La Liga Loca

A sideways look at Spanish football

Tim Stannard and Simon Talbot

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Monday's Good Day, Bad Day - Round 8

Monday 27 October 2008 11:00

Good Day

Barcelona

Now that was just dog-darn purty football. Poor Almería didn’t stand a burger’s chance in Maniche’s fridge in a first half 5-0 pummelling where they were befuddled and bewildered by Barça’s constant three-pronged poking.

The most important task for the Laporta / Pep double act now is to manage the overexcited expectations of the local press. But it isn’t going to be easy as Mundo Deportivo and Sport appear to be whipping themselves into a football frenzy - literally, in one writer’s case.

“It was a 45 minute orgy of goals... a footballing orgasm,” gushed Josep Gonzalez in Monday’s edition of Sport - a paper that boasted of “a Champion Team,” on its front cover.

“From our own experience, we cannot trust ourselves,” said the Barcelona president on Sunday, in a vain attempt to dampen down the hysteria. “There’s nothing to celebrate as we’ve won nothing,” continued Laporta.

First-half goal-splurge blows away Almeria

Málaga, Numancia, Sporting

Nine points from nine for the three Primera new boys with Málaga the sensational star performers. Antonio Tapia’s Titans have now won four in a row and kicked off their fearsome foursome run with an impressive 1-0 away win at Sevilla.

Unai Emery

The 1-1 draw with a rubbish Recreativo was not the result that would have brought a smile to the Valencia manager’s face - not the easiest things to do at the best of times - but the priceless point keeps Valencia at the top of the Primera pile and sees them making their best start to a season, ever, ever, ever.

Gonzalo Higuaín

Now, La Liga Loca is not sure if it had slipped into an alternate dimension on Sunday night - it’s possible, as it genuinely saw a zombie on the way to the stadium - but there was something resembling an atmosphere in the Bernabeu against Athletic.

The visit of the Basques always brings out the best behaviour from the home fans, especially the Ultras who get their chance to wave Spanish flags and sing ‘Viva España’ every now again.

All over the ground, there was all manner of unmentionable slurs and signs being hurled in the travelling fans direction - fans that were more than happy to hold their own and give some back.

A corker of a match has been overshadowed by another refereeing controversy with quite a hullaballoo over red cards / penalties / and offside decisions.

Like a owl with a sore throat, La Liga Loca couldn’t give two hoots about any of it (and it hasn’t seen any replays thanks to getting home from a football game at frackin’ midnight), but encourages the blog’s ever reliable readership to let loose.

Another Tim Westwood style Big-Up must go to Gonzalo Higuaín. Under pressure, the Argentine is as cool as cucumber. But when nothing really matters, the Madrid striker is prone to to skying the ball into the stands with gay abandon.

If he could work on this delicate defect he could make David Villa look like Arizmendi. Maybe.

Getafe, Mallorca

A first home win for Getafe and a 3-0 trouncing of Espanyol by Mallorca sees this pair in 7th and 8th. How, really is anyone’s guess.

Simao

When La Liga Loca left its penthouse to head north to the Bernabeu, Atlético Madrid were 2-0 up and looking quite comfortable. When it arrived in Castle Greyskull, the rojiblancos had, like Chelsy Davy, been royally rogered and were 4-2 down.

At that point, the talk of the town was whether this would lead to Javier Aguirre’s sacking despite Enrique Cerezo’s pre-match promise that the Mexican manager’s job was safe.

But, Simao ruined all the footballing fun with his fourth goal of the week and an assist to make it honours even on the night and a sigh of relief from his boss that could be felt as far as Florida.

Goal-hungry Simao makes it four in a week for Atlético

“When we were dead, and they were walking about playing their fancy stuff, we discovered the pride that allowed us to draw the match,” grinned Aguirre.

“I’m not sufficiently intelligent to order and analyse this absolute madness,” confessed Iñaki Díaz-Guerra in AS. And nor is La Liga Loca.

Real Betis

And a big yay for Betis with their second win a row. The first time the southern side has managed such a sparkling run since giving Celta and Nastic a thrashing they’ll never forget back in the 2006/07 season.

Bad Day

Pedja Mijatovic

La Liga Loca switched on its mobile this morning to find a ranting and raving voicemail message from an irate Athletic Bilbao fan, complaining about an anti-Basque campaign by the Lords of La Liga. However, this has become an annual event.

But he was not alone in his stewing. Pedja Mijatovic is convinced that “someone doesn’t want us to win a third league title,” whilst the Athletic coach, Joaquín Caparrós was advising the Madrid sporting director to “worry about Barcelona, not the referees.”

For once, La Liga Loca is going to give Marca a pat on the back. Not for giving Michel Salgado nine out of 10 in their weekend wonders column and David Villa five, but for Roberto Palomer’s fine back page response to the loonies of La Liga.

“Real Madrid should be sponsored by Kleenex,” says the Marca man due to all the whining and crying they have been doing recently. “Pathetic,” he concludes. “The referee was bad. Nothing more, nothing less. He was bad for both of them.”

