Which La Liga team should you support? 🇪🇸
The Seville derby kicks off a five-week sprint to the finish line, but who should you back for the final 11 games of the season?
After a three-month hiatus due to the global pandemic, top-flight football is back in Spain. There will be no fans in the stadiums, the option of artificial crowd noise when watching games and various rules on and off the pitch to limit the risk of infection, but on Thursday night Sevilla and Real Betis will get the ball rolling once again with the strangest of derbies.
The good news for neutrals is that it has been one of the most compelling La Liga campaigns of recent years. While Bayern Munich have all but tied up the Bundesliga and Liverpool’s remaining games will be a procession towards a first league title in 30 years when the Premier League resumes, there are only two points separating Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The rest of the table is just as interesting, too. With five points between Sevilla in third place and Valencia in seventh, the race for Europe will go down to the wire. At the opposite end of the table, there are just nine points separating the bottom five. The loss of home advantage, the introduction of five substitutes per game and high temperatures are just a few factors which could impact the final standings.
Things are never much fun as a neutral, though, and now is the perfect time to back a new side. Don’t know your Ernesto from your Federico Valverde? This is the definitive guide to help you choose who you’ll pledge your unwavering support to… at least for the last 11 games of the season.
For the glory-hunters – Barcelona or Real Madrid
Yes, it’s the same duopoly as usual, but there’s a caveat this time: neither side is particularly convincing. Madrid looked to have struck a decisive blow just before the break when they won a scrappy Clásico 2-0 and went two points ahead of Barça, only to relinquish the lead a week later when they lost to Real Betis.
For fans of The Last Dance, Barcelona might be the best option. Lionel Messi is unlikely to punch one of his teammates anytime soon, but he has reached Michael Jordan levels of untouchability at the Camp Nou. Not only is he far and away the best player in La Liga with 19 goals and 12 assists this season, he also proved he is the true power behind the presidential throne during the break.
Messi humiliated president Josep Maria Bartomeu at the start of the crisis by announcing he and his teammates would not just take a 70 percent wage cut but also contribute to ensure non-playing staff earned their full salary. The resignation of six directors, including the vice-president who Bartomeu had earmarked as his successor, plunged Barça into greater institutional chaos.
It is up to Messi to salvage a league title against this backdrop of uncertainty. Manager Quique Setién has a thin squad at his disposal having arrived in January and will look to the otherworldly Argentine to lead by example. That might be tricky given Barça are relying on selling players such as Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal this summer after the pandemic wiped out their transfer budget, but it promises to be an entertaining soap opera.
Madrid have had no such problems off the pitch and are arguably a safer bet for the title given their strength in depth. Zinedine Zidane’s side boast 18 different scorers this campaign – the same number of available players in Barça’s squad – and the new rules on substitutions could be of huge benefit to Los Blancos.
Then again, the fact that Sergio Ramos is their second top scorer says something about their troubles in attack. Karim Benzema’s fine form in the first half of the season tailed off before the break, with only two of his 14 goals scored this calendar year. Meanwhile Eden Hazard has been injured far too often to fill Cristiano Ronaldo’s enormous boots, although we may see him at his best again after a return to full fitness.
Neither side is vintage, but that is also why either will be fun to support in the five-week sprint to the finish line. After all, who doesn’t want to see former Middlesbrough striker Martin Braithwaite score the goal which secures Barça the title?
For those who want to live in the present – Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad are La Liga’s breakout side this season. They also happen to be the perfect choice for those of us taking each day of lockdown at a time while trying not to think too much about the future.
That’s because it’s unlikely this young outfit will survive much longer than this summer’s transfer window. With a fluid attack based around young talents in local boy and captain Mikel Oyarzabal, on-loan Real Madrid wunderkind Martin Odegaard and former Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino, they are La Liga’s top scorers outside of the big two.
Odegaard has been a revelation after many feared his big-money move to the Spanish capital had come too soon. He signed for Madrid as a 16-year old and became the youngest player to represent the club but two loan spells in the Eredivisie seemed to signal stagnation. Instead he has dazzled for La Real with seven goals, eight assists and the joint-second most key passes per game in La Liga – 2.3 compared to Messi’s 2.5 according to WhoScored.
The Norwegian international is on a one-year loan, reportedly with an option to extend for another season. Real Sociedad president Jokin Apperibay thinks he will stay but there is every chance that Madrid could spoil the party as they tend to do by recalling him. Similar moves to Europe’s elite will surely materialise for Oyarzabal and the rest of the Txuri-Urdin’s bright lights sooner rather than later.
In any case, their sights are firmly set on Champions League qualification. They sit one point behind Sevilla in fourth place and have already made it to the Copa del Rey final, an all-Basque affair against Athletic Club which will only take place once fans are allowed back into stadiums. Enjoy them while you can.
For Santi Cazorla – Villarreal
What other reason do you need to support a football team? Cazorla is more used than most to returning after a long spell on the sidelines. A horror ankle injury ended the constantly smiling playmaker’s Arsenal career and it was doubtful he would set foot on the pitch again. At one point, it looked like he would be lucky to walk.
Somehow he came back, and not just to make up the numbers. Cazorla emerged from a tube of smoke during his unveiling as a Villarreal player, and the last two years have felt like an elaborate magic trick. At 35 years old he has contributed 14 goals for Javier Calleja’s outfit this campaign, with the most assists (six) and the second-most goals (eight) of any player in the squad.
Put simply, he should not be this good at this stage of his career. His performances last season were good enough to earn him a Spain recall, and he promptly scored his first goal in four years for La Roja in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Malta. You suspect he won’t mind having to wait another year for that rescheduled tournament either.
His Villarreal side find themselves in the thick of the battle for Europe in eighth, level on points with Granada and with Athletic in close pursuit. The stage is set for Cazorla to work his magic once again.
For the eternal optimists – Espanyol
Rooted to the bottom of the table since Christmas, four wins all season and the most goals conceded in La Liga – Barcelona’s second-biggest team would appear to be down and out by all normal metrics.
But the three-month break has afforded Espanyol space to breathe and an 11-game sprint could be just what they need to avoid relegation to Segunda for the first time since 1993. Six-pointers against the likes of Leganés, Eibar and Celta on the final day of the season will be crucial if they are to secure a great escape.
That’s without the added pressure of having to face Real Madrid, Valencia and eternal rivals Barcelona while hoping fellow strugglers drop points along the way. If you’re looking for an underdog, then there is no team facing a more difficult task than Espanyol.
“It’s a moment to make history,” captain Javi López said ahead of the restart. They just hope it will be the good kind.
Why not subscribe to our mailing list so you can get updates on La Liga sent directly to your inbox?
Image: Christian Bertrand via Shutterstock