Looking Back, And Ahead

Posted Tuesday, May 18, 2010 by World Soccer Reader

The champagne is still wet on the grass at Camp Nou and La Rosaleda – and is still bottled up somewhere in the lower reaches of San Moix – but questions already abound for next season in La Liga.

Barcelona won the 20th league title in its history with a record 99 points, the last three coming in Sunday’s 4-0 home win over Valladolid. Lionel Messi scored his 33rd and 34th league goals, and 46th and 47th overall – both tying club records set by Ronaldo in 1996-97.

The result sent Valladolid back to the Segunda, where it will be joined on its way down by Tenerife and Xerez. The boys from Castile and Leon would still be up had it not been for an unforeseen draw in Malaga, where an early goal from Duda was enough for the locals to get a 1-1 result against a Real Madrid side that needed a win (and a result from Valladolid) to win the title.

Instead, it was the Andalucians celebrating on their pitch, while Real sauntered off with the greatest second-place finish (96 points, 102 goals scored) in European football history.

The weekend’s biggest drama came Saturday, as Mallorca topped Espanyol 2-0 and stayed on the field to watch the conclusion of Almeria-Sevilla on the big screen. With the scored tied 2-2 deep in injury time, the Mallorca players stood on the pitch poised to celebrate a miraculous qualification for the Champions League… only for 19-year old cantera product Rodri, making his second appearance of the year, to score on an overhead kick to send Sevilla to fourth place and tears to the pitch from Mallorca players.

So, to recap the important stuff:

Champion: Barcelona
Champions League (automatic): Real Madrid, Valencia
Champions League (qualifying): Sevilla
Europa League: Mallorca, Getafe, Atletico de Madrid (as holders)
Relegated: Valladolid, Tenerife, Xerez

So, where do we go from here? Let’s start with the biggest questions:

What do Barcelona and Real Madrid do now?
As always, plenty of transfer rumors surround the big two.

David Villa is a lock to join Barcelona. Well, he was a lock to join Madrid last summer. Cesc Fabregas will finally head back to Catalunya. Well, he was supposed to do that two years ago, and last summer, and… Real want him, too. Madrid president Florentino Perez, meanwhile, will also go after David Silva… and Fernando Torres, and Wayne Rooney, and Jesus Navas, and Pele, and LeBron James, and…

And what will happen on the sidelines? One has to figure that if Jose Mourinho wants the job at the Bernabeu, he will get it. It would be unfair to Manuel Pellegrini, who took an essentially brand new team and got it to play some devastating football. But he will be judged on four games: the two against Barcelona, the return leg against Lyon in the Champions League round of 16, and the 4-0 loss to Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey.

While he’s signed for next year, Pep Guardiola is no lock to return to the Barcelona bench, depending on what happens with the June 13 presidential election. Although, the election may be rendered moot if Barcelona does in fact get Villa and/or Fabregas.

What does everyone else do now?
For the purpose of brevity, we’ll limit “everyone else” to teams that could, in theory, challenge the duopoly: Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Atletico (OK, that’s stretching it).

Unai Emery did one of the better managing jobs in Spain this year, turning around the negative culture that had been surrounding Valencia the last few years and getting them into third place (not to mention the quarterfinals of the Europa League, from which it should have advanced had it not been for a woeful no-penalty decision in the closing minutes of the second leg at Atletico). He’ll have to do even better next year, with Villa, Silva and perhaps even Juan Mata almost certain to be sold.

Sevilla will be hoping Luis Fabiano shakes off his “injuries” to have a big World Cup for Brazil and drive up the asking price for his transfer. This may also be the time to sell high on winger Jesus Navas, given that Diego Capel and Diego Perotti are still on the books. If those funds can be allocated toward the team’s biggest needs – another forward, a playmaking central midfielder and another defender or two to alleviate the pressure off keeper Andres Palop – Sevilla may be able to make the noise it was expected to this season after a tremendous start.

Villarreal rebounded from an awful beginning to challenge for the European places, but look likely to be waving goodbye this summer to striker Giuseppe Rossi, who is said to desire a move to Italy. The Yellow Submarine has spent uncharacteristically big (by its standards, anyway) on Jozy Altidore and Nilmar the last two summers, and there are questions as to whether it can make that kind of splash again. Some midfield help to support the likes of aging Marcos Senna and injury-prone Santi Cazorla is needed.

Atletico will likely sell Sergio Aguero this summer (see the trend here?) and, with millions upon millions in debt still to be paid off, doesn’t figure to have the ability to plug the holes. A new back four would be a good place to start.

In short, expect to see another “two-league” Liga next year: the one for Barcelona and Madrid, and the one for everybody else.

Who could be in trouble for the drop next season?
There’s the obvious candidates: the three promoted teams (none of whom have been determined, as of yet), Malaga and Racing Santander. It’s also hard to see the likes of Almeria, Sporting Gijon and Osasuna getting much better.

If someone from this year’s top half is going to join them, it would probably be Mallorca. The islanders were a great story this year, with Gregorio Manzano taking a team of few recognizable names playing in front of a half-empty stadium to within seconds of a top-four finish. But Manzano is likely to leave (to Sevilla?) and so are at least a few of the club’s top players, defender Nunes (who’s 33), midfielder Gonzalo Castro and midfielder Borja Valero (on loan from West Brom) among them. And even if Mallorca wanted to sell leading scorer Aritz Aduriz (12 goals), could they? They haven’t even paid the full fee it took to get him from Athletic Bilbao two years ago.

Such are the economics of the times in La Liga.

Will the league’s organizers get their act together?
The answer is obviously “no,” but consider:

- The league started on the weekend of August 29 and 30, which was immediately followed by a World Cup qualifier weekend. Couldn’t they have started a little earlier to at least get into the flow of the season before it was disrupted?

- At the other end, there are Segunda matches scheduled for June 20. That’s almost two weeks into the World Cup. Real Betis – a team currently three points out of a promotion spot with five matches to play – will soon be seeing its best player, midfielder Achille Emana, leave for the Cameroon national team camp. It should be noted that teams in England’s Championship – which wraps up with this weekend’s playoff between Cardiff and Blackpool – play 46 games (49 if you’re the teams playing this weekend). In the Segunda, you play 42.

- The day and time for the Copa del Rey final wasn’t set until a month before the actual game, with haggling from both clubs (Sevilla and Atletico) on where it should be played. Spain doesn’t have a Wembley, sure, but how is a cup final not scheduled at least a year in advance?

- Alfonzo Perez Burrull is still employed as a first division referee.

Good or bad, it’s always interested in La Liga. Until next year…

The final table:
Barcelona – 99 points; Real Madrid – 96; Valencia – 71; Sevilla – 63; Mallorca – 62; Getafe – 58; Villarreal – 56; Athletic Bilbao – 54; Atletico de Madrid – 47; Deportivo la Coruna – 47; Espanyol – 44; Osasuna – 43; Almeria – 42; Real Zaragoza – 41; Sporting Gijon – 40; Racing Santander – 39; Malaga – 37; Valladolid – 36; Tenerife – 36; Xerez – 34.