La Liga summer transfers - pt 1

     Well the World Cup - my most favouritest one ever - is now over. Football is dead, long live football. A new season is on the horizon and with it arrive a plethora of new players; some well known, others unknown, some for extortionate fees and others on frees. Possibly the best new signing could be a team rather than a player, with Eibar confirming it has managed to raise the amount stipulated by the ridiculous Spanish rules and will therefore be hosting Primera teams at its minute Ipurua ground for the first time.
     As I have some time to kill ahead of Primera División football breaking out again on August 23, I thought I'd take a look at the acquisitions of all teams in La Liga to date. There will be many, many more signings made between now and the transfer window closing on August 31 but I'm feeling impatient for football again and this may just kill some time! And so, without Freddy Adu, we begin with;

Almería

     After staying up by the nerve-endings on the skin of their teeth last season, los Rojiblancos desperately needed to both strengthen their team and keep hold of Aleix Vidal. They failed in their latter attempt, the inspirational winger beating a path to across Andalucía to Sevilla for EUR3m. In a somewhat strange move, Real Madrid graduate Marcos Tébar has also left, swapping the south-east of Spain for West London to join... Brentford. Go figure.

That's one happy Teerasil

     In their attempts to strengthen, Almería have spared no expense. Sorry, I mean they've spared no money. Operating on a tight budget, the team hasn't spent a penny on reinforcements, with new players coming in either on free transfers or on loan - as is the case with perennial loanee Wellington Silva from Arsenal and, intriguingly, with Teerasil Dangda from Muangthong United. The Thailand striker formerly spent a season at Man Citeh in 2008/09 but never kicked a ball in anger.

     Among the frees, they've brought in Rayo Vallecano 'keeper Rubén, Argentine centre-back Mauro dos Santos from Real Murcia and right-back Ximo Navarro from Mallorca. More in hope than expectation of adding firepower, they've also brought in Israeli striker Tomer Hemed from Mallorca. Although he performed reasonably well in the Primera last time out a couple of years ago, he only managed a paltry 2 goals in 24 games last season in the division below. Almería will look to pair him with Quique, who bagged a highly creditable 24 in 38 last season, albeit in Segunda B with CD Guadalajara.

Athletic Bilbao

Thumbs-up: Viguera

     Los Leones finished fourth in La Liga last term, 7 points behind Real and 7 points ahead of Sevilla. You'd think they would have spotted an opportunity to break into the top 3 this season, as although Real and Barcelona have both strengthened ridiculously, Atlético Madrid are haemorrhaging players and could possibly falter.

     The main problem for Bilbao, as ever, is their laudable transfer structure which means they can only sign Basque players. This obviously limits the number of players available to them on the market somewhat, and so far this summer they've only managed to bring in Borja Viguera from Alavés for EUR1m. However, the striker did manage to notch 25 goals last season, so could provide decent back-up to the ageing but still good-for-goals Aritz Aduriz who is in his third and most prolific spell with the Bilbao team.

Atlético Madrid

     I'd say of all the top teams, Atleti and excitable gaffer Cholo Simeone have the toughest job over the summer. Most other teams winning one of the big European leagues could reasonably expect to strengthen their team and not have the squad picked apart, but this is exactly what has happened to Atlético. It would seem they have become a victim of their own success, with much of the squad moving overseas - and a large part of that to Chelsea unfortunately.

Err, that's one way to celebrate: Costa

     Former Brazilian Diego Costa may have resembled some sort of haggarred, weak-kneed beach donkey during the World Cup but was instrumental in the team's against-all-odds league victory with 27 goals. He of course has joined Chelsea for EUR38m and I'm sure everyone reading (hello both) will join me in wishing him a dismal season of failure and lots and lots of rain in the Premiership. Joining him in the hopefully relegation-bound side is impressive left-back Filipe Luís after EUR20m changed hands. The clever but frustratingly inconsistent Diego has left for an undisclosed fee, joining Fenerbahce, while Atleti somehow managed to persuade Porto to part with EUR11m for 60% of the rights to one-goal-per-nine-games striker Adrián. David Villa has joined New York City. Just to help the game grow across the pond of course. Nothing to do with a massive pension top-up. Not at all.

Nearly in last season's colours: Mandzukic

     Los Colchoneros have needed to sign two 'keepers in order to replace Zamora Trophy-winning loanee Thibaut Cortois, with Jan Oblack (EUR16m, Benfica) and Miguel Ángel Moyà (EUR3m, Getafe) coming in his stead. They can't play them both at the same time though, obviously. To replace Costas' goals the Madrid side have turned to Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic, shelling out EUR22m on the 'big man up top', and taken a EUR7.5m punt on young Argentine striker Ángel Correa from San Lorenzo. They have since also executed a nimble bit of transfer gazumpery by bringing in classy wing-waif Antoine Griezmann for EUR30m. Tough-tackling fullback Cristian Ansaldi has also joined from Zenit. Where he played all of 9 games since moving from Rubin Kazan last year. Finally, Cholo has elected to replace his Brazilian left-back with...a Brazilian left-back, with Guilherme Siqueira coming in from Granada for EUR10m. After all if it ain't broke etc.

Barcelona

     Having 'only' finished second last year Barça are quite clearly in need of a massive revamp of
their squad. Surely the biggest loss for the team over the summer was a giant of a man, a true

Pity for me this funny man has gone :(

legend of the club who should have won more international caps by far and stood firm between the sticks for years, playing in a total of 31 games in six years - the venerable pirate of El Puerto, José Manuel Pinto. As an aside, Victor Valdés and (actual) club legend Carles Puyol also left on frees. The Catalan side generated most of the funds for incoming players with the sale of not-really-first-teamers Cesc Fàbregas and Alexis Sánchez, who possibly shared the same plane as they jetted in to London to join Chelsea and Arsenal for EUR33m and EUR42.5m respectively. Somewhat less cash-money was generated by Jonathan dos Santos (EUR2m) and Bojan (EUR4m) joining Villarreal and somewhat implausibly, Stoke.

Suárez minus his mouth-weapons

     The flip-side of this coin is, of course, that Barcelona managed to sign the 'humble' (not the first word that springs to mind for most, Andoni) Luis Suárez from Liverpool for a staggering EUR81m. There were rumours before that they may have included a 'no biting clause' (and what the fuck kind of adult human being needs that kind of shit written into a contract), but what are they going to do if when he bites someone again? Cancel his contract and not take any money from the queue of massive teams lining up to sign him? Brilliant footballer, abhorrent human man. The club (can they be called a club, they're supposed to be 'more than' that, aren't they?) would do best to extract all his teeth and allow him to wear dentures while out and about on the street, provided he can prove his control over them.

     Of the actual humans signed, Ivan Rakitic is the pick of the bunch. One of the very best players in the entire league last year, Barcelona prised him away from Sevilla with the offer of EUR18m plus a borrow of Denis Suárez. The team behind new manager Luis 'turncoat' Enrique also sanctioned the signing of two highly impressive 'keepers - letter minefield Marc-André ter Stegen from Borussia Mönchengladbach for EUR12m and Chilean #1 Claudio Bravo for EUR12m from Real Sociedad. The team also made left-back Jérémy Mathieu the most expensive-ever signing over 30 when they paid Valencia EUR20m for his services.

Celta de Vigo

'El Bati' in his new surroundings

     Os Célticos finished an impressive 9th last time out - 10 points above the relegation zone nine places below but also 10 points behind Sociedad in the last European spot just two places above.