Sevilla

“Ow... ow... ow... ow... ow... ow.” That’s the sound of Sevilla boss Manolo Jiménez kicking himself - and Adriano - repeatedly in the shins after losing 1-0 at home to Malaga. “Ow... ow... ow... ow... ow.”

Sergio Ramos

Poor old Sergio was ‘rested’ against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night, a handy break that coincided with his complaint that he was not enjoying his football these days.

Ramos was quite right to speak out. For a wee while now the press in Spain have been fairly critical of his performances. The defender merely wanted to explain that the continued lack of a right midfielder leaves him over-exposed and open to looking like a bit of a prong.

Rested Ramos puts his feet up... literally

“What cannot happen is that you attack, go forward and then defend against the other team,” complained Sergio.

His relegation / rotation to the bench was “a punishment which only served to strengthen the vanity of the manager,” writes Santiago Segurola in Monday’s Marca.

Osasuna, Racing

More worries for these two relegation rivals with defeat to Betis and Numancia. Racing are in a marginally better position with the club already having been put through the Sevilla, Barca, Madrid, Villarreal wringer.

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About Tim Stannard and Simon Talbot

When he isn't fighting the evil forces of flamenco or attracting libel actions for La Liga Loca, Tim Stannard is building his media empire in Madrid. As well as contributing to Football365 and doing odd jobs elsewhere, Tim also works in the glamorous world of television as a producer, script writer, news editor, coffee boy and stand-in fluffer.

Simon Talbot? Well, he's a man of mystery.

