La Liga: Why the Sky Isn’t Falling in Spain

The current feeling in Spain is just as the title states: The Sky is Falling!

Thinking about it today, I must be one of the only people that believes this isn’t the case. On Monday’s The Offside Podcast Ian and I chatted about this exact subject.

My thoughts on the pod were this. There are really two views you can take from this issue. The first is looking at it from the ‘galaticos’ point of view. If you are a madridista you probably are running to your nearest church praying to whatever god you choose. You’ve just bowed out of your fourth straight Champions League title in the round of 16, but 6th straight since winning the title in 2002. You are also out of the Copa del Rey and now only have the league to fight for.

This view is completely Madrid-centric (or Big Club-centric for that matter). Only the big clubs are sitting there, complaining about the terribleness that is happening in Spain. Reuters Soccer Blog ran a story about how the Spanish game is losing its touch as of late, and cites Madrid’s as it’s main source, but more criticizes their style of play for this downfall.

The favoured Spanish style of slow, patient build-up play has passed its sell-by date. Too many players and coaches confuse possession with danger, while opponents who play on the break are criticised as if they were adopting some sort of underhand tactic. Few Primera Liga sides possess the pace, verve and dynamism of sides like Roma, Arsenal and Manchester United.

I guess I can see where that is coming from. Fabio Capello was let go last year after Madrid’s title due to his supposed ‘boring’ style of play, but I have to say that Schuster’s style of play isn’t any more free flowing than his predecessor’s.

Still, the Reuters article doesn’t even talk about the League in general, but focuses the downfall only on what is happening in Europe. Could it be that simply Spanish football is having an off year? It’s more of a focus on Madrid football then anything concrete about Spanish football in general. Madrid’s success does not parallel that of Spanish football as a whole, unfortunately.

My new favorite La Liga coach, Javier Clemente, said yesterday that he think’s this year’s La Liga is ‘bad’ and that ‘Barca and Madrid aren’t playing well at all’. Also, for him, the best team in La Liga is Sevilla (no, I didn’t make that up). I’m pretty sure he’s a bit upset he is going to be relegated this season, but Madrid and Barcelona are not invincible this season, especially in La Liga.

But, I’m more concerned with Spanish teams in Europe for the time being.

Let’s look at the Champions League winners since 2000.

2007/8: in progress
2006/7: AC Milan (Liverpool) 2-1
2005/6: FC Barcelona (Arsenal) 2-1
2004/5: Liverpool (AC Milan) 3-3 (3-2 on penalties)
2003/4: FC Porto (Monaco) 3-0
2002/3: AC Milan (Juventus) 0-0 (3-2 on penalties)
2001/2: Real Madrid (Bayer Leverkusen) 2-1
2000/1: Bayern Munich (Valencia) 1-1 (5-4 on penalties)

You have 2 Italian teams (AC Milan), 2 Spanish teams (Madrid and Barcelona) 1 German team (Munich) 1 English team (Liverpool) and 1 Portuguese team (Porto).

So, if the decline of Spanish football is solely based on Europe, then the English teams should be suffering as well right?

Not to Mention Sevilla winning the UEFA Cup twice. In 2006 they absolutly dismantled Middlesbrough 4-0 and then beat Espanyol (another Spanish side) on penalties last season. In 2006, the UEFA Supercup pitted Barcelona against Sevilla, both Spanish teams. Sevilla got knocked out of the Champions League this season, but it was their FIRST time in the competition. That’s just a feat for them to get into the Round of 16 this season, let alone win Europe.

In order to get a better look, lets see how Spanish teams are doing in Europe this season.

Champions League:

Valencia-Out Group Stage (Last in Group)
Sevilla – Out Round 16 (Finished first in Group, beating Arsenal)
Real Madrid – Out Round 16 (Top of Group)
Barcelona – Still In (First of Group, 4-2 agg against Celtic)

UEFA Cup:

Atlético Madrid – Out (Finished first in group stage)
Villarreal – Out (Finished first in group stage)
Getafe – In (Finished first in group stage, Currently up 2-1 against Benfica)

So out of 7 teams that qualified for Europe, only two remain. Getafe play tonight against Benfica to move on to the Round of 8, while Barcelona are already through into the next round in the Champions League.

But, what some are overlooking are that out of the 7 teams, all but Valencia (who finished last in their group) finished first in their respective groups. I already know the argument against this is most of the teams are already eliminated, but no other country can say that about their respective teams in Europe this season.

Domestically, there is incredible parity in the league this season. Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal sit pretty much 1,2,3. However, from 4th place to 9th place, there is a difference of 8 points and from 9th place to 18th place, there is a difference of 7 points. A loss and a win from a few teams below you can see you drop as many as 8 places in one day.

Clasificación completa de 1ª

1.-	Real Madrid	62
2.-	Barcelona	54
3.-	Villarreal	50
4.-	Atlético de Madrid	44
5.-	Racing de Santander	44
6.-	Sevilla	42
7.-	Espanyol	42
8.-	Almería	37
9.-	Getafe	36
10.-	Valencia	36
11.-	Mallorca	34
12.-	Athletic de Bilbao	33
13.-	Osasuna	33
14.-	Zaragoza	32
15.-	Betis	32
16.-	Deportivo	31
17.-	Valladolid	31
18.-	Recreativo de Huelva	29
19.-	Murcia	23
20.-	Levante	19

I for one love seeing this much parity in a league. I hate having a two horse race every year. But, back to the task at hand, this shows a stronger La Liga that is not dominated by two teams. In fact, aside from the top, many of the teams are still fighting for a top spot this season, including newly promoted side Almeria.

I may be in the minority, but I think that Spanish football isn’t going to crash and burn like many are calling for.