     In a bid to push on, the team has raided Barcelona B for two defenders - Carles Planas and Sergi Gómez. More importantly, Celta managed to bring in forward Joaquín 'el Bati' Larrivey on a free from Rayo Vallecano, and the Argentine hitman will look to form a good partnership with naturalised Chilean Pablo Hernández, who has arrived from O'Higgins for a fee of EUR1.6m. Born in Tucumán, Argentina, Hernández received a Chilean passport earlier in the year and played for the team in a World Cup warm-up against Costa Rica, where he scored a brace. If he keeps up a scoring record of two goals per game he'll even manage to challenge CR7 and Messi for the Pichichi. Maybe.

Córdoba

Happy new additions Deivid & Fidel

     After finishing 7th in Segunda last season (and even that only on goal difference over Recreativo), Córdoba saw off Las Palmas in a tight two-legged final to reclaim their place at the top table of Spanish football for the first time in 42 years. Manager Albert Ferrer, yes that one, obviously has faith in his side's defence, thus far only adding Deivid on a free from their vanquished promotion opponents.

     Further forward, los Califas have added firepower in the shape of giant Japanese centre-forward Mike Havenaar (yes, in spite of the name he is genuinely Japanese, albeit by birth) on a free from Vitesse. Incoming midfielders have come in the flavours of José Carlos, from Rayo, and Patrick Ekeng from Lausanne. In addition, Ferrer has loaned in exitingly-named Brazilian wing-smith Ryder Matos from Fiorentina, Fidel from Elche and Fede Cartabia from Valencia.

Deportivo La Coruña

Arriving in Galícia: Cuenca

     After leading the way in the Segunda for much of the season, Superdépor were overtaken by fairy tale team Eibar at the death and finished second. Thus far their only concrete business has seen them bring in Isaac Cuenca from Barcelona after the Catalans agreed to rescind the pacey young player's contract. He will be hoping to resurrect his once-promising career after falling out of the picture and being loaned out to Ajax last term.

     Joining him will be a clutch of loan signings. It's easier to list them than go through them all individually, so they are - defender Roberto Canella from Sporting Gijón and midfielders Luis Carlos Fariña, Lucas Pérez and José Rodriguez from Benfica, PAOK and Real Madrid respectively.

Eibar

     After managing to raise the amount stipulated by the Spanish FA, Eibar will be allowed to take their rightful place in the Primera Liga next season for the very first time! Huzzah! And extremely well done to anyone who bought shares in the little club to help them achieve their goal. No-one connected with the club will underestimate the task facing them this season, though. Their championship-winning squad was filled with a mass of loan signings, many of whom will not be returning to Ipurua this time round.

Dani García (renewal) & Javi Lara,
with scarves. Big scarves.

     Predictably, all their signings so far have been on frees. As much as fans like the fairy tale story of a tiny team from a far-flung part of the country with a stadium holding barely over 5,000 getting into the Big Time, players prefer money. Los Armeros, therefore, have so far only managed to persuade three blokes to join their crew. Manager and former player Gaizka Garitano will be hoping that Levante's Ángel will be able to provide some goals while Jaime Jiménez, from Valladolid, will be able to keep them out at the other end. In between the pair, journeyman midfieldster Javi Lara has joined from Ponferradina in what is something like the 74th transfer of his career.

Elche

     Along with Almería, Elche also finished last season one point above the drop zone. While the team's goal difference of -20 was better than many of those around them, they only managed to score 30 goals in 38 games. Nonetheless, manager Fran Escribá hasn't seemed preoccupied with bringing extra firepower into his front line. The only actual striker to have joined is Jonathas, who arrives on loan after scoring 15 in 37 for Latina in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B last season, helping them win promotion to Serie B after finishing third.

Pasalic with the customary thumbs-up

     In midfield, Fayçal Fajr was secured on a free from Caen, Adrián Gonzalez joined from Rayo, as did former Real Madrid youth Pedro Mosquera. Poland international 'keeper Przemysław Tytoń has joined on loan from PSV Eindhoven, but the most interesting Eastern European addition is Mario Pasalic, who joins on loan from Chelsea. Despite never having played an international game, the German-born 19-year-old was part of Croatia's initial World Cup squad before missing out in the final cut. He's highly-regarded by the West Londoners and it will be interesting to see how he fares.

Espanyol

An absolute unit: Caicedo

     Los Periquitos had a quiet season and pulled themselves together before the end to finish 14th, albeit only 3 points above the drop. Nevertheless Dépor legend Sergio, in his very first appointment as manager, feels the scoring side wasn't such a problem last season, and has therefore only added spectacularly-dredded former Manchester City misfit Felipe Caicedo to his forward line on a free from Al Jazira, where he had presumably got tired of reading the news.

     Defenders Anaitz Arbilla and Álvaro González have joined from Rayo and Real Zaragoza respectively, while link men Paco Montañés and Salva Sevilla signed up to the Barcelona club from Zaragoza (again) and Seville team Betis.

That concludes the run-down of the first 10 Primera Liga teams. The second half of this enthralling, rip-roaring, unputdownable internetty scribe will be posted in the next few days/next week/when I can be bothered/never/no, probably in the next few days, actually.

Cholo - managing with a knife between his teeth

     Move aside Klopp, Guardiola and Mourinho; Diego Pablo Simeone is surely the hottest managerial property in the world right now. After the job he's done at Atlético Madrid, especially bearing in mind the state in which he found the club, only the most myopic of supporters would even attempt to argue otherwise. Sorry Tony Pulis. And sorry Brendan Rodgers. Although the Northern Irishman has performed admirably at Liverpool, his achievement of hauling them into second place with only one of the world's top 3 strikers and many millions of pounds at his disposal was dwarfed by that facing Cholo in Spain.

A young Cholo at Vélez

     Born in Buenos Aires to an amateur footballer father, Simeone began his illustrious playing career at the age of 17 with hometown club Vélez Sársfield. He had already picked up the nickname Cholo when youth-team coach Victorio Spinetto saw that his bustling style of play reminded him of Carmelo 'Cholo' Simeone (no relation). The young combative midfielder played well for El Fortín, featuring in 76 games with a respectable return of 14 goals, and earned the first of his 106 caps for Argentina at the age of 18 in a friendly against Australia.
     Twenty-year-old Cholo continued performing well domestically and eventually moved across the ocean to the promised land of European football to join ambitious newly-promoted Seria A side Pisa. Although the team were promptly relegated the next season, Simeone enjoyed more success internationally, winning the Copa América with Argentina in 1991. In addition to this, he also played in the teams that won the Confederations Cup in 1992 and 1993 (known then as the King Fahd Cup and Artemio Franchi Trophy respectively, just for shits and giggles) alongside the likes of Batistuta, Caniggia and a certain Diego Armando Maradona. Simeone's energetic and dogged style of play was noted around Europe and in the summer of '92 he was bought by Sevilla.
     He was not the only Argentine to pitch up in Seville that summer, the club spending a massive and ultimately ill-advised $7.5m to take a cocaine-shamed and well out of shape Diego Maradona from Napoli. Cholo's style could hardly have been any more different to that of his legendary but bloated countryman and he was far more instrumental in helping los Nervionenses to successive seventh and sixth place finishes.