Comments

	October 27, 2008 12:22 maspringekeunpapeldechurros said: What's the agenda with this S Ramos thing? is he putting out feelers for the Christmas window? No player goes to the press first to air his grievances. This should have been sorted out in the dressing room. Raúl pointedly shook everyone on the bench's hand yesterday except Ramos for whom he reserved a killer look. I wonder if Schuster will be able to sort this out while maintaining team spirit. The press have mooted that all this whinging about the refereeing decisions is a smoke screen to avoid talking publicly about the situation.
	October 27, 2008 12:27 Kirkabir said: Maybe Sergio Ramos need to call up Dani Alves or watch a couple of clips from Alves´s 2 recent games to remember what being a RB is all about...
	October 27, 2008 12:53 AdamCule said: More great football from Barça and a thrashing for Español in Mallorca of all places. Happy days. Madrid have managed to come up with the most half baked conspiracy theory I've ever seen (and being a culé I've seen a few). They've had an opponent sent off in their last two games, a penalty awarded in the 6th minute of injury time, a quite blatant penalty last night NOT given and still the refs are against them? Whilst I can understand why some at scum central may be looking back to the Caudillo's reign and wondering where it all went wrong the fact that they now get dodgy decisions given AGAINST them as well as for them is not grounds to claim a witch hunt. This is all part of a premeditated approach to increase the pressure on officials ahead of December's run of games in the expectation that the referees will feel obligated to give them a few favourable decisions when it really matters. In the meantime Mijatovic looks even more sleazy, Schuster even more like a spoilt child and Calderón is fast becoming a charicature of himself as he loses control of his club and the media. Back to Barça and the trip to Málaga next weekend could be a tough one given the recent form of the southerners. We don't tend to do very well there either so it will be interesting.
	October 27, 2008 13:51 12 Major Chords said: Another correction. Re: Betis We won three games in a row last season against Osasuna, Barcelona and then Zaragoza. The stat your alluding to is that it's the first time since those games against Nastic and Celta that we've won two in a row with clean sheets added on top as a bonus.
	October 27, 2008 13:51 12 Major Chords said: Oh, and once again, a great article.
	October 27, 2008 14:40 Blanco said: ADAMCULE "This is all part of a premeditated approach to increase the pressure on officials ahead of December's run of games in the expectation that the referees will feel obligated to give them a few favourable decisions when it really matters." -------- werent you just having a go at mijatovic for coming up with conspiracy theories and there you are with one of your own! as for the decisions that have 'favoured' us, which one of them did we not deserve? the penalties and red cards were all legitimate, you cant just list decisions for real madrid in the thought that they were all dubious. like that red card from last night? was it a love tap in your eyes? the penalty was a farce you honestly saying there was nothing wrong with that? there's no conspiracy at all, it's just referees being their usual useless selves in la liga. it just so happens that so far real madrid have endured more sh*t than other clubs. simply pointing out the obvious, nothing more, nothing less.
	October 27, 2008 15:06 willpostforfood said: Don't listen to what Mijatovic or Calderon says.They are idiot's in any case.There's no conspiracy, just some typical bad refreeing as usual. Talking about Ramos, the guy needs to sort himself out. He's right about us lacking a right midfielder but he shouldn't have come out and said it in public.
	October 27, 2008 17:11 AdamCule said: Blanco, if there was a conspiracy, rather than madrid simply being on the end of refereeing ineptitude then you wouldn't have these correct decisions going your way. You even admit that it's ineptitude rather than anything more sinister which your sporting director and president have alluded to. Glad to see somebody at "la casa blanca" is still with it. Two decisions from last night which you didn't deserve; Marcelo staying on the pitch and Pepe not conceding a penalty. I don't regard Madrid's annual pressuring of match officials as a conspiracy theory, it's a well rehearsed tactic.
	October 27, 2008 19:51 sameoldcabbage said: It's as simple as this: Madrid have won 6, drawn one and lost one (after which no conspiracy theory was advanced, if I remember correctly). If there is a conspiracy against the club, the conspirators certainly ain't making a very good job of it!
	October 27, 2008 20:43 Tim Stannard said: 12 Major Chords - fair spot for Betis. This may be cursing them, but things might be a looking a little bit rosier for them, this season. And on the Sergio Ramos business, I can see both sides of the argument. Ideally, he shouldn't be airing his smalls in public but he is trying to get his point across after a fair amount of flack has been flying in his direction. After all, Schuster is hardly innocent in this department with his "I'm always the last to know" sulk over the summer, when he complained to the press about being out of the loop on transfer matters when in Austria. And as for the refereeing conspiracies, I don't think even Pedja and Schuster believe in it. There is just some rather undignified mischief making being done. If Ramón Calderón had an ounce of sense in him, he would bllck (not sure if it is still a rude word) the pair of them in the press and apologise for their behaviour And AdamCule - Someone was telling me today, that Málaga have a dog of a pitch, at the moment, so your fears may be realised, next weekend.
	October 27, 2008 22:24 stfcmalaga said: New to this site...am from Swindon but live in Spain, what a weekend!!!! Malaga go to Sevilla and beat the scum at home thats 4 wins on the trot, last season was a rollercoaster of a ride unbeaten in the first 8 games sitting on top of the league then it all went pear shaped right through to the last game against Tenerife where we won, but we had to rely on other teams losing I can tell you it was stressfull to say the least ( bit like being a Swindon supporter sometimes lol) now we are 6th in la liga and your right adamcule Barca have struggled a bit at La Rosalada in the past especially the 5-1 defeat you had a few years ago...will history repeat itself I hope so, I will be there cheering on with the rest of the guiri army (there are about 50 - 100 Brits that go and watch Malaga week in week out) this Saturday so tune in and watch!!!!!!!
	October 28, 2008 11:28 Gonzalo said: Funnily enough, Calderón did come out in Marca today contradicting both Pedja and Bernd on the whole refereeing issue. Whether or not you believe there was something cynical in the move in the first place, at least he's opening his mouth for once to say the right thing. On the Sergio Ramos issue, he's complaining about tactical matters for goodness's sake - if he's that bothered about looking good on the pitch when he goes forward, maybe he should concentrate more on fulfilling his primary role - defending. Ironically, Schuster having his own moaning session in the summer, was about the fact that the club would not go after the players he had asked for - concentrating instead on that futile attempt to pressure Manchester United to sell Cristiano Ronaldo. Had they reinforced the wings like they should have done, perhaps none of this would have happened. Still, one point off the top with such an asymmetric side is not too bad is it? http://allinwhite.blogspot.com
	October 28, 2008 12:25 Paul said: NUMANCIA ,ADAM. RING ANY BELLS ?
	October 28, 2008 12:28 Paul said: "They've had an opponent sent off in their last two games, a penalty awarded in the 6th minute of injury time, a quite blatant penalty last night NOT given and still the refs are against them?" who are you talking about here Adam ? Sounds like a summary of Barça about 3 weeks ago. You really should look in the mirror before you spout nonesense like this.
	October 28, 2008 13:01 AdamCule said: Yes Paul, and there's no refereeing plot against Barça either. Precisely my point! As somebody who only bothers to look at the top half of the table you'll have to give me regular updates on how the perikos are getting on as you seem to have disappeared from view. Still, it was good of Espanyol to deprive madrid of the points which put them behind us. How's the new ground getting on? I hear nobody will be able to get anywhere near it until 2011 because of roadwork delays.
	October 28, 2008 13:58 Eddie said: Hey! Enough of the Betis-bashing! Barca's so-highly-praised 5-0 defeat of Almeria rather matches Betis's defeat of Nastic and Celta Vigo! In other words: No big deal! Barca should come out all puffed up after beating Villareal 5-0 like Real Madrid did last season! Betis is going to win all the rest of their games this season!!!! Tim you didn't say anything about Ever Banega getting himself off this weekend!
	October 28, 2008 20:05 Paul said: When it comes to refs Adam i think it would be wise not to say anything and hope nobody notices. Will say it again ,easy to look at the top of the league from an armchair. The roads around camp Nou and the new flats nobody wants will be built in a weekend, Discuss
	October 29, 2008 15:23 AdamCule said: It is very easy to look at the top of the league from an armchair, and also from my seat at the Camp Nou. Either way, it's an español free zone.