddled with financial issues, a deeply unpopular absentee owner, and the reality of another
The financial problems at Real Madrid pale in comparison to the drastic situation at arch-rivals Barcelona, whose entire club debt stands at over €1 billion
campaign in the wrong half of the table.
With finances limited across the league, this season is likely to play out like the last. Do not expect any of Spain’s five representatives to win the Champions League, but the title race is likely to go to the wire in thrilling fashion; Simeone will be hoping to have the last laugh once more.
Now that the anger has dissipated a little in the wake of Turkey’s disastrous Euro 2020 campaign, the massed ranks of Super Lig devotees are increasingly turning their attention to the enticing prospect of being able to attend games once more. After 15 months of playing behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Turkish federation recently announced that all pro clubs would be allowed to fill their stadia to 50 per cent capacity.
Needless to say, the unveiling of the season’s fixture list had supporters scrambling to pore over the schedule, with fans of the Istanbul “Big Three” anxious to know when the derbies would take place. The first of the showpiece games will be held on matchday ten when reigning champions Besiktas host last season’s runners-up Galatasaray at Vodafone Park. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce will go head-to-head on week 13, while Besiktas travel to Fenerbahce on matchday 17.
A large proportion of the summer transfer chatter has centred around the southern city of Adana, where newlypromoted Demirspor, back in the top flight for the first time in 26 years, have been making quite a splash. Demirspor, whose nickname is the “Blue Lightning” have certainly generated electricity aplenty with a hat-trick of high-profile signings: Italian striker Mario Balotelli – picked up on a free from Serie B Monza – highly-experienced Moroccan attacking midfielder Younes Belhanda (ex-Galatasaray) and Congolese frontman Britt Assombalonga (previously with Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough in the English second tier).
Some in the Turkish media believe Demirspor have over-exposed themselves financially, that Balotelli’s three-year deal and other recruitment commitments will eventually lead to cash-flow problems. Demirspor president Murat Sancak vehemently disagrees: “Half the money for Balotelli comes from a sponsor. The club will have no difficulties here and we are working within our budget. We are debt-free and have a surplus of 48 million Turkish lira [around €4.7 million].”
At Galatasaray, legendary coach Fatih Terim very much continues to call the shots, his powerbase stronger than ever after Burak Elmas topped the poll in presidential elections in June. Terim, out of contact at the end of last season, had been told in no uncertain terms by
Elmas’ predecessor, Mustafa Cengiz, that he had no chance of an extension. As soon as Elmas was elected, Terim was swiftly reinstated, handed a new three-year deal.
Despite Fenerbahce caretaker coach Emre Belozoglu sparking an excellent run of results in the latter stages of last term – winning seven out of ten games and losing only once – the president of the Yellow Canaries, Ali Koc, still thought it best to change the coaching guard, bringing back the Portuguese technician Vitor Pereira for a second stint at the club (he was previously in charge in 2015-16, steering them to the runners-up spot in both the Super Lig and the Turkish Cup). In Ali Koc’s three years at the top, stability has been in short supply: Pereira is his seventh managerial appointment, while over 50 players have been brought in.
New Fenerbahce signings include the English centre-back Steven Caulker – acquired from fellow Super Lig outfit Alanyaspor – and striker Serdar Dursun, who was the leading goalscorer in the German second division last season with 27 strikes for Darmstadt.
What Fener desperately need is a fit and energised Mesut Ozil. Since arriving from Arsenal in January, the German World Cup winner has not left the launch pad, either out injured or ineffectual on the pitch.
Inspirational Besiktas coach Sergen Yalcin, who last season, his first in charge of the Black Eagles, led the club to a domestic double, eventually accepted a one-year extension after much haggling. Yalcin could afford to play hard to get, apparently an object of desire for the Turkish national team and Fenerbahce.
In a major blow for the champions, prolific Cameroon front-man Vincent Aboubakar opted to try his luck in Saudi Arabia, joining Al Nassr in Riyadh. In the wake of Aboubakar’s departure, Besiktas will be relying even more on the marksmanship of the fast-improving Canadian Cyle Larin. Two new faces of note at Besiktas: veteran engine room workhorse Mehmet Topal (ex-Istanbul Basaksehir) and central midfielder Salih Ucan (Alanyaspor).
Trabzonspor went the 30-something big-name route in their transfer dealings, securing the services of the Slovak schemer Marek Hamsik (Gothenburg) and Ivory Coast winger Gervinho (Parma).
The unveiling of the season’s fixture list had supporters scrambling to pore over the schedule, with fans of the Istanbul “Big Three” anxious to know when the derbies would take place