With the Copa del Rey in '96

     In 1994, with another Copa América under his belt, Simeone left Andalucía to join Atlético Madrid, where the club only managed to avoid relegation with a draw on the very last day. The following season saw Luton Town legend Radomir Antić (who incidentally, pop quiz fans, is the only man to have managed Atleti, Real Madrid and Barcelona) installed as the new manager, and he added the likes of goalkeeping mainstay José Francisco Molina and goal-getter extraordinaire Lyuboslav Penev to a squad that already included José Luis Caminero, Juan Vizcaíno and non-jumping tall-man striker Kiko. Cholo drove this talented team onwards, and though Milinko Pantić may have been the playmaker in the side, its main man was Simeone. Los Colchoneros took the league by storm and belied their relegation form of the previous season to end 1996 not only as winners of the Copa del Rey, but also as La Liga champions for the first time since 1977. Quite apart from being the captain and heartbeat of this side, Simeone also scored the winning goal in the game that clinched the league title. Although the following season ended up trophyless for the capital club, Simeone kept his own shiny trinket cabinet topped up by winning an Olympic silver medal as one of three permitted overage players. Atleti's first foray into the Champions League the following season ended with them being knocked out in extra time by Ajax in the quarter-finals.
     Simeone returned to Serie A in 1997 for two seasons with Inter Milan, during which he won the UEFA Cup, and then joined Sven-Göran Eriksson's Argentine revolution at Lazio. A madly talented, free-flowing team in pastel blue that also included Juan Seba Verón, Néstor Sensini and Hernán Crespo won a rare Italian double of league and Coppa Italia in his first season in Rome, as well as the UEFA Supercup and, the following season, the Supercoppa Italia. During this time he also

That red card in '98

committed the act for which he is arguably still best known on these shores. The second round game between Argentina and England at World Cup France '98 had been pretty evenly balanced until Cholo, who described his style of play as "holding a knife between my teeth", went down like the proverbial sack of shit after Beckham childishly kicked out at him, managing to persuade busy referee-giraffe hybrid Kim Milton Nielsen to send the future Goldenballs off. It mostly goes forgotten that Simeone also had a big say in the opening goal of the match, bursting through the England defence after 5 minutes and 'making the most' of a slight brush from Seaman to earn Argentina a penalty. He also implored the referee for a card after this. Speaking of Beckham's sending off in 2002, Simeone explained; "I had tackled him, we both fell to the ground. As I was trying to stand up that was when he kicked me from behind. And I took advantage of that. And I think any person would have taken advantage of that in just the same way. Sometimes you get sent off, sometimes you don't. Unfortunately for the English team that time they lost a player. Anyway, you take advantage of all the opportunities you find in your life. If you don't take advantage of a chance that comes your way you are lost."

In his 2nd Atleti spell, here
with Torres (his captain)

     After four seasons in Italy, the battle-hardened Cholo returned to Atlético Madrid in 2003. Since his departure six years before, the team had fallen on hard times. Relegated in 2000, the side was rebuilt by Atleti legend Luis Aragonés with a young Fernando Torres the focal point of the attack, and returned to the Primera in 2002, finishing 11th in their first season back in the bigtime. Cholo did not taste the same success as he had the first time in the red and white stripes, and left in 2005 for one last playing position back in Argentina, with Racing Club.
     Simeone tells the story of how, after his last professional game on February 16, 2006, he spent half an hour in the shower trying to decide whether he really wanted to stay in football and become a manager. At least that's what he says he was doing... Either way, by the time he'd dried himself off, Cholo had decided he would indeed cross the white line and try his hand at this managerial lark.
    He took over the reins at Racing immediately, turning the team's fortunes around in just three months to bring an impressive end to the 2006 Clausura after its dodgy start. In May he left when ownership of the club changed hands and took over at Estudiantes within the month. Cholo led the La Plata club to one of the very few trophies in its history, collecting the 2006 Apertura title after beating Boca Juniors 2-1 in a playoff after the pair finished level on points. By December 2007 he had moved on from Estudiantes to Argentine giants River Plate, succeeding his former international manager Daniel Passarella. Although he remained for less than a full year, he still brought the 2008 Clausura title to los Millonarios. Nevertheless, he eventually handed in his resignation with River bottom of the table after 11 domestic games without a win. It was not until April 2009 that Cholo joined another Primera División team, San Lorenzo, where he would remain for almost exactly a year. He quit in April 2010 following poor results and increasing criticism of his tactics.
     After San Lorenzo, Simeone had some time out of the game before coming back to Europe to take over the reins at Sicily side Catania. The former tough-tackling midfielder was tasked with keeping Gli Elefanti in Serie A, which he achieved despite heavy odds. Mission accomplished at season's end, Cholo returned to Argentina and Racing, staying 'til the end of the year.

Back at Atleti for a third time

     Just two days before Christmas 2011, on December 23, Diego Simeone returned to Atlético Madrid for a third stint, this time as manager, replacing Gregorio Manzano. The team were languishing just four points off the relegation zone when he came in and were a shambles off the field - mired in debts of over half a billion euros. In order to stave off the creditors, the club had been forced to continually sell its prized playing assets. Just before the new manager's arrival, Atleti had been playing in front of a half-full Vicente Calderón stadium and even lost in the Copa del Rey to third-tier Albacete, and the new gaffer knew he had one hell of a job to rebuild the club as well as the team. But then he always did enjoy a challenge - on the field as well as off it. To begin with he made minor adjustments such as changing the colour of the nets in the goals - from black to match the team's red and white kit. He also began working on the players' mindsets as well as tactics on the training pitch. Cholo's motivational techniques are already public knowledge, and possibly the most well-known of these is his way of giving pre-match individual talks before the players go to bed, rationalising that "just like children, they listen best just before bedtime". I'll be frank; the image of the former bustling midfielder - still so energetic on the sidelines during games - wearing black and hunched over in a little chair next to players' beds reading them bedtime stories from his book of tactics before sleepy time leaves me slightly unnerved. Still, you can't knock the man's results..
     He also began to rework the team in his own image, getting them to play a high-pressing game, aggressively hunting after the ball non-stop and attacking as a unit. He has since explained that "It’s hard for me to interact with players who don’t give themselves completely. The weak don’t interest me." Expanding on the theme, he's stated that competition between teammates is the driving force which keeps his teams steaming forward, saying "There is only one form of motivation, the lifeline of any team: internal competition. If there is no competition between players, the team dies. It’s the only situation which strengthens the coach."

Gio Simeone after going through
a 'hazing' ritual at River

     Although he had always felt sure he'd return to Atlético after leaving in 2005, it took a lot for Simeone to leave Argentina this last time to do so. The offer to manage the club represented a dream to Cholo, but he knew it would mean leaving his family behind in his homeland. He did not want to keep uprooting them with every new job, and a move to Spain would put too much strain on them, he reasoned. Besides that, all three of his sons play at various levels for River Plate - Giovanni had just broken into the first team when los Rojiblancos called on his father to save them. Perhaps if his father had stayed in Argentina, young Gio's teammates would have been too afraid to shave half his hair off when he signed his first professional contract..

     Despite Atleti's poor position when he took over, Simeone's work with the squad yielded immediate results and they went unbeaten in his first seven games in the dugout, only losing 2-1 to Barcelona in the eighth. This was no 'new-manager bounce' however and Atleti continued to climb the table, eventually finishing fifth. The newly-positive team prospered in Europe also, with Cholo leading them to the Europa League final where they beat a young, fluid and highly-fancied Athletic Bilbao side, which had utterly outclassed Manchester United in an earlier round, 3-0.

