Tag: La Liga

Ronaldo drought emblematic of Real’s problems this season

Ronaldo drought emblematic of Real’s problems this season

Beyond the halfway point in the La Liga season and one statistic has unsurprisingly remained consistent from the previous eight at the Santiago Bernabeau; Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid’s top scorer in La Liga this campaign. This is where the constancy ends for Real this year and this stat alone, in fact, highlights the sheer, alarming chasm to Barcelona.

Ronaldo’s scoring tally for the season currently sits at 4 La Liga goals (in 14 starts) and his side’s home defeat last weekend to Villarreal confirmed Los Blancos are trailing league leaders Barcelona by an extraordinary 19 points; after Barcelona ensured 3 points with a 4-2 win at Real Sociedad, coming from two goals down at the Anoeta on Sunday evening.

Last Saturday’s home defeat to Villarreal was only symptomatic of Real’s ongoing issues that are facing Zinedine Zidane. As Pablo Fornais produced a floated lob over the helpless Keylor Navas in the 87th-minute, immediately following the Mexican’s point-blank stop from Enes Unal, Real were left to stew on repeated frustrations felt in their blunt attack.

“Anyone who says we played badly has no idea about football”, Toni Kroos insisted. The German midfielder’s frustration stemming from the fact that his side had produced 28 shots in this game alone. But only 7 of these had forced Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo into saves. Two penalty appeals turned down and one Ronaldo shot that hit the bar further summarised the recurring theme.

Villarreal’s players celebrated wildly following their win at the home of the European Champions, as they had every right to. This was the first time they had won at the Bernabeu, at the 19th attempt. “We’re very happy- this is historic”, Javier Calleja, their coach said delightedly, after the game.

Zidane on the other side of the corridor bemoaned his side’s current crisis, “This is a hard, terrible blow. We did everything we could but the ball just didn’t want to go in. There’s no explanation”.

Many will point to last summer that has proved the downturn in their success. Real have clearly lost their chemistry and quality in depth since the 2017 summer window. Despite the recruitment of promising youngsters like Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos, the sales of influential squad players like James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata and even Mariano Lopez have disrupted the first-team at the Bernabeau.

Ronaldo’s recent response to criticism was “Go look it up on Google…the numbers do not lie”, (in reference to his own goal-scoring record) can be aptly applied to his club’s predicament on the pitch, being as they are admittedly, damming for Zidane’s side. At the halfway point of this season, Real have already lost more games than in their entire 2016/17 title-winning campaign; 11 less points than after this weekend last year. Saturday’s home defeat to Villarreal was their second consecutive, and third in total, home loss this season- the last time they experienced back-to-back home losses in La Liga was eight years ago.

Truly remarkably, this is only the second time in their history they have been this far adrift domestically and in fact, sit closer, in terms of points, to the relegation zone than to the league leaders (16 points above Deportivo La Coruna in 18th).

10 points behind their city rivals Atletico and 8 behind Marcelinho’s Valencia, domestic Champions League qualification and the preservation of that prized European elite trophy must now be the necessities if Zidane is to save a disastrous campaign.

For their star Ronaldo, success will be determined by a talent he has always possessed in spades- the ability to produce and make the difference on the big occasion; and if the Portuguese number 7 is to net the winner to eliminate Paris Saint Germain from the Champions League last round of 16, just watch his plaudits re-convene in the ever so familiar fervent, devout narrative for the superstar once again.

5 European players who could be in line for a January move

5 European players who could be in line for a January move

As clubs over the continent plot the bolstering of squad quality and depth to enhance their domestic aspirations, players who may or may not be in favour at the respective clubs will be looking to the month ahead to secure that crucial move to enhance their own chances of appearing in the sport’s most esteemed international competition next summer; the World Cup.  The following five players are no doubt looking to earn a plane ticket to Russia by securing more first-team football and are highly tipped for a New Year move.

1- Sergej Milinkovic-Savic- Nicknamed “Sergente” in Italy; the 6ft 4in midfielder is an imposing figure for Lazio who, despite suffering from a recent poor run of form, have been reaping the benefits from the ever improving, box-to-box dynamism from the 22-year old Serbian; attracting the likes of Man Utd, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. Savic is thought to have earmarked Old Trafford as his preferred destination, having described Jose Mourinho as “the best manager in the world…He’s intelligent and simply great”.

The young Serb has a better record than any Man Utd midfielder this season with 5 league goals to his name, with 3 having been converted outside of the 18-yard box. In fact, Kevin de Bruyne is the only midfielder in the Premier League with a superior record than Milinkovic-Savic for goals scored outside of the penalty are. His versatility and range of attributes to his game will be another factor that is appealing to so many of Europe’s top scouts, boasting the second-best passing and tackling rate at Lazio.

