Spain
La Liga
Xabi Alonso
Real Madrid
O
The little club that couldn’t, win the UEFA Cup Final last year against a dominant Sevilla squad that is, has been playing some of the best football in the Spanish league over the last month and have brought the spotlight on their often ignored Catalan club. After starting the season with losses to Valladolid and Huelva sandwiched around a close win against Getafe and a draw to Real Betis away, the Periquitos have strung together some rather impressive wins, beating some of the biggest clubs in La Liga: Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and coming from behind just last week, settling for a draw in the local Barcelona derby.
Granted, beating Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan is not as shocking as it may sound, the Andalusians have not looked the same side after the death of Antonio Puerta, and I think more importantly the unsettling nature of the Juande Ramos and Dani Alves sagas. Valencia have had to deal with their own fractured changing room, and the whirlwind that is the Real Madrid squad have also had to deal with a similar instability, and both have played well below expectations despite their elevated positions on the table.
Now, I’m not saying that Espanyol deserves to be ranked ahead of their powerful neighbors, even my dense faculties can see that being fifth in the table means there are 4 other teams more deserving of honors than they, but I’d like to take a moment to turn the spotlight on the Parakeets from the Stadio Olimpic de Montjuic, the other team from Barcelona.
They are one of the founding members of the Spanish League, the first club not to be started by homesick ex-pats but by the fanatical natives, they have a nifty regal title that seems ill conceived amongst the independent minded Catalunyans, and a squad made up of cast-offs, rejects, youngsters, keepers and a diamond in their crown.
It’s so easy to root for a big club. You see them all the time on television. They’re the first ones linked to the greatest players in the world. They have special deals with the big newspapers that allow for extra coverage, they have huge multinational followings, and they are always linked the best managers, coaches, chairmen, and trainers. There is an expectation almost, that the brand itself requires a native to attach him or herself to the big club in town, or a foreigner to select amongst a dwindling group of elite clubs.
Rather than that, I decided that I was going to support a smaller club, one that wasn’t burdened with that immense level of expectation, but not one so small as to have no ambition at all. They had to play well and they needed to be tough minded. Add to the fact they’re from one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to, a place that I have family in and I’d say I picked the right team for me. I’m not slighting anyone else’s choice, Real Madrid or Barcelona have majestic histories and impressively detailed CV’s that many people admire, the sort that develop rabid followings.
Me, I’ll be off in the corner “celebrating” a 3-3 collapse against Real Zaragoza. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.
Mando from FF