Celebrating the 4-1 European Super
Cup demolition of Chelsea

     The following season began with a strong statement of intent, los Colchoneros smashing the shit out of a stunned Chelsea 4-1 in the UEFA Super Cup with Radamel Falcao helping himself to a 45 minute hat-trick. Although Simeone's charges drew the first Primera División game of the season 1-1 against Levante, they then won their next eight games on the spin, taking them to second place. They did not fall far off the pace the rest of the season and finished third, thereby qualifying for the Champions League the following year. Although Atleti conceded their Europa League crown in only the round of 32, the fans had much to celebrate come the season's end, having defeated the old enemy Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. A brutal game with 15 yellow cards (two becoming reds) required extra time to separate the teams, and gender-bendingly named Miranda eventually settled the game with a header from a corner. Points for originality there. This was Atleti's first victory over la Real going all the way back to 1999 - they had lost the last ten on the bounce - and was all the sweeter for the game being played at the Bernabéu.

Handing over the mantle;
Falcao and Costa

     Atlético Madrid suffered a huge loss at the beginning of the 2013-14 season when Falcao was sold to Monaco for a reported EUR60m. El Tigre had scored 34 goals in 41 games in all competitions and would be nigh-on impossible to replace. Atleti used some of the money to bring in all-time Spain top-scorer David Villa from Barcelona for around EUR5m, but he was 31 and had only scored 10 league goals for Barça the previous season. Instead of splurging more of those Falcao millions up front, Simeone trusted in Diego Costa to find the goals that had been eluding him - he also had 10 league goals to his name the previous season, and just 6 in 2010/11. The Argentine's trust evidently paid off as the big Brazilian Spanish striker stepped out of Falcao's shadow to bang in 35 wage-earners in 44 Primera División and Champions League games this season.
     Atleti's run to win the league and lose in the Champions League final and Copa del Rey semifinal to Real Madrid in 2014 was not based solely upon Diego Costa's goals, though. There's a strong will and team ethic that runs through this team. Simeone used fewer players than any of the other teams around him this season, and seven of the ten players with the most minutes played in La Liga over 2013/14 have been under his charge. Like many other Argentine and South American managers, his tactics mirror those of Marcelo Bielsa; pressuring teams high up the pitch and extremely early, never giving opponents a moment to dwell on the ball. Every win against Cholo's Atleti side has to be earned, they give away neither goals nor games cheaply. At least, not until those last few games of the season. Los Colchoneros did not lose to Real Madrid or Barcelona in the league whatsoever, and beat los Culés over two legs in the Champions League into the bargain. And yet despite a storming start to the league in which they won their first eight games, Atleti still found themselves in second. That's how crazy the level is at the top in Spain. No-one thought they had the staying power to challenge for the entire season; even Cholo said he was taking it "game by game".

Celebrating a successful and amazing season

"Game by game" was his answer every week at the post-match press conferences, "game by game" right to the end. Atlético did not hit the summit of the league until gameweek 22, and even then that was only for one week. The following week they dropped to third. But on matchday 29 they took first place again and were not dislodged until the 33rd minute of that infamous final game against Barcelona at Camp Nou. Of course, as history will relate, they believed in themselves and rallied superbly at the start of the second half to level through a smashing header from Diego Godín - the Uruguayan who was once transferred for less than the price of a pair of football boots but can now call himself a Primera División champion.
     The same player had given his team the lead against  Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Lisbon a week later, but heartbreakingly saw it cancelled out in the 93rd minute by a Sergio Ramos leveller. Los Blancos went on to claim their fabled Décima with a 4-1 victory, but Simeone was proud of his players in defeat, saying they had "given their all". And that's all he ever asks. After the game he said "People say that winning is the most important thing, but the support we've had from people tells you there's another side to it. I told my players that, when you've played as well as they did tonight, to keep their heads up and start thinking about next season. You can lose or you

The man(ager) in black

can win - this time it's our turn to lose and we know we've given it our all. People responded to what the team have done and that allows us to grow further and continue to compete." Nonetheless, he demonstrated his winner-takes-all mindset when describing his feelings about losing the final; "It's not sadness, it's bitterness. I feel bitter that I didn't reach our objective. I wish I could have won the way I wanted, but I couldn't - though I can overcome this. I know that, once you've given your all, there's other players and another match." In the end though, he said "the supporters should be proud of an excellent season, they shouldn't waste a single second being sad. Once you've given your all, you can't go around licking your wounds - you have to come back and compete next season, go around annoying other teams and being pests next year too."
     That was his plan this year - to be a pest to the big clubs. You can bet Atleti - and Cholo - will prove to be more than that next season, even if they do lose Courtois and Costa as expected. Atlético Madrid lost the 1974 European Cup final 4-0 to Bayern Munich in a replay after the first game ended 1-1 with the Bavarians equalising through a 40 yard wonder strike from signature collectors' favourite Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck in the very last minute of extra time. Since that moment, Atleti were nicknamed El Pupas, or The Jinxed Ones. And since that time they've contrived to repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot and let their fans down in ever-more elaborate ways. Although they did lose the Champions League in that most typical of Atleti fashions this time around, they managed to repeatedly beat the so-called big teams all season and won an astounding and improbable league championship: Cholo has turned the mentality of the entire club around. They're now winners - and they play to win. Just like Cholo.

Massive week for Madrid in League & Cup

     All the way through, as the weeks and months racked up with his team still in pole position, Cholo Simeone argued they wouldn't be able to win it. Everyone agreed. There was no way Atlético Madrid would be able to stay the course and prise La Liga from the monied grip of the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. Then results started to falter - for all three teams. Real were first to lose touch; three games without a win and they were out of the race even if they won on the last day (and they did, 3-1). Barcelona had drawn two in a row ahead of the final game of the season but still had the title within their grasp - all they had to do was beat Atleti and they'd win the league. At home. In front of a packed Camp Nou with just 447 away fans shunted precariously up in the heavens. Atleti had also faltered; no wins in the last two games, draws becoming easier to come by than wins. However, just one more draw would secure their first title since 1996, when Cholo was out on the pitch rather than in the dugout, and the omens were good - they hadn't lost to Barca in five meetings already this season.

The lucky 447

     Barcelona had been looking shaky of late, the positive results they did pick up coming courtesy of strange own-goals and lucky let-offs. They did not look far better in front of their partisan home crowd on Saturday either but were handed a massive boost when both Diego Costa and Arda Turan had to come off injured before the game was 25 minutes old. With Atleti's star players tear-struck on the bench, Barcelona proceeded to take the lead in emphatic style with an audacious, barnstorming goal from the otherwise bland-as-light mayonnaise Alexis Sánchez. The Chilean received a knock-down from the sluggish-looking Messi in the area just after the half-hour mark and blasted the ball past La Liga goalkeeper of the season Thibaut Courtois from an acute angle into the roof of the net. No-one on earth could've stopped that strike, not even the Zamora winner. However, despite getting their noses in front Barcelona never really looked like extending their lead and became increasingly frustrated, typified by both alleged World Cup enthusiast Messi and man-rat experiment Sergio Busquets being booked at half time for dissent.