2-Javier Pastore- The 28-year old Argentine is thought to have played his last game for Paris Saint-Germain, having featured in less than half of his side’s domestic fixtures for the past 2 seasons. Pastore signed for PSG from Palermo in 2011 for a noteworthy €43m, following the club’s takeover by “Qatar Sports Investments”.

The player is said to be desperate to ensure the move goes ahead in January, to boost any chances he may have re-claiming a spot with the Argentina squad for Russia 2018. Whilst Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have shown firm interest, Pastore’s agent Marcelo Simonian has talked up the idea of a move to Inter Milan; “Bringing in Pastore would be a historic opportunity for the Nerazzurri to get back to their winning ways of the past”.

PSG are keen for a sale to be made in the New Year to ensure they can meet with the required UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations.

3- Javier Mascherano- The 33-year old Argentine defender has been out of favour at Barcelona this season, having fallen behind Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique in the pecking order at the club; “In Barcelona, it is clear that I am not playing at the frequency I played before…I’m in a team where every game I play is because I earn it in training, but it is clear there are many times you want to play more”.

A return to River Plate or Liverpool has been suggested by various international press associations, but reports in Spain have stated that a €10m agreement has been made with Hebei China Fortune (managed by Manuel Pellegrini), with the deal to be completed next month.

Barcelona may be keen to push the deal through as they target 23-year old Colombian defender Yerry Mina from Palmeiras.

4- Hatem Ben Arfa- The former Newcastle and Nice attacking midfielder has been frozen out of the first-team picture at PSG and is desperate for an escape route to resurrect his career, having not featured for Unai Emery’s side since mid-March. With only six months remaining on the 30-year old’s current deal; PSG may be willing to sell him for a cut-price fee in the January window.

Leicester City are understood to have expressed a firm interest, with Foxes boss Claude Puel having previous experience of working with Ben Arfa at Nice, “I have crossed paths with Hatem every now and then and each time we have spoken a bit,” Puel claimed earlier this month. “I appreciate the player but I also appreciate the person”.

West Ham United are also understood to have shown an interest.

5- Jack Wilshere- Out of contract in the summer and having featured in only 8 league games this season for Arsenal, the 25-year old attacking midfielder will be keen to do whatever is necessary to force his way into Gareth Southgate’s squad plans for Russia 2018 next summer. The England manager recently explained Wilshere’s current domestic situation was damaging his international prospects for first-team selection; “I don’t know how you get into an England squad without getting in the Arsenal team,” Southgate told reporters after his omission from the recent round of international friendlies.

As a home-grown player under UEFA rules, Wilshere would interest many Premier League clubs (particularly West Ham and Everton who are understood to have made enquiries), whilst he would be free to sign with a foreign club on January 1, but the player is reportedly keen to stay in England.

What next for Leganes in second top-flight season

What next for Leganes in second top-flight season

Leganes are one of La Liga’s more modest sized football clubs, based in the south western suburb of Madrid at the Estadio Municipal Butarque; a compact multi-use stadium that holds just under 11,000 spectators.

Last season was their first ever in Spain’s top division where they secured their top-flight status in the penultimate fixture of 2016/17 after earning a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao courtesy of a second-half strike from midfielder Alexander Szymanowski. The result exemplified their strong end to the season with Asier Garitano’s side earning seven points from their last four fixtures; the highlight being a 4-0 home thrashing of Real Betis on the 8th May.

Fans of Leganes will no doubt have to pinch themselves. Their recent rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Only three years ago, the club were playing in Spain’s third tier (Segunda Division B) and even in their 2015/16 promotion campaign from the Segunda Division, the club had one of the most modest budgets in the second tier.

Consolidation and stability are the priorities now for Garitano’s side as they look to invest in their squad whilst dealing with identity barriers associated to a football club lacking a certain allure for potential transfer targets moving to the Municipal Butarque.

One such attempt from the club’s hierarchy to enhance the club’s marketability was to incorporate “Madrid” into the official club name and was swiftly scraped following an internal consultation with fans. The idea was put forward by club sponsors that the name change would help raise the profile of the club onto a global scale. However, representatives of the Leganes fan base successfully negotiated their case to maintain the traditional club name as “Club Deportivo Leganes”.

The club must now work to secure their transfer targets as they strive for another season of survival. They have expressed a firm interest in Sporting Gijon goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar (33) and Watford’s Venezuelan Under-20 star Adalberto Penaranda (who has had loan spells at Granada and Malaga) whilst they have secured a further season-loan for defensive midfielder Ruben Perez who had made over 30 appearances for the club last season.