The English Premiership might be touted as the best league you can find anywhere on the globe right now, it might have the biggest purse regarding television rights, it might also have the largest fan base in Ghana or perhaps on the African continent at large. However, only a name comes to mind as to which league will garner the most attention this season, grab the most headlines and perhaps produce the next world best, and that is: the Spanish La Liga.
Commanding an average attendance of 29,029 for league matches—third highest of any professional league behind the Bundesliga and the Premier League—this twenty-team league has been on the back pedal to the English game for a couple of years now.
The astronomical spending of giants Real Madrid and Catalonia club Barcelona has painted the picture of a two-team race for the league crown next May, however, the ability of some other big clubs to hold on to their prized assets this term means they could challenge the huge spenders for the crown. Even if the other clubs don’t perform and it turns out to be a two-club race, the scrimmage for the other two Champions League spots will be more than interesting.
Having arrived back at the Estadio Calderon from a loan spell at Portuguese outfit Benfica, former Arsenal and Sevilla star, Jose Antonio Reyes will bolster an Atletico Madrid team that showed glimpses of promise last season. With last year’s Pichichi (name for top goal scorer in the La Liga) winner Diego Forlan and Sergio “Kun” Aguerro being one of the feared strike tandems in La Liga last season, a different tune will be sang at the Calderon come at the end of May if these players should find their groove and gel.
Sevilla will us also be a delight to watch as they have been for the past couple of years. Having miraculously held on to 2009 Confederations Cup top scorer, Luis Fabiano, to stay, and with Frederick Kanoute also in the offing, La Liga will definitely not be a two-man race as Sevilla is likely to battle it out with the ‘big boys’ till the final day of the completion. With David Villa and David Silva still at Valencia, that means this Mestalla outfit could also join the party that will take the Spanish La Liga down to the wire this season.
Florentino Perez’s return as the President of Real Madrid for the second time meant the return of the ‘Galatico’ era II. This second coming Perez—a civil engineer by profession—revolutionarized the transfer market as Real Madrid shattered their former world record in transfer fees by bringing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Adding Kaka, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol and Arbeloa to their roster this season, Real Madrid’s overall summer spending have been pegged above 200 million Euros and it places a mammoth pressure on Chilean coach Pelligrini and his men to perform.
With problems such rifts in the dressing room; ego clashes and off-the-field antics by some of these stars coming hand-in-hand with assembling ‘Galaticos’, it will be totally wrong for one to presume that the men in white from Madrid will totally dominate this season. Despite the big name purchases, all of Madrid’s new stars are new to the terrain in La Liga and would need time to be in-sync with each other. This won’t be an easy feat as the ever-expectant fans and the media would expect them to win everything being competed looking at the huge cash spent to put them together.
Barcelona still remains the team to beat despite their rivals from the capital huge spending. Achieving an impeccable record of being the first Spanish team of winning an unprecedented treble responded to their rivals by making Zlatan Ibrahimovich the second most expensive player in history as a replacement for departed Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o. Barcelona can pick up six trophies this campaign with the European Super Cup and the World Club Championships all on their agenda.
With a chunk of the players of the record winning treble feat still around, the title looks likely to go to Catalonia again. However, there will be an increased work load for Pep Guadiola’s men this term and their ability to respond to the pressures of travelling to Japan for the World Club Championships, defending their UEFA Champions League crown and going toe-to-toe with Real Madrid in the league will define their season.
Getting around 7000 Espanyol fans turning up to welcome him to the La Liga, former Celtic midfielder and Japanese dead ball expert, Shunsunke Nakamura, and English man Jermaine Pennant are few of other new faces who have switched to the Spanish league this season; not forgetting our own Ghanaian Derek Boateng – now with Getafe.
The chunks of the summer transfers are now in the La Liga, the world best players for the past two years are also there and the highest paid player in the world is also in Spain, therefore, this league which has produced majority of the world best players over the past decade certainly topples all the others for this season!
Commanding an average attendance of 29,029 for league matches—third highest of any professional league behind the Bundesliga and the Premier League—this twenty-team league has been on the back pedal to the English game for a couple of years now.
The astronomical spending of giants Real Madrid and Catalonia club Barcelona has painted the picture of a two-team race for the league crown next May, however, the ability of some other big clubs to hold on to their prized assets this term means they could challenge the huge spenders for the crown. Even if the other clubs don’t perform and it turns out to be a two-club race, the scrimmage for the other two Champions League spots will be more than interesting.
Having arrived back at the Estadio Calderon from a loan spell at Portuguese outfit Benfica, former Arsenal and Sevilla star, Jose Antonio Reyes will bolster an Atletico Madrid team that showed glimpses of promise last season. With last year’s Pichichi (name for top goal scorer in the La Liga) winner Diego Forlan and Sergio “Kun” Aguerro being one of the feared strike tandems in La Liga last season, a different tune will be sang at the Calderon come at the end of May if these players should find their groove and gel.
Sevilla will us also be a delight to watch as they have been for the past couple of years. Having miraculously held on to 2009 Confederations Cup top scorer, Luis Fabiano, to stay, and with Frederick Kanoute also in the offing, La Liga will definitely not be a two-man race as Sevilla is likely to battle it out with the ‘big boys’ till the final day of the completion. With David Villa and David Silva still at Valencia, that means this Mestalla outfit could also join the party that will take the Spanish La Liga down to the wire this season.
Florentino Perez’s return as the President of Real Madrid for the second time meant the return of the ‘Galatico’ era II. This second coming Perez—a civil engineer by profession—revolutionarized the transfer market as Real Madrid shattered their former world record in transfer fees by bringing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Adding Kaka, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol and Arbeloa to their roster this season, Real Madrid’s overall summer spending have been pegged above 200 million Euros and it places a mammoth pressure on Chilean coach Pelligrini and his men to perform.
With problems such rifts in the dressing room; ego clashes and off-the-field antics by some of these stars coming hand-in-hand with assembling ‘Galaticos’, it will be totally wrong for one to presume that the men in white from Madrid will totally dominate this season. Despite the big name purchases, all of Madrid’s new stars are new to the terrain in La Liga and would need time to be in-sync with each other. This won’t be an easy feat as the ever-expectant fans and the media would expect them to win everything being competed looking at the huge cash spent to put them together.
Barcelona still remains the team to beat despite their rivals from the capital huge spending. Achieving an impeccable record of being the first Spanish team of winning an unprecedented treble responded to their rivals by making Zlatan Ibrahimovich the second most expensive player in history as a replacement for departed Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o. Barcelona can pick up six trophies this campaign with the European Super Cup and the World Club Championships all on their agenda.
With a chunk of the players of the record winning treble feat still around, the title looks likely to go to Catalonia again. However, there will be an increased work load for Pep Guadiola’s men this term and their ability to respond to the pressures of travelling to Japan for the World Club Championships, defending their UEFA Champions League crown and going toe-to-toe with Real Madrid in the league will define their season.
Getting around 7000 Espanyol fans turning up to welcome him to the La Liga, former Celtic midfielder and Japanese dead ball expert, Shunsunke Nakamura, and English man Jermaine Pennant are few of other new faces who have switched to the Spanish league this season; not forgetting our own Ghanaian Derek Boateng – now with Getafe.
The chunks of the summer transfers are now in the La Liga, the world best players for the past two years are also there and the highest paid player in the world is also in Spain, therefore, this league which has produced majority of the world best players over the past decade certainly topples all the others for this season!
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