Godín goal

     I couldn't say for sure what Simeone told his team at half-time but I'm positive it involved swearing. A lot of swearing. Whatever he said, it had the desired effect as Atleti equalised within 5 minutes of the restart. They could have actually scored even before that as they lay siege to pirate Pinto's goal straight from kick-off, but eventually pulled level when Diego Godín launched himself skywards and smacked a header past the despairing 'keeper from a Gabi corner. The few hundred Atleti fans in the stands went berserk while (most of) the rest of the country prayed for the result to stay this way. They all will have had their hearts in their mouths when Messi did find the net, but the diminutive Argentine was flagged offside, calming fears of nationwide palpitations.

     Pipped to the league by that solitary equalising goal, it has to be said the fans in Camp Nou were magnanimous in defeat. At the final whistle all sides of the stadium rose and applauded the victors, sensing the fact they had seen the culmination of something special. The match may not have proved a classic, but the season definitely was. And hey, at least the Madrid they'd lost the title to was Atético and not Real, right? In Marca, the only Barcelona player to receive a half-decent rating was the possibly-outgoing Javier Mascherano who was awarded 6.5 out of 10. Iniesta got 5.5, Pedrito got 4 and Messi got 3. Conversely, every single Atleti player was scored as either a 9 or a 10 with the exception of Costa and Turan, both of whom got 7s. OK, this is Marca we're talking about and the markings, while way over-egged, are not to be unexpected.

The Atleti-dominated team of the season

The performance typified Atleti's entire season; their team ethic, their determination and their leader on the sidelines, the man who played for Atlético both when they'd last won the championship and when they re-emerged from the purgatory of the Segunda División in 2003. Just to reiterate the point, seven Atleti players made the Liga BBVA team of the season; Courtois, Filipe Luis, Godín, Juanfran, Gabi, Koke and Diego Costa. No Barcelona players whatsoever were included while Real Madrid's only representative was CR7, who also claimed the Pichichi trophy. Ander Iturraspe and Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Bilbao also made the cut, as did Sevilla's highly impressive Croatian Ivan Rakitić, who in my opinion was the player of the season outright and now looks set to be bombarded with offers of heavy bags of money from Real Madrid over the summer.
     At the final whistle Cholo was enveloped in a bear hug by Germán 'Mono' Burgos, the ever-expanding former Atleti keeper, finally being disgorged to display a wide, almost manic smile. After repeatedly denying his team could do it, they'd finally done it. Nothing could dampen the Argentine manager's spirits. When it emerged that the team would not be presented with the league title trophy because Ángel María Villar, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, was unable to attend the match, Simeone smiled again and said "that doesn't matter, they can't take it off us". No, Cholo, they cannot indeed.

All whores free!!!

Despite the absence of the league trophy, reportedly over 200,000 Colchoneros turned out in Madrid for the title procession. The city was painted white and red, where it is historically more used to being painted simply white. They lined the route for miles, perched on any vantage point they could find or riding alongside on mopeds, and the parade eventually culminated at the Fountain of Neptune, which has seen a lot more action in recent years than its counterpart a short walk away at Cibeles. They partied well into the night, and some of the players promised they would be back in a week's time to celebrate victory over la Real in the Champions League final as well. Many partied well into the night in Valencia too, although some were working overtime: brothel D'Angelo Palace had taken out an advert in the paper during the week promising "If Atlético Madrid win the league, all whores free!!!", as well as offering free drinks during the game itself. I imagine the owner will have been left feeling bruised the next day. Not half as much as his employees though...

     In the aftermath of Atleti's victory, Tata Martino bade goodbye to the team, stepping down after admitting it had been 'a privilege' to be part of the set-up at Barcelona. He was replaced with Real Madrid turncoat Luis Enrique. I can see the sense in the move; it's similar to when they appointed Pep Guardiola to the role. Before leaving for first-team manager positions elsewhere, Enrique had been the Barca B coach. The first team is widely accepted to be in need of a revamp or overhaul, and he will know the players coming through now from his time with them when they were younger. Not many will know better than he who, if any, of them is poised or able to become the next Xavi, Puyol etc. Plus he'll add another extra niggle to next season's Clásicos.

     Saturday afternoon brings the game of the season outside of La Liga, with two of the very best teams in the league facing each other in a one-off encounter. To the victor go the spoils and the glory. But enough about QPR at Wembley as they prepare to take on Derby, Saturday also sees Real Madrid take on Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final. As has been pointed out before, this is the first ever final between two teams from the same city. Real are still chasing la Décima, their tenth European Cup, while Atleti are playing for their first. Los Rojiblancos have reached the final just once before, in 1974 when they lost 4-0 to Bayern Munich in a replay after drawing 1-1 after extra time in the first game.

Costa & Turan; both hairy and important

     Atleti's biggest injury concern is over star Brazilian Spanish striker Diego Costa and European beard-champion Arda Turan. The influential pair were back to training with a football by early Thursday afternoon before joining the main group for a short while, but remain touch and go for the final. Costa had previously flown to Serbia for special horse placenta treatment. Well you would, wouldn't you? I know he's liable to try anything to make sure he plays in the biggest game of his career, but surely this doctor's taking him for a ride?
     As CR7 and Bale both seem to have recovered sufficiently from their injuries, Real's major doubt rests with Pepe; the central defender has formed a formidable double-act with Sergio Ramos in the centre of defence. As well as being one of the best partnerships in the modern game, they must also Shirley be the most despised bar none. Nevertheless for all the cheating, handstamping, diving, whining, attempted murders and more diving, Pepe is a class defender on his day and would be missed by Ancelotti. The Italian's eyebrow need not leap into a dance of frustration just yet though, as youngster Raphaël Varane could regain fitness in time to deputise. The Frenchman was brilliant last season but has found it difficult to disrupt the Pepe/Ramos axis of evil this time round. If he starts, lump on him for the first goal - there's my tip. Karim Benzema is expected to start after recovering from injury.

Alonso: out

Xabi Alonso, however, will definitely miss out after needlessly collecting a second booking in the semi-final second-leg with his team 4-0 up on aggregate. This rule should definitely be scrapped - the only reason a player should miss the final of any competition, apart from injury or just being John Terry, should be a red card in the previous match. Finals are showcase events and supporters and spectators - sorry FIFA, consumers - want to see the best players out there. Minor rant over.

     As a seperate nice touch, Atlético's specially-made shirts for the final will carry the name of deceased club legend Luis Aragonés inside the collar. The man who Cholo said he could feel defending with the team in the closing stages against Barcelona last week is a massive part of the history of los Colchoneros having played with great distinction for the club for a decade. Despite being best known on these shores solely for his negro de mierda comments about World Cup cheat Thierry Henry to José Antonio Reyes ahead of an international game, Aragonés has the seventh-most appearances for Atleti, with 372, and is the club's all-time top scorer with 173 goals. He also managed the club over four separate spells totalling 17 years, helping the team escape the Seguna División in his last spell. He also set the Spanish international team on its way to winning absolutely everything.

     I apologise that this post wasn't as in-depth a look at either the big game last week or the upcoming Champions League final on Saturday as I would've liked, but I've been looking forward to watching QPR at Wembley all week - I can't really concentrate on anything else. The scheduling also means I either won't watch the Champions League final at all, or may watch it and not remember a great deal, depending on the Rangers result! So the next post may be on something completely unrelated. Soz. I promise to make up for it with a good 'un though, scouts honour :P

Charlie, Charlie Charlie,
Charlie Charlie,
Charlie Charlie Austin!!

