© EuroFootball.com
In the column "Tribūna" - somewhat unusual form of news from the Spanish championship. A visitor to EuroFootball.com, Dalius, better known to the website's veterans by the nickname Zebediejus, taking advantage of an article from a foreign "Barcelona" fan website, and, as he claims, "having gathered and compared statistics, compared who and with whom they will have to play, and looked more closely at the team compositions from which they can expect a new quality of play in critical moments", offers you an article about the battle of four "invalids" in the Spanish league.
The Battle of the Invalids
There are only 10 rounds left until the end of the Spanish championship. For the past five years, no such fierce battle has taken place in La Liga. Last year, at this time, "Barca" was 11 points ahead of their competitors, while "Real" was missing just two points at the end of Valencia's battles. But this year, only 6 points separate the first 4 opponents - just two victories... A similar tense situation was only back in the 2001/02 season, when in round 27, seven teams were separated by 5 points (Valencia was in the lead, followed closely by Real, with Betis, Deportivo, Barca, Celta, and Athletic Bilbao not far behind). Then, Valencia became the champion, and Real and Barca secured the right to play in the Champions League.
The 2006/07 season of the Spanish championship can be called Paralympic Games. The most striking thing is that all contenders for the title are simply disabled. This year's champion will be the one whose wheels will be the strongest and whose wheelchair will be the fastest. Like in that pirate folk song: "Four on the coffin". That corpse, as befits a corpse, is blue-granate in color. And the four on the coffin - with big eyes, trembling hands (or rather, feet), and a particularly unstable heart rate. Who are they?
The Blue-Granate Corpse
The first to mention is the "Barcelona," which is far from a champion-worthy team. This season, Frank Rijkaard's team simply started to deteriorate like a project. His three main characters - the populist president Joan Laporta with a never-fading smile, the melancholic coach Frank Rijkaard, and the magician with teeth that don't fit in Ronaldinho's mouth - started the carousel four years ago. The carousel, madly spinning and flashing lights, made a circle back to the same place... and stopped. It's an inevitable process.
Even Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team," which won 4 Spanish championship titles, fell to pieces. And even the last title of the dream team - more a matter of luck and the help of Tenerife players. But there is a huge difference: one great Dutchman managed to lay the foundation for a new team before his big project collapsed. The other great Dutchman didn't do that. Instead of following the good old Catalan tradition of inviting and nurturing talented young people, Rijkaard chose the well-known Milan strategy - extending contracts with veterans...
But no one goes into battle with a broken sword. And there is no doubt that the sword is broken. Some talk about the Dutchman's departure, others about his return, and still others that everything can still be fixed. However, it can be expected that the black-bearded coach will show necromancer magic and be able to resurrect the blue-granate corpse before the end of this season. Then he will be guaranteed a knightly golden belt. And everyone will forget the holes left by the rats. Or rather, not the holes left by the rats, but the ones left behind after accurate, though not lethal, but very painful strikes from Espanyol, Internacional, Liverpool, and even two from Real.
At the beginning of the season, fans were talking about 6 trophies, so the remaining battle for two is a blow to their self-esteem. But an even bigger blow to Barca and its fans is the team's uncharacteristic play without any excitement, without the determination to win at all costs... After all, eight draws in Barca this season - not only against the biggest teams like the "big four," but also against average teams, and that's just embarrassing. It is precisely because of this avalanche of draws that the team, who has only lost 4 times in the championship, cannot break away from the other invalids chasing them.
But -"Barca", playing without their offensive leaders Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o since the fall, managed to score 57 goals, maintaining their usual balance of "scoring double the goals we concede." Now, with the full force of the attacking trio of Barca, not having to play in Europe midweek, and having already played against all their competitors in Spain, and with relatively easy matches ahead with the teams from the bottom of the table, "Barca" can be considered the most realistic (what an ugly word) contender for the Champion's title. For the third consecutive year - if only Rijkaard, to the old guard, can prove that one must fight to die, not lie down...
