2010 Review Part One: January to May

The year gone by has been a historic one for Spanish football. Barcelona and Real Madrid fought out a record breaking championship, Atlético Madrid won their first European trophy in nearly 50 years and of course the Spanish national team were crowned World Champions.  In the first of a three part series, we look at the months January to May which saw the culmination of season 2009/2010 and dramatic action for Spanish club sides both domestically and in Europe.

2010 started with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona leading Manuel Pelligrini’s Real Madrid by two points. That lead was extended to five points when a Fernando Llorente header gave Atletic Bilbao a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid at San Mamés. The title contenders bounced back with a 2-0 win over Málaga in their next game. In what was a strange match, Crisitiano Ronaldo scored twice before being sent off. January was also a dramatic month in the Copa del Rey with Sevilla knocking out Barcelona, Atlético Madrid staging a dramatic fight back to defeat Recreativo 5-4 on aggregate and Real Madrid’s conquerors Alcorcón going out at the hands of Racing Santander.

In February, Real Madrid got back into the title race when city neighbours Atlético Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Vicente Calderón. Diego Forlán and Simao scored the goals in what was the reigning champions only league defeat of the season.

While things improved domestically for Manuel Pelligrini, in Europe Real Madrid failed to click, losing the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie 1-0 in Lyon. Spain’s other Champions League teams, Barcelona and Sevilla, drew 1-1 away to Stuttgart and CSKA Moscow respectively.

There were mixed fortunes for Spanish teams in the Europa League with Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao going out with heavy defeats against Wolfsburg and Anderlecht while Atlético Madrid and Valencia progressed by overcoming Galatasaray and Club Bruges. In what was a good month for Atlético Madrid, the rojiblancos also reached the Copa del Rey final with a semi final win over Racing Santander.  In the other semi final, Sevilla overcame Deportivo La Coruña to set up a mouthwatering final.

March was another mixed month for Real Madrid with the capital side going top of the league following Barcelona’s surprise draw in Almería. In an exciting month in the capital, Real Madrid won 3-2 at home to both Sevilla and Atlético Madrid. However, a Pjanic goal sent them crashing out of Europe as they drew 1-1 at home to Lyon.

Also exiting Europe were Sevilla who lost surprisingly 1-2 at home to CSKA Moscow. That left Barcelona as the only Spanish team left in the competition after they easily disposed of Stuttgart 4-0 at the Camp Nou. Guardiola’s side progressed to face Arsenal and travelled to London at the end of the month for the first leg. Despite going 0-2 up and dominating possession, the Spanish champions had to settle for a 2-2 draw as a late Arsenal comeback kept the tie alive.

In the Europa League, both Atlético Madrid and Valencia progressed on away goals with Valencia drawing 4-4 in Bremen while Atlético drew 2-2 in against Spoting Club in Lisbon. The two Spanish sides then met each other in the quarter final with the first leg, in the Mestalla, finishing 2-2.

April saw Real Madrid and Barcelona go into the second clásico level on points. With only the league left to play for and as the home side, the pressure was on Real Madrid but Guardiola’s side showed their class with a comfortable 0-2 victory. The victory put Barcelona three points clear but that gap was soon back to one point when Barcelona drew 0-0 in their first ever trip to face Espanyol at their new Cornellá stadium.

In the Champions League, Leo Messi single handedly destroyed Arsenal at the Camp Nou. The Argentinian star scored all four goals in his side’s 4-1 second leg win. After the match Arsene Wenger likened Messi to a playstation player. The manner of their win left Barcelona as clear favourites to win the competition but their dream of winning a fourth Champions League title at the Bernabéu was shattered when José Mourinho’s Inter knocked them out in the semi final.

While Barcelona missed out on a European final, Atlético Madrid progressed past Valencia and then overcame Liverpool on away goals. It was the third consecutive time that Quique Sánchez Florez´s side had progressed on away goals with the aggregate score being 2-2 on each occasion. It was Atlético’s first European final for 23 years and completed a remarkable turnaround under Sánchez Florez.

The season entered its finale in May with Barcelona still leading Real Madrid by one point but facing tough away trips to Villarreal and Sevilla. After thrashing Villarreal 1-4 in the Madrigal, Barcelona survived a late Sevilla comeback to win 2-3 in the Sánchez Pizjúan. Those away wins meant Barcelona only needed to beat struggling Valladolid at home to be crowned champions and as expected the Guardiola’s side delivered the goods with a 4-0 win. The victory also relegated Valladolid who went down along with Xerez and Tenerife.  On a dramatic day at the bottom, Málaga survived with a 1-1 draw at home to Real Madrid.

In Europe, two goals from Diego Forlán gave Atlético Madrid victory in the Europa League final in Hamburg. The victory sparked wild scenes in the capital as hundreds of thousands of fans descended on Plaza Neptuno to celebrate the historic triumph. A week later, Atlético were in another cup final but this time the rojiblancos lost to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final in the Camp Nou. Goals from Diego Capel and Jesus Navas gave the Andalusian side a comfortable victory. With that, the last title of the season had been settled and thoughts now moved to the national team and the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.

In part two of our roundup of 2010, we look back at the exploits of the Spanish national team in the World Cup.