Champs League - Cibeles & Neptune celebrate

     On Monday, Madrid's city council announced that both the Cibeles and Neptune fountains would be cordoned off ahead of this week's Champions League semifinals in case either or both of Real and Atlético Madrid won through to the final. Some may have thought this slightly presumptuous, others foolhardy, but in the end the gamble paid off. On Tuesday night hundreds of Real Madrid fans congregated, as has become customary in times of celebration, by the Fuente de Cibeles, while on Wednesday they were joined by Atleti fans a short walk away at the Fuente de Neptuno.

     The next real problem for the council will be when the two teams face each other in the final on May 24. Although the match itself is being held some 503km away in Lisbon, the place to be - the only place to be, will be Madrid. An advert for Mahou beer which began airing on Wednesday suggested rather naively that if both teams end up in the final, their fans should all merge happily at the Fuente de Apolo which conveniently sits smack-bang between the two clubs' adopted celebration spots. Not much chance of that happening I'd say. I also imagine the policía won't thank the beer firm for its suggestion.

     Real reached their first Champions League final in 12 years and took one step closer to la Décima - the 10th European Cup which has turned into an obsession within the club - by humiliating Bayern Munich on what proved to be a record-breaking evening. Madrid's 1-0 win in the first leg left the tie finely poised, the players aware that if they kept a clean sheet they would progress. But this team was not made to sit back and defend; Real's 'signature move' is the lightning-fast counter-attack, and the team stayed true to its methods. If they scored one, Bayern would have to score two; if they scored two, Bayern would have to score three; and if they scored three, the Germans would have to beat San Iker an unthinkable four times. In the end, even this feat would not have proved enough to save the Bavarians after a powerful Cristiano Ronaldo free kick at the death made the score 4-0 to los Blancos. At the Allianz Arena. It was Bayern's heaviest ever home defeat in European competition. It was also the worst defeat of Guardiola's career.

Guardiola: "I read in Madrid that
they're already in the CL final"
YOU READ RIGHT

     The week had started with the Munich coach in bullish mood in the press, confident of his team's chances of getting through to the final. He's been in football long enough to know that a 1-0 first leg victory is easily overturned, and will have recalled Bayern crushing Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate at this stage of the competition last year. However by the end of the game on Tuesday the Catalan was being lambasted by fans, who booed his decision to replace the hard-working but ineffective Thomas Müller with rotund Chelsea reject Claudio Pizarro in the 72nd minute. By that point though, the game had long been over as a contest.
     In truth, the referee could have ended the game at half time and the German fans would have been grateful. Real were already three goals to the good and could well have been even further in front. Bayern's tactics seemed to play into Madrid's hands and the Spanish team were 2-0 up before 20 minutes had shown up on the board, both goals coming from the same source - the flat forehead of Sergio Ramos. It seemed the Munich defence had decided that marking the opposition's most potent aerial threat was beneath them and twice the Andalusian stole in unmarked to smash the ball home with that slab above his suspiciously small eyes - the first after 15 minutes from a perfect Modrić corner, the second from an Ángel di María free kick Madrid were fortunate to win just four minutes later. I was left to curse my luck for not finding time to get to BetFred before the game as I fancied Ramos at 25-1 for the first goal. For those that don't know, his odds would have then doubled, leaving me with £50 profit for even a poxy £1 bet. Fiddlesticks.

Karaoke. Madrid-style

     Far more lucky than I was Ramos himself who, quite apart from scoring his side's first two goals, was walking a tightrope with a booking to his name before the match - were he to get carded during the game, the centre-back would miss the final through suspension. If you thought that he'd therefore take things easy and stand off a bit, you'd be dead wrong. And if you thought he'd be hauled off at half-time with his team winning 3-0 and almost certainly through, you'd be wrong again. Sucks to be you, if that's the case. The Seville native was in the frame every single time there were any verbals or handbags between the two sets of players in the first half, leaving Ancelotti's eyebrow squirming in discomfort until it had seen enough and finally hooked the Madrid number 4 in the 74th minute.
     Unfortunately for Real, Xabi Alonso was neither as lucky nor as clever in the challenge as his teammate, and he will now miss the final after receiving a booking for a silly, needless tackle on 37 minutes. The player was absolutely devastated, left lying on the turf and wishing he could turn back time. If it didn't work for Cher, it sure as hell ain't gonna work for you, matey, excellent red beard or not. The midfielder's dismay will not have been helped by CR7, who was still berating him for his idiocy as they lined up in the wall to block the resulting free kick.

CR7 eventually realised he didn't have
enough hands to count to 15

     What made the yellow card even worse was that Real Madrid already had the tie in the bag by that point, Ronaldo breaking the record for the highest amount of goals in a Champions League season with his 15th in the competition just after the half-hour mark. As in the first leg, Madrid countered from within their own box and ended up scoring within a matter of seconds. However, whereas their goal at the Bernabéu took ten touches from end to end, their third on the night at the Allianz Arena took just nine, presumably because they didn't use Pepe's arse at any point this time. Lessons learned and all that. On the halfway line a beautiful ball once more from the hard-working Karim Benzema fed Gareth Bale who scorched towards goal before dumbfounding both Dante and Manuel Neuer with a cute reverse pass to Ronaldo with his wrong foot. The Portuguese made no mistake from just within the area, although Neuer will be angry with himself for allowing the ball to slip under his body.
     Bayern Munich had started to lose their discipline after the second goal and their bad mood just got worse the longer the contest went on, typified by Franck Ribéry slapping Dani Carvajal while the referee wasn't looking. Before the game Guardiola claimed that the Frenchman - like a smaller, pinker version of the Incredible Hulk - is at his best when he's angry. Despite a couple of short runs, the tricky winger resembled a pedestrian Bruce Banner rather than his green alter ego on the night. Conversely, Mario Mandžukić was a thorn in Real's side, albeit not with his footballing ability. The giant Croatian was seemingly tasked with sticking to Pepe and intercepting the Madrid number 3 any time he looked like provoking a riot.

Even Alonso's in there somewhere

     Guardiola appeared to have a bit of a rethink at half time and, deciding that stopping Pepe from inciting violence on the terraces wasn't his overriding priority, took off his striker in order to bring on Javi Martínez. Although a seemingly puzzling move, the substitution actually served to steady the boat for the Bavarian side and made them look far more of a team than the rabble they had started the match as. The Bayern coach conceded after the game that he'd been at fault and would take the blame for his players' poor performance. He need not have rushed to reproach himself though - the German papers were way ahead of him. Be that as it may, Real Madrid looked to be settling for the 3-0 scoreline until the last minute of normal time, when CR7 stepped up and smashed a free kick beneath the wall to record his 16th Champions League goal in just 10 games. It was also his 51st in 50 European games for los Merengues. Real Madrid are also now the team to have scored the most Champions League goals in a single season. So, like I said at the start, record breaking.

Mou's tactics board vs Liverpool

     The only thing broken at Stamford Bridge 24 hours later - apart from the public transport system - was John Terry; the Chelsea captain left sobbing like a lost child in a department store after Liga leaders Atlético Madrid handed a few stern lessons to the repeatedly and loudly self-proclaimed 'Champions of Europe'. José Mourinho has developed a reputation for 'parking the bus,' most recently taking 3 points from Anfield in a game where his tactics seemed to be simply to sit back with 10 men behind the ball and wait for Liverpool to screw up. Boring as hell, but then again he came away with a victory over the league leaders so he won't mind the criticism.
     On Wednesday though, Mou acted out of character and made an attacking substitution early on in the second half, taking off Ashley Cole - who's beard was not a touch on that sported by Arda Turan - and bringing on Samuel Eto'o. Most uncharacteristic. It appeared the Portuguese had blinked first in his staring contest with Cholo Simeone, although to be fair there's not many in the world mad enough to actually get into a staring competition with the perennially black-shirted Argentine. By that point in the game the 1-1 scoreline was weighted in Atleti's favour following the 0-0 stalemate at the Vicente Calderón last week.

