Round Two – Pellegrini’s Got His Work Cut Out
Although I hope that Barça win La Liga for the second year on the trot, what I really want to see is a well-fought competition – and that means more than just competition from Real Madrid.
For La Liga to fulfill its potential as The Best League in the World – with the permission of the EPL – we need to see Sevilla, Atlético, Villarreal and Valencia fighting for more than just Champions and Europa League places. However, after only one game, it looks like this season’s Liga will follow a similar pattern to last year.
Sevilla lost in Mestalla and Atlético got thrashed by Málaga, so I won’t be surprised if Barça and Madrid are ten points clear at the top of the table come December. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen because it’d be very bad news for Spanish Football.
This week we’ll get a better idea of whether La Liga is going to be a two horse race or not. Espanyol-Madrid and Getafe-Barça are two interesting tests for the favourites - debuting in their new stadium and with the memory of Jarque still very present, Espanyol have got a lot of reasons to put up a fight and an unpredictable Getafe are a very tough nut to crack on a good day.
I think most of us agree that Barça start La Liga with a slight advantage over Pellegrini’s Real Madrid because they
Pellegrini has a tough job ahead of him
already play as a team, whereas the Bernabéu boys are as yet a group that relies on flashes of brilliance from individual players. The big question is whether the undeniable quality of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema will be enough to follow the pace that Barça has already set by winning the two Super Cups.
Comparisons between the two squads are inevitable, and I must admit that I glance down the list of names that make up this Real Madrid side and some of my culé bravado fades. However, it remains to be seen whether this group of superstars will actually work well together as a block.
Barça have signed fewer players, but the three signings are players that were definitely on Guardiola’s Wish List. Chygrynskiy will be key in the centre of the defence, while with Maxwell on one flank and Alves on the other, the backs will be coming up to join the attack even more often than they did last season.
Guardiola ready for the season ahead
Having watched quite a few videos now, there’s no doubt in my mind that Ibrahimovic is a potentially great player but his role in the side will be very different from Samuel Eto’o. He’s more classy and stylish but I doubt whether he’ll score as many goals and he’s still got his work cut out to get himself in the right position for when Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, in particular, start to work their magic.
But the fact remains that Barça only have to adapt their game for one player whilst not even Pellegrini could predict Madrid’s starting line-up in a month’s time. And what’s more the ‘cantera’ factor means that Barça’s theoretical substitutes know the 4-3-3 philosophy like the back of their hands and both they themselves and the fans are confident that should anything go awry, they’ll slot into the first team just like veterans.
Anyway here are this week’s games . . .
12 Sep 2009
18:00 CET Atletico Madrid v Racing Santander
18:00 CET Getafe v Barcelona
20:00 CET Espanyol v Real Madrid
22:00 CET Sevilla v Zaragoza
13 Sep 2009
17:00 CET Deportivo v Malaga
17:00 CET Sporting Gijon v Almeria
17:00 CET Tenerife v Osasuna
17:00 CET Villarreal v Mallorca
19:00 CET Valladolid v Valencia
21:00 CET Xerez v Athletic Bilbao