The "Bats" - Voodoo Victims
If "Barca" died a natural death and lived a short but beautiful life, then "Valencia" became the victim of a curse and a plague of injuries. This terrible disease struck the well-prepared, excellent team with top players and high goals just at the beginning of the championship. Who knows, maybe "Valencia" coach Quique-Sanchez Flores once had a falling out with powerful African shamans, or more likely with even more powerful voodoo priests, but who else but them could have cast such a terrible curse - a plague of injuries. In the 13th round, "Valencia" was languishing in ninth place, with its players dropping like flies one after the other. There was a risk that there would be no place to bury all the team players who fell in the unequal battles with the shaman-sent plague...
But "Bat" coach Flores, like in the movie "Pulp Fiction," at the most crucial moment, grabbed the biggest syringe, drew in the adrenaline... and plunged it into the heart of the dying team. The team jumped... and went on a winning streak. Writhing, covered in blood, from an excess of adrenaline, it passed one opponent after another. Adrenaline helped the "bats" catch up with the leaders of the Paralympic Games...
However, stimulants are such that they only give energy temporarily. Will there be enough adrenaline for another three months and 10 La Liga matches? The Santander footballers, who defeated "Valencia" at their own home, showed that the effects of the stimulant wore off, and a new dose is needed... And there are still tough matches ahead: on April 1 against "Espanyol," three days later - in London against "Chelsea," just four days to rest before facing "Athletic Bilbao," and immediately after two days of playing a return leg against "Chelsea." And that's not all: once it's clear whether the "bats" will reach the Champions League semi-finals and after pulling out their tired legs from the quagmire, "Valencia" will face the first of the decisive matches for the champion's belt - in their home stadium against "Sevilla." And a week later, the second match against another contender - on April 22nd away against Real Madrid. Such a marathon would not withstand a team with 24 equally good players, not to mention the "Valencia," which is plagued by injuries and internal conflicts... But what will happen when all "Valencia" players recover? It's scary to think how this team can play. If not this season, then next...
Royal Zombies
The third walking corpse of this group - the royal zombie Real Madrid. This organism has been in a coma for so long that the Santiago Bernabeu visitors are already tired of pouring water into its basin and are now just pouring its contents from the stands onto their own team. And how can you blame your own people when at home, the team looks like beaten dogs: draws with Getafe-Villarreal-Betis and even with the eternal rivals Atletico Madrid. What's even more painful is that after twice beating Barca (yes, a draw at the Camp Nou is also equivalent to a victory), they lost at home to such dwarves as Celta, Levante, and worst of all - a 0-3 defeat by Recreativo - then the "decanos" respectfully honored the death of their own fans when the bus rushing to the game overturned...
The newly scandal-elected president Calderon, finally putting on a serious face, says "Nottingham Forest" was not champions for a long time - and here, imagine, it hasn't even been five years. It's even harder to keep a serious face when asked who will be the new coach after Fabio Capello.
The attempt to turn Real Madrid into "Capello Real" failed. Real will not be able to repeat the success of Capello's former team, now in Serie B. In the beginning of the season, bringing back the stars of the last century Emerson, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, and Fabio Cannavaro, Capello realized that the "madridista league" works, as defined by Emerson: "In Madrid, I only play with half of my strength." It was necessary to change the strategy, abandoning the old wolves and buying youth: Fernando Gago, Gonzalo Higuain. Real's greatest pride in the 2006/07 season will probably remain those two goals forced into the net of mortal enemies from Barcelona.
It is interesting to observe the promises and justifications of team managers: at first, they aimed to win all titles. Later: "yes, we were eliminated from the Copa del Rey, but we can now focus on the fights for the two most important European and Spanish titles. After another month, losing to "Bavarians," they say: "Now nothing stands in the way of winning the most important title - the Spanish championship." Following this logic, new interviews should soon appear: "Our most important goal is to maintain our position in the league standings so we can play in Europe, and next season we will definitely win all three titles"... Kaka, Cesc Fabregas and Arjen Robben have already moved to the sidelines. Now the focus is on Cristiano Ronaldo, who could cost 80 million euros.
