Spain

Goal.commentary: Galactic Explosion Of La Liga

A look at the powers of Spanish football.

Nov 26, 2009 10:02:06 AM

Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Real Madrid, Rosenborg (MARCA)

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Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Real Madrid, Rosenborg (MARCA)

Teams

There is no doubt that the eyes of the world will be looking closely and diligently towards the stars this year like never before. People do not need telescopes for this majestic spectacle. After a summer migration of some of the world’s massive stars from Italy and England to La Liga and into two planet-sized rival teams, the sparks of a galactic explosion has just begun. The eyes of the world will succumb to the gravitational draw of La Liga’s titanic stars.

What makes matters all the more interesting is the fact that these mega-transfers did not settle in a variety of teams to create a balance in the La Liga solar system. Football is not always that fair. Only two teams armored up with the biggest names on the planet Barcelona and Real Madrid are making their everlasting rivalry even more mouthwatering, especially when one anticipates the forthcoming Classico’s that we will come to witness these coming seasons. Even though the Madrid squad has dished out around three times more cash than the former, the signings of the Catalan outfit are just as galactic.

With the season underway, both teams have been swapping first and second place positions in La Liga with a small point difference being the final decider. Madrid have been playing well so far[excluding the 4-0 loss to Alcorcon], at least in terms of results, as is the case with Barca. Although many would argue that Barca are on another level in terms of fluidity. Madrid has more players who have to adapt to each other and form a team under the engineering eye of Manuel Pellegrini, who is set to lose his coaching rule if the Barca clash goes miserably wrong. On the other hand, Barcelona is faced with the task of carrying on last season’s brilliance.

Off the pitch, despite their constellation of superstars and mega-egos, there seems to be relative peace. One would expect a star studded team like Madrid to have problems with the countless media reports of Cristiano Ronaldo overshadowing Kaka, but the Brazilian has dismissed such speculation.

Style and identity

Fans always identify with their teams based on their style of play. Managers and players come and go naturally, the philosophy stays the same. Eventually, a certain identity to the team is created. Barcelona has this certain philosophy that was implemented by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. The identity of the team being carried out by a handful of youth team graduates is something every barca fan can count on. Real Madrid unfortunately believes they can buy this idea, in a business-like fashion.

"There isn't the money in the world to pay for or to buy style. Barcelona played how they knew, in their distinctive style, regardless of the opposition," Cruyff revealed in his column in El Periodico de Catalunya.

After the Champions League game with Inter everyone saw a huge “gap” in the team’s levels that even Jose Mourinho came to admit.

“What can I say, we are far behind in terms of individual quality, they play better. They did well even without [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [Lionel] Messi, but it's as if they were there. For them it's not a problem, they have a clear playing organization.”

Real Madrid – Galacticos 2.0 ?

Madrid fans have now hailed the return of Florentino Perez, and just the name paints an exciting picture of mega-signing headlines. Back in 2001, Perez’s appointment saw him formulating a new and famous strategy, an approach that Real Madrid would buy the world’s best player at the end of every season. The first player signed was Luis Figo from Barcelona in 2000, then came the legendary Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001. The third was Ronaldo from Inter Milan in 2002 and in 2003 David Beckham was signed from Manchester United.

These four signings made up the usual Real Madrid attack; the result was often beautiful and entertaining attacking football. One must not forget the existing names that do match the galactic nature of the players brought in, the likes of Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas and club hero Raul.

Real Madrid's 2009 summer spending started with the re-appointment of Perez as Real Madrid President. Then, like shooting stars ripping into the atmosphere of the Santiago Bernabeu, new arrivals were announced, revealing one by one the creation of a new galactic era.

According to most reports, the combined total cost of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Albiol, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa is around €254 million. That’s a quarter of a billion euros in one summer, on just five players. Perhaps Perez fancied to shortcut four years of transfer spending in just one. Another semi-rational explanation is that he spends too much time playing PlayStation and put together his dream team from the game.

Whichever one of the two it might be, football critics are still not sure whether to run away screaming at the madness of it all or to just sit back and admire Real Madrid’s spending audacity. What they do know for a fact is that the pressure will be more on the second era of the Real Madrid galacticos to perform this season. Many would say that Real’s spending frenzy has been triggered by the enormous success of their bitter rivals and one thing is for sure, Real can’t sit and do nothing while Barca racks up the titles. After all, a quarter of a billion Euros has to buy some silverware, right?

Barcelona – Is Three the Magic Number?

After the most successful season in the history of the club, it may seem like a foolish decision to change anything in a squad that has harvested 5 titles. Yet not everyone was happy with the squad at hand.

Barcelona’s main choreographer, Pep Guardiola, decided it was time for a change for the number “9” role. This meant Barca goal scorer Samuel Eto’s inevitable exit, and the towering and creative Zlatan Ibrahimovic entered, in a deal worth around 40 million Euros with Eto’o on top. Along with Maxwell and Dymtrio Chygrynskiy, the Blaugrana spent around 80 million Euros, a very nontraditional expenditure.

Surley, Barca’s summer spending is not as immense as their bitter rivals, however, after treble winning season the desire for change seems unnecessary. With promoted players like the impressive Pedro and the promising Jeffren and the already promoted prodigies Bojan and Busquets, Barca are already slowly grooming up their “future signings.”

The Second Galactic Explosion

Yes, second. Real’s first galactico era that met a Barcelona with a literally unstoppable Ronaldinho in his prime as well as a lethal Eto’o with Deco and Xavi can be legitimately regarded as the first. Florentino Perez’s regime rises up again to give the world a taste of a second galactic duel in the Barca-Madrid feud.

After recruiting the most talented players from different nations across the globe, bloodshed is sure to take place. One thing is for certain, even though many players of the recent squad did not taste last season’s sour and disgraceful 6-2 home defeat at the hands of the Blaugrana, Madrid will be out to avenge the incident.

Return of the Stars

Many anxious fans feared that this clasico would be without the big guns on either side. At the white castle, Cristano Ronaldo’s long absence seemed to include the Barca match, although after a brief appearance against FC Zurich, one can be sure of his inclusion despite still not recovering 100% from his injury. Ronaldo has stated his intention to play in the Camp Nou, as his recovery from an ankle problem has been driving him to distraction on the touchline.

"It's been six weeks since I played in a game and I'm dying to play," he conceded to Marca. “I can endure the pain and I want to play against Barcelona, no isn't an option. I am really up for it and very eager," he added.

At the Camp Nou, things seemed to be heading in the wrong direction for a short while. Leo Messi and Ibrahimovic were looking to miss the Classico, but being in the dugout is a good sign and most likely even start against Real Madrid.

Until they meet, one can only imagine this galactic collision of these two squads, a supernova of modern football. Who will come out on top in this battle of galaxies?

Abdullah Shams Al-Deen, Goal.com

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