It has been called a two-horse league for the past decade because the same two sides — Barcelona and Real Madrid — have won it on nine out of ten occasions. The two giants freely outspent the opposition, dominated the headlines and generally made it seem as if they could do as they pleased.
Yet Spain’s La Liga kicked off at the weekend with a somewhat different zeitgeist. For the first time in years, the impression is that neither of the perennial juggernauts — for varying reasons — are any better than they were a year ago. Meanwhile, the chasing pack appear to be stronger, at least on paper.
Start with Barcelona. Fifa handed the defending champions a transfer ban for signing minors from outside the European Union. So, while they added versatile wide players such as Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, they will not be able to play until the new year. It’s called a transfer ban, it’s really a registration ban. Meanwhile, they lost Pedro, to Chelsea, and Xavi, to the Qatari league, and either sold or loaned out a host of their home-grown starlets, such as Gerard Deulofeu, Martín Montoya, Adama Traoré and Alen Halilovic.
The result is a side with a wonderful starting XI but not much depth, at least until January. Backing up the stellar front trio of Neymar, Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi are Munir and Sandro. They spent much of last season playing for Barcelona B, who finished dead last in the second division. Throw in that the tension between Luis Enrique, the manager, and some elements at the club may not be fully lifted and this does not look like a side who have taken a step forward.
At Real Madrid, Rafael Benítez got the chance of fulfilling his dream: taking charge at the club where he began his career. What he did not get was the kind of support in the transfer market that his predecessors — from Carlo Ancelotti to José Mourinho — enjoyed. To most observers, the club had three glaring areas of need going into the summer: replacing an icon, Iker Casillas, as goalkeeper, adding a quality centre forward in reserve and bringing in a holding midfielder.
Advertisement
How did they do? Well, it is looking increasingly unlikely that David De Gea will come on board (though there is still time) and they failed to address the two other glaring needs from last year. They did bring back a bunch of players sent out on loan and spent most of their money on Danilo, a right back, and Mateo Kovacic, an attacking midfielder, two positions where they had plenty of options. Benítez has taken it all in stride thus far, unlike in some of his previous appointments, when he was quick to voice his complaints but, in truth, he has good reason to complain.
All of which is good news for the others. Atletico Madrid wheeled and dealed over the summer but, on paper at least, look to have come out ahead. Jackson Martínez is probably an upgrade on Mario Mandzukic, Filipe Luís has returned at left back and Luciano Vietto was perhaps the most exciting young player in the league last year. Turan has left, while Miranda is gone in central defence, but they arguably have a better in-house solution in José Giménez, and have also added Stefan Savic.
Valencia and their manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, were media darlings last season as they raced to fourth place, playing intense, attractive football. The loss of Nicolás Otamendi, their defensive stalwart, is a blow, but it is offset by a crop of youngsters such as José Gayà, Shkodran Mustafi, André Gomes and Paco Alcácer, who have an extra year’s experience under their belts.
Then there’s Seville, where Monchi, the wily director of football, enjoyed a bumper summer on a shoestring. He picked up two high-quality free agents in Michael Krohn-Dehli and Yevhen Konoplyanka, as well as taking Ciro Immobile on loan. It looks more than enough to weather the sale, for close to £40 million, of Carlos Bacca and Vidal. Unai Emery, the manager, drew rave reviews in guiding them to Europa League success last season and they put four past Barcelona in the European Super Cup this month.
This does not mean that we will get a champion outside of the traditional big two this year. But it does show that, with a bit of creativity, you can narrow the gap.
Advertisement
Particularly when the two at the top stand still or, possibly, go backwards.