     Atlético, resembling Olympiakos more than usual after having to dump their normal Blackburn-inspired blue shorts for red ones due to stupid modern-football stipulations about kit clashes, started with the fit-again Arda Turan but minus both Gabi and Raúl García and consequently struggled to impose themselves on the game in the early stages. The fear among the spectators in the ground was that they were set to watch another insipid 0-0 draw heading inexorably to penalties, and apart from dives from Diego Costa and Chelsea survivalist Ray Mears the only thing to enliven the opening 30 minutes was an audacious bicycle-kick from emotionally stunted man-boy-mop Davy Lewis.

Maybe he'd forgotten how to celebrate?

     The 3,000 travelling fans had kicked up a ruckus for the entire game, absolutely dominating the subservient home crowd, but los Colchoneros were silenced in the 36th minute. The lively and inventive Willian wriggled free from two challenges tight to the corner flag before César Azpilicueta delivered the ball in to former Atleti fan and wunder-kind Fernando Torres who finished with aplomb. And a healthy deflection off a defender. As is currently all the rage, el Niño held up his hands and refused to celebrate scoring against his boyhood club, but the Chelsea players and fans in attendance had no such quandaries and celebrated with great vim. Nonetheless, Atleti's task remained the same as it had at the outset and the team knew one goal would still be enough to see them through to the final.

Olympiakos Atleti players celebrate
in front of the travelling thousands

     That goal duly arrived right on the stroke of half time. The impressive if slightly raggedy-looking Tiago chipped a delicious ball across the box that looked for all the world like it was heading out for a goal kick but was kept in play by Juanfran. The right-back played like a train all evening, and just managed to keep the ball in play by hooking it across the face of goal - it flashed past two Chelsea defenders and arrived at a mildly surprised-looking Adrián. The man from Teverga only has one league goal to his name this season but didn't fail from a few yards out, his shot careering into the floor before bouncing into the back of the net right in front of the Atleti fans, who proceeded to go mental. After the game the man with the wide smile and the number 7 on his back described it as "the most important goal of my career". Advantage Atlético.
     The Chelsea manager's decision to replace Cole with Eto'o at the start of the second half did have an impact on the game, just not the one he would've wanted. Within 10 minutes of coming on, the former Real Madrid and Barcelona player committed a lazy forward's challenge on Diego Costa as the striker controlled a high corner, and referee Nicola Rizzoli duly pointed to the spot. Diego Costa dusted himself off and placed the ball down to take the resulting penalty himself. Then he placed it again. And again. Growing increasingly frustrated at the ball's refusal to either stay still or out of a hole the Brazilian pawed at the turf and eventually drew a yellow card from the ref, who assumed he was playing mind games. Costa eventually placed the ball at the bottom of the hole he'd dug then stepped up and rocketed it into the roof of the net. His unstoppable spot-kick made it 2-1 on the hour mark. Match point Atlético.

A sea of red in the corner of Stamford Bridge

     At this point los Rojiblancos were running the game entirely and impudently passing through and around Chelsea at their leisure. The suffering home fans were even subjected to a chorus of olés from the away end during one particularly attractive period of possession. Ten minutes after Costa's penalty, Atlético put the game to bed and secured passage to their first European Cup final since 1974. A lovely flowing move ended with a peach of a cross being curled into the far post where the late-arriving Arda Turan played a one-two with the crossbar before slotting his side's third goal. Checkmate: Game, set and match Atlético.
     Chelsea weren't terrible but were outclassed by their opponents, albeit with the help of a fortunate first goal to allow them back into the match. Willian played well for the Blues but by far their most dangerous player was the effervescent Eden Hazard, only just back from injury. Conversely, most of the men wearing red and white played out of their skins; Tiago, Arda Turan, Koke and Juanfran to the fore. With a few minutes remaining the home fans roused themselves enough for a chorus in support of their manager in spite of the defeat, but were then outsung by the Atleti fans who responded with "José Mourinho, hijo de puta" belted out with great gusto.

He cries when he wants, he cries when he waaaaants,
brave John Terry, he cries when he wants

     Upon the final whistle the away section went crazy and their players went over to celebrate with them. Luckily the cameras managed to spot John Terry wandering forlornly around the pitch and lingered with the image for a few seconds before cutting to an ad break. I'd like to think whoever was in charge of the coverage overruled the companies who had paid for advertising time and delayed going to the break. Despite the fact they'd reached the first Champions League final in their lives, a few Atleti players took the time to commiserate the Chelsea skipper. You can bet your bottom dollar, euro, peseta or lira that Terry would not have done so had the roles been reversed. The Atleti players showed what class is, there. As for myself, I have no qualms where it comes to this player and will freely admit I laughed my arse off at the images on my screen. As did probably another 89% of the country. Unconfirmed reports have surfaced since the game that Terry has asked his mum to nick him full Real and Atlético Madrid kits from Sports Direct...
     Mourinho was in uncharacteristically charitable mood after the game and congratulated Atlético Madrid on an excellent game, conceding they had deserved to go though. And for once, I actually think he was being sincere. For his part Cholo Simeone congratulated his players' mothers - as his whole squad had been born with "massive balls". The London underground had started running once more before the final whistle blew, but I got the distinct impression the Spanish fans were in no rush to leave Stamford Bridge.

     The two results mean that this year's edition will be the fifth European Cup final to be contested between two sides from the same country. Even more importantly, it will be the first ever decider in which two rivals from the same city will face off. It'll be interesting to see how they work out the fountain situation: The football will be played in Lisbon, but within the football world all eyes will be on Madrid.

Week 34 - A Messi situation of their own making

     The unassuming, scruffy-haired little man had been in the first team for nearly 10 years. A decade, and he was still only 26. Still had pretty much the same haircut too. Along the way he'd smashed records and won many shiny trophies, always at the forefront of his team. But now, after nine seasons and some 241 goals in 273 league games, some Barcelona fans had begun to turn on Leo Messi. No-one questioned whether the magic in his feet had left him - after all he still has 26 goals in 27 games in the league and is behind only Ronaldo and Diego Costa in the Pichichi rankings - but whispers had begun circulating concerning the little magician's drive, even his commitment to the Barça cause.
     The whispers soon grew into jeers and even personal insults following poor results over the past couple of weeks. After three defeats in a row - to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, Granada in La Liga and Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final - the players had arrived back at Camp Nou to find irate fans waiting for them, hurling a barrage of boos and insults. Some players came in for more flak than others; Dani Alves partly because he had announced his intention to leave the club in future, Neymar on account of his inability to mould himself quickly to the Barça style of play, in addition to the shame brought on the club by his dodgy transfer (although that's not his fault) and Pinto because...well, because he's Pinto. But as if three successive defeats wasn't unexpected enough, the previously unthinkable had begun to occur. The previously untouchable Leo Messi, four-time Ballon d'Or winner and top-scorer in the club's history with a frankly disgusting 351 in all official competitions, also copped some personal abuse on each of these occasions.

