Like this, La Liga is impossible
Spain's big two constantly complain about fairness, but they should take a look at the teams below them
“Like this, impossible”. That was the title of Real Sociedad’s official match report following their 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in San Sebastián which put the visitors top and left the hosts five points adrift of the Champions League. “Winning against Real Madrid is always complicated,” it began. “Sometimes, like today, even more so.”
Post-match debate centred around three dubious refereeing calls that went to VAR. The first, a soft penalty given for Diego Llorente’s perceived trip on Vinícius Junior. The second, an equaliser from Adnan Januzaj ruled out for offside after Mikel Merino was judged to be in Thibaut Courtois’s line of sight. And the third: Karim Benzema controlling the ball with his arm – or was it his shoulder? – to score the goal which killed off the game.
Madrid have been blessed with luck when it comes to marginal decisions going their way since the restart, and the title echoed Gerard Piqué’s comments after Barcelona’s goalless draw with Sevilla. “It’s going to be difficult to win this league,” he replied. “Having seen what we’ve seen in the last two rounds, it’s going to be difficult for Real Madrid to drop points.”
And yes, he could have been talking about the strength of Madrid’s squad, the fact Barcelona are down to a handful of senior players or their reliance on a 33-year old Leo Messi to drag them across the finish line, but the double meaning was fairly obvious. Just as it is in the old chant sung by Real Madrid fans but used by their opponents to call out dodgy refereeing: Así gana el Madrid. That’s how Madrid win.
Talk of refereeing conspiracy for and against Real Madrid and Barcelona is nothing new in Spain; in fact, it is perhaps the most reassuring sign yet that Spanish football is back. The tit-for-tat response from Madrid was predictable, as the club presented a verbal complaint to La Liga for not having enough time to rest between fixtures. Marca’s front cover summed up the constant war of words between Spain’s big two: “Barça complain, Madrid are fed up”.
But VAR isn’t the real story here, even if Real Sociedad were understandably aggrieved that three marginal calls went against them. As Sid Lowe pointed out, there were at least five other such polémicas in the weekend’s games. The official match report from the Reale Arena didn’t even question Benzema’s goal, and no two pundits were in agreement about the three calls. All the decisions were entirely subjective and could have gone either way.
Nor is it the two giants at the top of the table, who should both probably know better. Madrid have the deepest squad in the league with 20 different scorers and will have little problem in navigating two games in the space of three days (another report found they would actually have more rest than their rivals). Barça may have their institutional issues but still possess the best player in the world. They also have seven games left in which they could feasibly wrestle back control of the league.
No, you have to read until the second paragraph of Real Sociedad’s match report to get to the heart of the issue for most teams below second in the table. “The absence of the crowd conditions matches a lot,” it reads. “Tonight’s started somewhat cold and, although it gained in intensity, there were no chances in the first half”.
Home advantage has not disappeared completely since the return of La Liga behind closed doors, but the signs are that it has been severely diminished. Prior to the break, 48 percent of the 270 matches played ended in home wins. That number has gone down to 34 percent in the 35 games since the restart. Although it is far too early to draw conclusions from a small selection of matches, that seems to be in keeping with statistics from the Bundesliga’s resumption.
It’s not just about the lack of fans in the stands but the effects of the longest break in play since the Spanish Civil War. Before the pandemic halted La Liga, Real Sociedad’s youthful attack were pushing for an unlikely Champions League spot having won their last four home games in a row with an aggregate 9-1 scoreline. Three months without football later, Martin Odegaard and co. look ring-rusty and have picked up one point out of a possible nine.
Leganés would argue the competition was slanted long before the shutdown. When Barcelona took advantage of a bizarre rule to poach their star striker Martin Braithwaite on an emergency transfer in February, Leganés were unable to sign a replacement. That led to the Kafkaesque situation in which Javier Aguirre’s side succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the Camp Nou with their top scorer sitting on the opposing bench for the entire game.
Further proof of their terrible luck came last week when fellow relegation strugglers Celta Vigo were given special dispensation to sign striker Nolito after an injury to their second-choice keeper. He scored a penalty and provided an assist in their 6-0 rout of Alavés. A day later, Miguel Ángel Guerrero had his penalty saved for Leganés in a goalless draw against Granada. Second-bottom and with games against Sevilla, Valencia and Real Madrid still to come, it is hard to see how they escape relegation from here.
We don’t know how home support might have affected Real Sociedad’s chances of Champions League qualification, just as we don’t know whether Leganés might have survived with Braithwaite in their team. Both sides may yet achieve their objectives. But that is part of the problem: like this, it’s impossible to tell.
Pick of the next three days — Real Sociedad vs Celta Vigo, Wednesday 18.30 BST
Once upon a time this would have been seen as an easy win for Real Sociedad, but these are two sides whose fortunes have changed completely over the three-month break. La Real desperately need a win if they are to have any chance of making the Champions League while Celta are on the up after a 6-0 (six!) thrashing of Alavés which came out of nowhere. Even so, a loss here could throw Óscar García’s side back into the thick of things at the bottom end of the table. Keep an eye on that emergency goalkeeper signing Nolito, who is just as handy up front as he is between the sticks.
Results from the past four days
Mallorca 1-1 Leganés, Granada 0-1 Villarreal, Sevilla 0-0 Barcelona, Espanyol 1-3 Levante, Athletic Club 1-0 Real Betis, Getafe 1-1 Eibar, Atlético Madrid 1-0 Valladolid, Celta Vigo 6-0 Alavés, Valencia 2-0 Osasuna, Real Sociedad 1-2 Real Madrid, Villarreal 2-2 Sevilla, Leganés 0-0 Granada, Valladolid 1-1 Getafe, Levante 0-1 Atlético Madrid, Barcelona 1-0 Athletic Club
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Image: Edu del Fresno via Shutterstock