Friday, May 18th, 2012
This week’s En Resumen looks at a momentous weekend in the title race, the long-awaited arrival of goals and hails Iñigo Martínez .
A white Christmas in store?
Events in the capital on Saturday night handed Real Madrid a six-point advantage at the top of the table. With the league’s first Clásico of the season less than two weeks away it is tempting to assume that, with both expected to lose so few points throughout the season, should Real beat Barca at the Bernabeu for the first time in nearly four years, the title race would have been run by Christmas.
Real’s current run of form is excellent but somewhat expected. They put similar stretches in even under the tutelage of Juande Ramos and Manuel Pellegrini. It is Barca’s run of two away wins from six away league games that his seen the title race swing in Real’s favour.
Barca looked a tired team on Saturday, devoid of ideas and overly reliant on Xavi and Leo Messi to create. David Villa’s loss of form has been underestimated in its overall influence on the side as with no other central striking option, Messi has played the full 90 minutes in all but one game so far this season.
Another worrying trend for Pep Guardiola is that despite their generally excellent defensive record, on the five occasions when they have conceded first (Real Madrid in Super Cup first-leg, Valencia, AC Milan, Athletic Bilbao and Getafe) they have yet to win.
Excitement at last
This column has derided the lack of goalmouth action in recent weeks so it is only fair to comment on what was a pretty exciting weekend. The battle of the Reals between Betis and Sociedad somehow produced five goals after neither looked capable of hitting water if they had capsized in recent weeks, Levante were back to their counter-attacking best, whilst remarkably Mallorca, Racing, Granada and Espanyol all managed to hit the back of the net.
However, there was only just one goal everyone was talking about
There must be something special about Zubieta, the Real Sociedad academy that groomed the first Spanish master of the half-way line goal. Xabi Alonso was lauded for his two efforts whilst at Liverpool that found the net from his own half. However Iñigo Martínez’s second such goal in only a matter of weeks far surpasses anything the Real Madrid midfielder produced.
With the game entering stoppage time in a crucial match with Betis, having blown a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes, Martinez attempted an audacious left-footed effort from near the touchline inside his own half. With remarkable accuracy the ball sailed over the helpless Casto and in off the underside of the bar to give Sociedad their first victory in eight games.
Valencia in a league of their own
Los Che’s thoroughly professional victory over Rayo Vallecano this weekend was just the latest example of why they are by a distance the third force in Spanish football. No other side can match their consistency or indeed their versatility as Unai Emery tactically outfoxed another opposition manager.
Roberto Soldado may have grabbed the headlines for his goalscoring prowess this season but Jonas has also had an excellent start to the campaign and now appears like another extremely shrewd piece of transfer business done by Manuel Llorente.
The real shame of course if that despite all this they are still some way short of the big two and the island they are on between Real Madrid, Barcelona and the rest of the pack only serves to heighten the importance of next week’s massive Champions League do-or-die match with Chelsea.
No more Cup at Racing
Arguably the hardest job in the league is available again for anyone brave or stupid enough to take it on as Hector Cuper decided he had had quite enough of managing a team whose top-scorer is Ariel Nahuelpan.
Cuper was always onto a bit of a loser in Cantabria, with the club a financial disaster they had lost any player worth losing in the summer. The Argentine’s brand of very negative football may not have been overly pleasing to watch, but it is hard to dispel the feeling that it was their only possible chance of survival.
Osasuna marching into European contention
Los Rojillos first away win of the season at Espanyol saw them leapfrog the Catalans and Athletic Bilbao into seventh, and despite it being their first success on the road in seven attempts it had been coming.
That might seem idiotic to those who have just seen Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side in their demolitions at the Camp Nou and the Bernabeu, but Osasuna have actually been better away from the Reyno de Navarra than in recent seasons.
Outside of those previously mentioned defeats their only other away loss came at Athletic, whilst there were strong performances in the 0-0 draw at Atleti on the opening weekend of the season and in the 2-2 draw at Getafe. In particular the Atletico Madrid cast offs Raul Garcia and Ibrahima Balde have added an extra quality in the final third, whilst Roland Lamah continued his positive start to the campaign with the opener on Sunday.
Should they keep their unbeaten record at home going this weekend against Real Betis then another manager in Pepe Mel could soon be out of a job.
Tags: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Getafe, Hector Cuper, Inigo Martinez, Rayo Vallecano, Real Betis, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Valencia