Messi comforted by CR7 after the Copa
del Rey final defeat

     The personal insults ranged from the mild (but still no doubt cutting, for an athlete in the prime of his life) and tongue-in cheek 'try and run a bit less' to cries that he had brought 'shame' on the fans with his latest performances. A poll in (the admittedly pro-Madrid) sportspaper Marca ahead of the weekend's game asked fans to rate Messi's season. Bearing in mind the still-astronomical numbers being posted by the man from Rosario, some on the outside might be surprised to see that 36.8% of respondents thought he'd had a 'regular' season compared to 28.9% who thought he'd been 'bad' and 21.5% who think he's had a 'very bad' year. After all he's missed quite a few games due to injury and his team are still well in the running for the Primera Liga title, even if they are now outsiders.
     The Argentine press has been in full fingers-crossed mode over the past couple of weeks as Messi's form has stuttered, with many on that side of the ocean hoping praying hard that he's saving himself for a big performance in the World Cup. After all, a lot of people (who are talking out of their arse if you ask me) reckon you can't be considered the best player in the world unless you lift the World Cup. These people presumably believe Stéphane Guivarc'h was a better player than George Best, then. Hmmm.
     In truth, this may have been one of the toughest seasons yet for Messi. The long year began with the player turning up on the front as well as the back pages after he and his father were dragged to court numerous times on tax evasion charges. The winger then sustained a few injuries (and has continued to do so since Guardiola left - Pep blames his decision to leave his Camp Nou project on Messi, who had stopped taking his advice on conditioning) and did not immediately receive the improved contract he'd been hankering after.

One of them appreciated the
goal more than the others..

     On Saturday night at home to Athletic Bilbao he managed to put whatever demons are haunting him to one side for at least 5 seconds to take a free kick in the 74th minute with the score at 1-1. The Basques had been the better team over the game before then and were unlucky not to take the lead in the first half when the highly impressive Aritz Aduriz rattled Pinto's post with a superb bicycle kick. The Athletic number 20 did notch early in the second half though after receiving the ball from the tiny but bull-necked Iker Muniain and shooting it close to Pinto. This is usually enough for a goal and so it proved here, Bilbao were ahead and good value for it. In the 71st minute, Pedro bumbled the ball over the line for 1-1 after Alexis Sánchez shanked a shot roughly towards goal following an excellent run from Dani Alves.
     Up to this point Messi had not been involved massively in the game, but he hit the free kick hard and true and was enveloped by his teammates as they acclaimed his 26th goal of the season. In truth the wall was set up poorly and had Gorka Iraizoz in the Bilbao goal just stood still the ball would have struck him and Barcelona would be a further two points behind Atleti. Still, you takes the breaks when they're offered to you. Barça then survived late Athletic pressure and a scare right at the death to take all 3 points and maintain pressure on Madrids Atlético and Real.

Atleti manage to score a pen

     The league leaders hosted Elche on Friday night and for the second week in a row were indebted to one of their centre-backs for getting them off the mark. Miranda, who's hoping for a spot in the Brazil squad for the upcoming World Cup, as well as a name-change perhaps, scored in the 71st minute straight from a corner. Maybe Cholo Simeone should think about letting his defenders take any penalties won in future as David Villa became the latest to waste the chance to score from the spot, shooting straight at Manu Herrera. Atlético did eventually manage to actually score a penalty late on nonetheless, Diego Costa this time screwing up his eyes and smashing the ball in the vague direction of the goal to wrong-foot the 'keeper. He'd won the spot-kick himself after characteristically flapping to the deck when Săpunaru came within 15 feet of him. The Romanian was still shaking his head at the decision as he walked down the tunnel after the ref agreed that going anywhere near Diego Costa is indeed a sanctionable offence. Christ, Costa's nearly as bad as Ashley Young, and that's saying something.
     The weekend's results leave Barcelona still four points adrift of Atlético and two ahead of eternal rivals Real, who enjoyed a weekend off due to their upcoming Champions League semi-final. Apparently the Spanish FA can't work out how to play two matches on a Friday night. Not that los Blancos were complaining as they were afforded time off to relax by the pool or head off on a jolly to Dubai. Or in Pepe's case scheme on how to piss off the largest number of people possible on his next foray into the world of televised football, which just happens to come against the Bayern machine on Wednesday.

Paulão can't take any more. Or he's throwing shapes.

     Sevilla closed in on Athletic Bilbao's fourth spot with an emphatic 4-0 win over Granada, the opening being of the own-goal variety by the curiously-named Mainz. Kévin Gameiro, Vitolo and the coconut-headed emotional basket-case Stéphane Mbia rounded off the victory in the second half. There was an own-goal too at Vallecas, where the woeful Paulão scored Rayo Vallecano's second before actually asking to be subbed off even before the half hour mark. He explained on Monday that he hadn't wanted to keep screwing up and there were "players who'd be able to bring more to the team than me in the moment I was suffering." Strange, nonetheless. Larrivey and Blackburn reject Rubén Rochina scored the others for Rayo, before the unfortunately-named Chica scored at the right end for rock-bottom Real Betis.
     Of the others in the relegation zone only Getafe managed to pick up a point following an awful, awful 0-0 draw at Levante. Really, they could've just met up before the game and agreed to give both teams a point, saving everyone the trouble. Almería remain second-bottom but were far more value for money in a rip-roaring 4-2 home defeat to Celta Vigo, Nolito bagging a brace for the away team. In the remaining games Real Sociedad beat Espanyol 2-1, Carlos Vela grabbing the winner in injury time, while Osasuna played out a 1-1 draw with Valencia which doesn't much help either team's quests at either end of the table.
     The Monday night game saw Málaga welcome Villarreal to La Rosaleda. Roque Santa Cruz opened the scoring for los Boquerones in the sixth minute, and the second half started with Duda attempting to lob former Málaga 'keeper Sergio Asenjo from range before Noureddine Amrabat went on a Gareth Bale-type run and picked out Sergi Darder arriving late and unmarked in the area to make it 2-0. The Dutch-Moroccan later saw red for questioning the referee's eyesight but the Costa del Sol side managed to see the game out and move onto 41 points, surely safe from relegation now. To watch it, one wouldn't think Villarreal had needed the points to continue pushing for Europe, but that was the case. They now remain two points behind Real Sociedad. The commentator seemed to grow increasingly exasperated as the game went on though, with ever-louder sights. One could only feel he'd had a bit of a heavy Easter weekend and felt he was probably sweating more than the Málaga fan who kept drumming throughout the whole encounter.

Result of the weekend for Alavés. Maybe a different
away kit next season though, eh lads?

     In the Segunda, Deportivo continued their march back to the big time with a standard 3-0 away win at Mallorca with goals from Sissoko, Luisinho and Borja. Eibar, in second, beat Real Madrid Castilla 1-0, Capa scoring after 11 minutes. Castilla continue to flounder this season and find themselves under the shadow of relegation. Meanwhile, Barcelona B went 1-0 down at home to Girona through a 29th minute opener from Ortuño before storming back thanks to goals from Sandro and a late screamer from Munir, who'd only been on the pitch a matter of minutes. They remain in third, level on 54 points with island teams Tenerife and Las Palmas. Behind those three it's turned into a right kerfuffle, with eight teams all within four points of each other. At the bottom, Alavés did themselves a huge favour by overcoming the odds in the result of the weekend, winning 2-0 at highly-placed Recreativo. The goals came from Manu García and Borja Viguera, who overtakes Stefan Šćepović of Sporting Gijón in the Pichichi rankings for the Segunda with 22 in 35 games.