Two weeks ago, I asked if the Primera Division’s four representatives in the Champions League can bounce back from first leg disappointments and qualify for the quarter-finals. Well, the results are in and only two, Barcelona and Villarreal, managed to make it through.
Two out of four isn’t half bad, considering none of them actually won in the first leg and three of them were playing at home. But two out of four isn’t great either, especially considering two others, Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna, were bundled out at the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup, while Sevilla and Racing Santander didn’t even get out of the group stage. Two out of eight is disastrous.
La Liga clubs have to face facts. Their dominance in Europe is well and truly over and it’s not just a phase or a cycle where they are automatically expected to regain supremacy in a few years time. Something needs to change. The general consensus is that they are too slow for continental football. But that simply isn’t true. Well, not entirely.
Spanish teams are more than capable of playing at a fast pace and at a high tempo, provided they are playing against an opponent who actually allows them to attack. Their problem, however, is that they are too one-dimensional. La Liga sides only know how to play one style of football, or to put a different spin on it, they are expected and demanded to play only one way: attack.
This method, while entertaining to the neutral viewer, immediately eliminates their surprise element when they play in Europe. Almost every opponent knows how to defend against their Spanish counterparts even before they pop in the DVD of their latest games for analysis. And it is that lack of flexibility that is giving them such a headache against quality opposition.
Manchester United and Liverpool, for example, showed that they can adjust their playing style according to their opponents and catch their rivals off-guard. The Red Devils, strong advocates of the school of attractive football, went ultra-defensive against Barcelona in last season’s Champions League semi-final clash, and happily waltzed into the final 1-0 on aggregate.
Liverpool did the same at Real Madrid a fortnight ago, edging out a 1-0 first leg win with a dogged defensive display before stunning their unsuspecting adversaries in the second leg with a completely different approach to the game.
It wasn’t the speed and intensity of Liverpool's attack which annihilated Madrid, but rather, it was the surprise element. Not a single player in white was expecting Rafa Benitez’s troops to attack them with such fury at such a breathless pace.
Los Merengues fell for the same trick twice against Juventus in the group stage. They had anticipated the Italians to sit back, but instead, the Old Lady pummelled them with a few early assaults and it knocked their game plan off-kilter. And Juve, by no means, play any faster a game of football than Madrid.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, crashed out on the away goals rule to Porto and that was because they shipped in two goals at home. And they, too, were taken aback by their visitors’ bold plan of attack, literally.
To their credit, Los Colchoneros did try to surprise their opponents back in the return leg in Portugal. They opted to play on the counter-attack, hoping to score an early goal and defend all the way for the slimmest of victories. The problem is, Atletico playing counter-attacking football is like Tiger Woods trading in his golf clubs for croquet mallets. Now, I can’t say I know for sure how good or how bad Tiger would be at croquet, but the point is that it simply will not work.
Atleti have been polishing up their art of attacking football over the past few seasons and to suddenly adopt something as foreign as a defensive strategy left their players perplexed and bemused. Of course, starting with in-form striker, Diego Forlan, on the bench didn’t help matters either, but that’s an argument for a whole separate article altogether.
Barcelona are the only side in Spain, if not the world, who will kick-off a match in sixth gear and finish in seventh. You could say that they are successful because of the intense pace and rhythm of their game.
But it also has a lot to do with the fact that their opponents are rarely able to get the ball off them, notwithstanding the three weeks between mid-February and early March when they had to take their gearbox in for repairs. And it just might also have something to do with the fact that they have a player by the name of Lionel Messi in their side. Just maybe.
Something has to change and, as they always say, it has to start at home. And one of the core problems lies with the match officiating. The physical aspect is almost non-existent in the Spanish game because referees tend to blow the whistle and issue cards for the tiniest of infringements.
Other than the usual ferocious derbies and rivalries, where the matches actually turn into an all-out war, players often just crumble to the ground knowing full well that they will be awarded a free-kick for the slightest of contacts. This, of course, also stops the game from being played at a higher tempo.
Suffice to say, if Fernando Torres had pulled down Pepe en route to scoring Liverpool’s first goal, it would never have been allowed in La Liga. And if Pepe had been playing in the Premier League week in, week out, he would never have buckled under Torres’ shoulder tap. Whether or not the goal itself should have stood is now academic.
Coaches in Spain do not bother honing their players’ physical strength. And it’s not because of their size. It’s because the players know the game will never get too physical to the extent where they have to substitute muscle for technique.
The fans must also change their mentality. They must realise that their team cannot always play attractive football. Robinho made a wise observation when he compared fans in England and Spain. The gist of it was that in the Premier League, the fans will always start singing and dancing from the first minute and get behind their team no matter what.
In La Liga, the supporters have to be won over and impressed every single game before they start cheering for their own club. But play one back-pass too many, and they will turn against you in a split second.
The biggest responsibility, however, falls to the club presidents. It has come to a point where most of the big-wigs are no longer able to keep hold of their most talented, valuable players and prevent them from leaving Spain. It may just be a coincidence, but it does appear as if the exodus over the past few years has coincided with La Liga’s slump in Europe.
To compensate, the presidents must allow their coaches time to slowly assemble and build a strong team, even if it means starting from scratch every few years due to excessive player departures.
The structure and social model of Spanish clubs are set-up in a way that nothing stays the same for very long. As of this season, the longest serving coach in the league is Villarreal’s Manuel Pellegrini, who has been with the club since July 2004. That explains why they have been one of the most consistent teams in the league over the past four years, so much so that they have now, amazingly, overtaken Real Madrid in the UEFA rankings.
Two more prime examples of impermanence and instability are Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo. They were playing in the Champions League just five years ago and now they are in the Segunda Division and nowhere near in sight of regaining promotion.
The biggest irony of all is that seven to ten years ago, when La Liga’s elite were conquering Europe, their national team flopped endlessly at international level. Now, everything has gone in reverse. La Seleccion have triumphed on the big stage, and continue to impress, while the club sides are struggling haplessly.
Whatever La Furia Roja did to change their attitude and mentality to emerge from their 44-year siesta, it has to be transmitted back to club level.
KS Leong, Goal.com

 

BARCA will always be the best in my heart. I wish we still had ronaldinho BUT the team is just as sick without him...