Football Update: Spanish La Liga Review of the Year
The 2010-2011 season of La Liga is turning out to be a battle between the two giants of Spain, i.e. Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona had been untouchable in the last two seasons and Real Madrid made some drastic changes in order to check the supremacy
of the Catalans. This time, it was expected to be a close contest between the two most successful clubs of La Liga.
Last season, Barcelona’s hopes for a consecutive European title were cut short by Jose Mourinho’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan. This season, he was signed by Madrid to counter the management style of Pep Guardiola, the manager of Barcelona. After coming to Bernabeu, Mourinho
signed many big names including Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria, Sami Kheidra and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ricardo-Carvalho-c30973. Guardiola faced the problems in his striking options last season, so he strengthened his squad by bringing in David Villa from Valencia. Villa was the top scorer
for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 in their winning campaigns at Euro 2008 as well as the World Cup 2010. Therefore, both teams were looking good to face each other for the league title.
However, despite the apparent strength of both squads, there were some slipups early on in the season. Madrid drew two of their matches while Barcelona lost against Hercules Camp Nou. On the other hand, Valencia was looking good despite losing two of their
main players, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 and David Silva. Therefore, in the first few weeks, it was Valencia who was leading the league table against all expectations.
But, Valencia could not keep up with the face for long and their weaknesses began to emerge as the season progressed. Soon, it was again a battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid as the giants found their winning touch and began to move away from the rest
of the clubs. Villarreal, the Yellow Submarine, overtook http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 for the third spot and remained within a few points from the top of the table.
At one point, it seemed that there is going to be a three-way battle as Villarreal did exceptionally well this season. However, the difference widened when Barcelona beat Villarreal by 3-1, clearly indicating the difference of levels between both these clubs.
However, the Yellow Submarine has stuck to their third spot and would move into the next year in a comfortable position for Champions League next season.
Taking advantage of Barcelona’s loss against Hercules, Real Madrid had gained a one point advantage over the champions. Both the teams were winning their matches with ease and it was obvious that the title could be decided based on the El Clasico fixtures,
the two league matches between both sides. The first leg was played towards the end of November as Barcelona hosted Real Madrid at Camp Nou.
The El Clasico proved to be a real turning point of the La Liga season. In an epic battle, Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid and won the match by a margin of 5-0. But, it was more humiliating for Madrid than the score-line suggested as they saw very little
of the ball. The Catalans controlled the game from the very first whistle and had an incredible 80% possession during the match. This match was the biggest defeat in Mourinho’s career and it overshadowed the success he achieved against Guardiola in the past.
The El Clasico exposed the weaknesses of Madrid and made them realize that they were still a long way behind their archrivals. On the other hand, it was a real morale booster for the Catalans who now seem to have found the rhythm in their game. Since November,
Barcelona has been unstoppable and they have been scoring at an incredible rate of more than four goals per game.
Barcelona moves into the new season with a two-point advantage but the league is still far from decided. For a few weeks, Guardiola would have to manage without his captain and star defender Carlos Puyol, who injured himself during training. Also, despite
their loss against Barcelona, Madrid has kept on winning and are not ready to let go of the champions. The next half of the season is going to be more entertaining and the fans are really hoping for another grand El Clasico, which might prove to be the title
decider in the end.
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