Lacklustre Liga?

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The game at Old Trafford on Wednesday between Manchester United andVillarreal should be interesting from various perspectives. All weekthere seems to have been a collective paranoia floating around theSpanish scene that the English Premier League is taking over theGalactic Federation and that all Star Wars from now in will be heavilyweighted in English favour.
Villarreal celebrate after Santi Cazorla bagged a goal against Deportivo



The latest three to turn up on Blighty's shores, Albert Riera, Xiscoand Robinho, all made their respective waves at Liverpool, Newcastleand Manchester City this weekend (the latter two even scored) when theyshould have been playing their trade in Cervantes' fair kingdom. Thiswas the claim made this last week by Santiago Segurola, Spain's mostrespected football journalist, an argument based on the theory that itis as much La Liga's mismanagement of their own affairs that is causingthis steady exodus from here as it is the glint of filthy lucre shiningfrom across the seas. WhenSegurola writes a piece so damning  basically of the back-scratchingSpanish Federation, the LFP's fear of upsetting the cart and of thetelevision companies' tiresome bickering, people tend to take notice.Segurola is a bit of an Anglophile, and is the only living Spaniard whocan recite from memory the Leeds United line-up in the 1972 FA Cupfinal against Arsenal. Nevertheless, he was careful to underline thefact that he still thought there were bucketfuls of quality in La Liga,if only it could remember how to market itself. At times last seasonthere seemed to be more English football on offer on Spanish telly thanthe national product itself.
Euro 2008 went someway torestoring the balance and the self-esteem, and Villarreal's game onWednesday might help too. At home to Deportivo this weekend, the littleside from the middle of nowhere decided to apply the law of rotation tothe game, given their relatively meagre resources as a Champions Leagueside. The American Josmer Altidore accompanied Cani up front afterLlorente had gone off at half-time. Rossi didn't figure, Nihat is stillinjured, but Villarreal were still far too good for Depor, who startedtheir campaign brightly a fortnight back with a home win against RealMadrid. Ibagaza, Senna and Cazorla in the middle of the park shouldgive United something to think about, but they might prove to be shortof firepower to worry the English champions' impressive-looking defence although it looked far from solid at Anfield at the weekend.
Villarreal'sdefeat of Deportivo was a reminder of the Champions League 2002campaign, when Deportivo won at both Old Trafford and Highbury, playingsplendidly into the bargain. How times change. Those results back thenwere proof of La Liga's strength in depth, underlined the year beforewhen tiny Alavés contributed to that wonderful UEFA Cup final againstLiverpool. Sands have since begun to shift, proof of which is the factthat Spain's wonderful performances in the recent EuropeanChampionships seem to no longer be the yardstick by which to measure aleague's power or status. On the night last week when Spain beatArmenia 4-0 to register their 25th game on the trot without defeat,England's 4-1 win in Croatia (televised by a number of regionalchannels) seemed to be equally big news. Looks like the four ChampionsLeague representatives are going to have to work hard this season torestore some balance.
Real Madrid, drawn in the Group of Deathwith Juventus and Zenit, have their easiest game on paper on Wednesdaynight at home to the obscure BATE Barisov, but if their game thisweekend against the equally unfashionable Numancia was anything to goby, they won't necessarily win at a stroll. Since Barisov are renownedfor their fitness, there certainly won't be much strolling going on.Madrid were twice behind, and looked ill-at-ease at the back against aside concocted from loanees, trusted Second Division campaigners andnot a great deal else. Sergio Ramos and Gabi Heinze were missing, butMetzelder again looked less than convincing, and Michel Salgadocontinues to look like a man who should have retired in the summer.
Atleast they managed four goals, one a cracker by their debutant RafaelVan der Vaart, and Guti bagged the club's 5,000 goal in professionalcompetition since 1929  about which he looked extremely pleased.That's because it puts him in famous company and means that in abouttwelve years his face will appear in a 'Marca' pull-out which goes overthe previous thousand-men since 1950 (when Pahiño scored the 1,000th).Guti joins Gento, Juanito and Zamorano on this chancy podium ofhistory-snatchers, one of the few accolades that Raúl has managed tomiss out on. Who will get the 6,000th? Theo Walcott  tempted toSpanish shores by a new Chinese consortium, just as Cristiano Ronaldoretires from the game in a Manchester City shirt?
Samuel Eto'o rues another missed chance



Real Madrid are no strangers to adversity, but if they mess upWednesday's game then they can probably kiss goodbye to the famous'tenth' and will probably do the same to several of their hierarchytoo. Despite laughing all the way to the bank with the Robinho money,sporting director Pedja Mijatovic seemed to be suggesting at theweekend that nobody would be bought in the next transfer window. Thatmay be so  but since none of the long list of glittering names quotedas reinforcements ever arrived for the start of this season,Mijatovic's words have been seen as no more than a gesture ofself-protectionism, after a long period in the shadows. Overin Barcelona, things are hardly in better shape. The Pep Guardiolareign has started in stuttering fashion, and the signs are that some ofthe old tensions are still around, despite the presence of the Catalanfolk hero, brought in by Joan Laporta to calm the waters and save hisown butt. The folks of Barcelona will grant Guardiola time andpatience, such is his godly status amongst them, but the signs are thatthe new manager's strict regime and rather convoluted way of expressinghis tactical preferences are not being immediately appreciated by hisplayers.
Messi, Iniesta and Bojan all started on the bench(due, presumably, to their efforts in midweek for their respectivenational sides) and whilst Guardiola's faith in his squad players is tobe applauded, Racing de Santander are no longer the sort of side youcan afford to mess around with. They parked the bus in the goal area,but that was to be expected. Barça's domination of the play was onlysuperseded by their inability to put the ball into the net, a factormade all the more significant by Henry's absence not simply from thesquad but from the stadium. There's another one who will be joining theMan City revolution in January. And when they finally did score(penalty from Messi), Racing replied with a soft one from a free-kickand took a welcome point home to Cantabria. That makes it one pointfrom six for Guardiola, and Barça's worst start to a league campaignsince 1973. On Tuesday night they open their European campaign at hometo Sporting Lisbon, who whilst no great shakes of late cannot beunderestimated. Barça need some goals, and fast.
AtléticoMadrid, who travel to PSV, lost rather tamely (2-1) at Valladolid, withthe added bother that their starlet, Kun Agüero, arrived home late fromArgentina and was kept on the bench (while he woke up from his jet-lag)by the unamused manager Javier Aguirre. Rather like his mate Messi, whowas accused by Maradona of being 'greedy' last week (with the ball),Agüero came off the bench to score, but in this case it garnered noteven a single point.
None of the four sides currently in theChampions League sits in the top four after this weekend, which may ornot be significant. Espanyol, shorn of Albert Riera, sit atop theleague with six from six (the only ones with maximum points), but thatis most certainly not significant. They're more likely to be muchfurther down by the end of it. Sevilla's 4-3 cracker at home to newboys Sporting Gijon was an amazing match, but it raises furtherquestions as to the winner's credentials for the season to come. Theyface a short trip across town for the Betis derby next weekend, afixture that can leave marks on the psychological template for the restof the season.
Things don't quite seem to have got going in LaLiga just yet. This week should mark out some territory, eitherrestoring confidence or increasing the jitters.