Translated material
Running in place
The crisis has not spared any of the contenders for the championship
A round before the end of the first round of the Spanish Championship, the composition and number of applicants for the championship title and vacancies in European competition remained the same as before the New Year. The short winter holidays clearly did not benefit the leaders, who, as if by agreement, staged an attraction of generosity for clubs that did not really count on it.An example was set by Barcelona, which still cannot regain first place in the standings. The “blue garnets” lost to their fellow countrymen from Espanyol, which had not happened to them since December 22, 2001, and they lost on all counts. Even the return of Ronaldinho, who had served his disqualification, and tried to improve his combination play, did not help Barca. It was he who came closest to success in the first half, when he curled the ball into the crossbar from a free kick. However, after Luis Garcia opened the scoring, Barcelona somehow wilted, and even Saviola's goal, which Frank Rijkaard so wanted to get rid of before the start of the championship, looked accidental. It was natural that Espanyol brought the matter to a convincing victory, and if not for the generosity of its players, coupled with the brilliant play of Victor Valdez, everything could well have ended in defeat.
Sevilla did not take advantage of the gift from the current champion, and will now receive even closer attention. And not so much because this team encroached on the hegemony of Barcelona (by the way, only 7% of Spanish fans surveyed by the Marca newspaper believe that the club from Andalusia will be able to stay in first place), but because of the transfer of the Russian national team forward to it Alexandra Kerzhakova. His debut, planned for the next round, took place in the match with Mallorca, since the Russian’s main competitor for a place in the starting lineup, Brazilian Luis Fabiano, was serving a five-match suspension.
Kerzhakov was unable to help his new partners avoid defeat, which, however, no one is going to blame him for; He spent too little time on the field and the ball reached him too rarely. Who cares about Kerzhakov if Primera's top scorer, Frederic Kanoute, spent almost the entire game on a starvation diet, and delivered his only accurate shot from the 11-meter mark.
Celta also deserves special attention, with whom Spartak will have to sort things out in the 1/16 finals of the UEFA Cup in February. So far, the Galicians are not looking very impressive, to put it mildly, having not already won seven rounds, which is the worst performance since their return to Primera. It is no coincidence that the match with Atlético in Vigo was considered a game of life and death, and judging by what Celta allowed Madrid to do in their half of the field, one could consider it incompetent. And although there is no talk yet about the resignation of the team's head coach Fernando Vazquez, it is possible that in the event of another fiasco this issue will be put on the agenda.
As in the case of Atlético, where Fernando Torres had perhaps the best match of the season, signs of recovery from the crisis also appeared in the main club of Madrid. True, Real failed to achieve a convincing result in the meeting with Zaragoza, and shortly before the final whistle even a tit could have flown out of his hands if the crossbar had not come to the aid of Casillas and his teammates. And for the only goal that turned out to be the winning one (and for the whole game too), special thanks should be given to the new recruit of the “royal” club, Gonzalo Higuain, who did everything to ensure that Ruud van Nistelrooy only put his foot on the ball, sending the ball into the net.
At the same time, Madridistas are ready to forget about the “heroes of yesterday”, the first of whom, David Beckham, has already signed a contract with the US club Los Angeles Galaxy, whose ranks he should join in June. However, Beckham may have to hold new negotiations with the Americans, as Fabio Capello announced that he does not count on this player until the end of the season. Ronaldo and Antonio Cassano are not included in the Italian specialist’s future plans, and by the summer the black list will only increase. It’s just that Capello himself, who is trusted by only half of Real Madrid fans, wouldn’t be in it. Meanwhile, in England, Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho asks for the latest issue of the Marca newspaper to be brought to him every day...
18th round. Valencia - Levante - 3:0, Espanyol - Barcelona - 3:1, Athletic - Villarreal - 0:1, Gimnastic - Getafe -- 1:3, "Osasuna" -- "Betis" -- 5:1, "Racing" -- "Real Sociedad" -- 1:0, "Recreativo" -- "Deportivo" -- 1:1, " Sevilla - Mallorca - 1:2, Celta - Atlético - 1:3, Real Madrid - Zaragoza - 1:0. Leading : Sevilla - 37 points, Barcelona - 35 (17 games), Real Madrid - 35, Valencia - 33, Atlético - 32.