But first, this season must be concluded, and only then can we think about how to change Capello (or replace him) and what to buy so that next season Calderon can promise all the possible trophies and a fiesta in Madrid again. After three relatively calm matches with "Celta," "Osasuna," and "Racing," the crucial matches for Real will be the matches in the second half of April against the exhausted but always fighting Valencia, the stubborn Basque "athletes" and against Sevilla. Then the fate of the team, the coach, and perhaps even the president will become clear...
Psychiatric Patients from Seville
And now, amidst the applause, the fourth participant in this drama (melodrama, tragedy?) appears on the stage - "Sevilla." It shows the most signs of life. And don't pay attention to the fact that this opponent is thin and constantly coughing. Eternal bloodletting does not give anyone strength. And "Sevilla" is famous for releasing such stars as Sergio Ramos, Julio Baptista, Jose Antonio Reyes. They even brought back Saviola, but despite losing their leaders, they play better. This year, for 6 million euros, they acquired Frederick Kanoute, found in England. Bought for 600 thousand euros, Daniel Alves is now valued at no less than 25 million euros by the club, and there are already lined up clubs willing to pay that sum for the young Brazilian defender...
However, despite the hot Andalusian blood that boils in the "Sevilla" club, it is plagued by a mental illness - psychopathy. Only mental problems can explain when after great victories against "Levante" (4-0) and "Deportivo," (4-0), "Valencia" (3-0), or "Real" (2-1), they are followed by losses against "minnows" like Gimnastic, Mallorca, Espanyol, Atletico, and Zaragoza. And even Barca, in the first match, managed to prove that the champion's title is worth more than a 3-1 victory and took revenge for losing the European Super Cup...
The "Sevilla" rollercoaster is just beginning to spin. And who would say that "Sevilla," with its passion and desire to fight, is not similar to the previous "Barcelona." It is said of such teams: "You hate them when you play against them, and you admire them when they become your own." Andalusians are capable of gracefully and headlessly defeating strong opponents. But a few days later, the team looks like a discarded puppet - shapeless, immobile, and discarded not to stumble over. Wanting "Sevilla" to rise to the ultimate battle and ripping victory along with the opponent's flesh with teeth. How can you not admire a team that scores an away goal in the European tournament quarterfinals with just 2 minutes left until the end of the match, and in the crucial return leg snatches the victory with just 18 seconds left? And they do this not by anyone else but their own goalkeeper, who left his goal to become the goalscorer.
Barcelona as the favorite
There are only 10 rounds left until the end of the Paralympic Games. Each of the invalids sitting on the coffin can still surpass the other three patients after curing their ailments. Although "Barca" currently resembles only a dangerous shadow, all it takes is for sparks to ignite in its eyes. All it takes is one thing - for someone to ignite that fire "that dispels darkness." But is it possible to ignite life in the eyes of a dead person, rather than a cold zombie flicker? Or perhaps the spark of life needs to be transferred to the dead body from such players as Dani Alves, Alexis, or even better - the panther's protégés like Dos Santos, Valente, or Olmo? Burned down like a Phoenix from the ashes, can a new team be born? This is what I care most about - Barcelona. Only they can prevent themselves from winning the Champion's title. And the other three opponents, wanting to become champions, will not only have to fight for every point against weaker opponents but also prove their right in bloody mutual battles.
You may say I didn't mention Atletico Madrid or Zaragoza. I know... But if I have already called "Barca," Sevilla," Real," and Valencia" invalids, zombies, and mentally ill, then how to call "los colchoneros," who have strengthened the most this season, but have already lost 8 times and have conceded just 9 goals more than they have scored... As for Zaragoza, they are a serious contender and could also take a place on the coffin. Especially with players like the Milito brothers, a revived Diogo, Everton, Pablo Aimar, and Andres D'Alessandro. But the "Moors" will still have to play against all the strongest teams, and they cannot expect to be able to collect points.
