Translated material
Barcelona's concerns
The national championship has started in Spain
The first round of the Spanish Championship, as well as the match for the European Super Cup, showed that Barcelona will not be left without competitors in the coming season in the Pyrenees, but at the same time its main enemy is itself.It would seem that the future of Barça in the new season should be as cloudless as in the past, when the path to the second consecutive Spanish champion title was paved with carpet rather than grass. The core of the team, which, in fact, collected the entire harvest of trophies, was completely preserved, the departure of Henrik Larsson and Maxi Lopez went almost unnoticed, and the appearance of Zambrotta, Thuram and Gudjohnssen seemed an absolute plus. And the unconditional victories of the “blue garnets” over Espanyol in the games for the Spanish Super Cup and the test match with Bayern did not give the slightest reason for concern.
But the time came for the European Super Cup, and the Barcelona players seemed to have forgotten everything they knew how, and on the field instead of Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Chavi, Deco there were their pale shadows. Sevilla defeated the Catalans with minimal participation from their leader Enzo Maresca, without Chevanton and Hinkel, who joined the team in the summer. Two days later, Barça, having made every effort in the national championship, still snatched victory from Celta, which remained in the minority. The decisive goal was scored by newcomer Eidur Gudjohnssen, about whom they had already begun to say that this was far from the most successful replacement for Larsson. But neither Celta nor Sevilla belong to the first round of contenders for gold, although the UEFA Cup winner expects to join the fight for first place. However, the Andalusians will also be quite happy with their place in the Champions League zone.
Real Madrid, which has entered an era of change associated with a change in club management and head coach, is threatening to knock Barcelona off the top out of habit. After three fruitless seasons in Madrid, they decided to bet on a man who is not very concerned about the beauty of style, but who is capable of delivering results - exactly what the fans of the “royal” club need now. It is no coincidence that, having appeared at the Santiago Bernabeu, Fabio Capello said that he sees Real Madrid as a “team of fighters”.
However, achieving the required result will not be so easy, since Real Madrid currently faces great uncertainty with its squad, the outlines of which seem very, very vague. Capello has already made it clear that a number of players (Woodgate, Pavon, Helguera, Cicinho) are not in his plans, but at the same time, it may happen that the services of one of them will still have to be resorted to in the near future. It is unclear what will happen to Ronaldo, whose sale the Italian specialist first called a necessary condition for his return to Madrid, and then backed down, saying that he would not give him to either Inter or Milan. As for the new acquisitions, neither Emerson, nor Van Nistelrooy, nor Cannavaro have yet lived up to expectations, both in the test matches and in the first round game. In the match with Villarreal, Real's formidable attack failed to create even the slightest serious threat to the opponent's goal, and there was a lack of mutual understanding between the newcomers and the old-timers. In more than 90 minutes, the hosts fired a single shot on target (played by Roberto Carlos), and that was only moments before the final whistle.
Valencia did not start too confidently, and although they beat Betis, it was with noticeable difficulty. Judging by the way the “bats” conducted the transfer campaign, they may well compete with the same “Barca”. True, it remains to be seen how the departure of Aimar and Mista will affect their game, and the scandal surrounding key defender Fabian Ayala, who wanted to change jobs, may have a negative impact on the atmosphere within the team. The fact that it is still far from ideal is evidenced by the recent conflict between the club's sporting director Amedeo Carboni and head coach Quique Flores.
A surprisingly calm working environment reigns at Atlético Madrid, where new team coach Javier Aguirre has rolled up his sleeves and got to work. The family of the late Jesus Gil, which still owns the club, spent multimillion-dollar expenses to strengthen the team (by the way, 18-year-old Argentinean Sergio Aguero became the most expensive newcomer to Primera Liga - 23 million euros), and with such players as Pernia, Seitaridis , Maniche, Costinha, Fernando Torres and Mista, she has the right to count on a lot. Atlético even allowed itself the luxury of parting with Mateja Kezman, but even in his absence they beat Racing in their debut away match, and the guests spent the entire second half outnumbered.
Deportivo should not be discounted, having successfully survived the “transition period” under the leadership of Joaquín Caparrós, and now showing a mature and spectacular game. It will certainly be interesting to watch football played by Zaragoza, which for the second time in his career was led by Victor Fernandez, who had been on vacation for a year and a half (his first arrival ended with a victory in the Cup Winners' Cup). But still, the main struggle, in theory, should unfold between the above-mentioned quartet.
===================================================== ========
Results of the 1st round : "Valencia" - "Betis" - 2:1, "Villarreal" - "Real" - 0:0, "Celta" - "Barcelona" - 2:3, "Deportivo" " - Zaragoza - 3:2, Espanyol - Gimnastic - 0:1, Osasuna - Getafe - 0:2, Recreativo - Mallorca - 1:1, Racing - Atlético Madrid - 0:1, Athletic - Real Sociedad - 1:1.