La Liga midseason report and awards: Barca take commanding lead
The Spanish Liga has reached the halfway mark. Here’s a look at those who are doing well (and poorly) and what to expect in the second half.
Barcelona have dominated the first half of La Liga in a way we haven’t seen the past few years. With Real Madrid failing to live up to expectations, the Catalan giants look as if they have an easy road to another league title.
The season has also seen the emergence of several unexpected challengers at the top of the table. Valencia, who finished 12th last season, have been transformed under new manager Marcelino and are currently in third place, while Sevilla are also battling for the top four.
Barcelona’s star player continues to be Lionel Messi, who has been as dominant as ever. He leads the league in scoring and continues to make those around him better. Striker Luis Suarez struggled through the early stages of the season but is rounding into form, scoring six goals in his last five league games.
While Real Madrid shouldn’t be counted out of the title race, it seems extremely unlikely Zinedine Zidane’s side will be able to make up the ground needed to win the whole thing. Having won the league and Champions League last season, while also collecting their fifth trophy of the year recently at the FIFA Club World Cup, Los Blancos may not be as motivated as in years past. Nevertheless, Real have a game in hand heading into January so the standings may prove more favorable for them than at first glance. Cristiano Ronaldo still has what it takes to propel his side to victory.
“When we start playing at our best, our opponents suffer,” Zidane told reporters after the team defeated Gremio of Brazil to win the Club World Cup. “The players are key to everything.”
As La Liga enters the second half of the season, here are our winners and losers so far …
Best team: Barcelona
As previously mentioned, the team coached by Ernesto Valverde has been dominant domestically. The team can play both a beautiful brand of soccer as well as a gritty style when in need of a win. This versatility makes Barcelona different from Pep Guardiola’s lineups of old, but Valverde knows he has the roster to win games. This is a team that loves to play offensively (with an average of over 2.6 goals per game), with Messi always a threat. “We are a team who attack a lot,” Valverde told Barcelona’s official website following a recent 4-0 win against Deportivo La Coruna at the Camp Nou. “It’s a statistic that speaks volumes about us although we would have liked some of those shots to have gone in.”
Best manager: Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid)
It’s no surprise the coach everyone would love to have is Simeone. The Argentine has been great for Atletico Madrid in recent years and this season is no different. He gets the most out of his players (like strikers Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres), while also being able to balance egos on a team that isn’t as star-studded as Barca or Real, but has achieved a great deal in recent years. Simeone said at the start of the season that he feels recharged — and it has showed for Atleti. Eliminated early from the Champions League, Atletico could focus on La Liga and set their sights on catching up to Barcelona.
“I believe in the future of this club, I believe we are working well and we’ve got some good young lads coming through and we want them to mature well,” Simeone said this past September. “We’ve got a great future ahead of us and the chance to grow even more. We’ve got a new stadium, which we will open next week, so we’re optimistic that we can move things. The challenge gets greater and greater. There’s life here.”
Biggest disappointment: Real Madrid
Yes, Real! For a team that have won five trophies in 2017, it’s hard to believe they would be deemed the biggest disappointment of the season. For Real Madrid, that’s the reality at the moment. A look at the Liga standings says it all. Real have been out of the title race from the start after a poor September. Can they turn things around this spring? Stay tuned.
Best signing: Cristhian Stuani (Girona)
The Uruguayan striker signed with Girona from Middlesbrough over the summer and has been a great fit in La Liga. The 31-year-old quickly made an impact for the newly-promoted side, scoring a brace for his side in a 2-2 draw versus Atletico Madrid to start off the season. In their debut season in the Spanish top flight, Girona are in the top half of the table and pushing for a spot in Europe. As unlikely as that is, Girona are assured to avoid the drop (their stated goal this summer) and a lot of the credit goes to Stuani.
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Biggest overachiever: Valencia
It’s true that Valencia have overachieved this season and it’s due in part to a very unlikely player. Simone Zaza has helped the team battle for a top four spot for a large chunk of the season. He leads his team in goals and isn’t far behind Messi on the league top scorer chart. Two straight away loses this month dented the team’s unlikely title hopes. The 2-1 loss to Eibar (a game in which Zaza was suspended) highlighted two issues that could cripple this team. The first is how over reliant the club have been on Zaza. The second is an inability to win away from the Mestalla, something coach Marcelino will need to rectify if he wants to finish top four.
Seeing Red Award: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Sergio Ramos and red cards go hand in hand. It’s a shame that a player of his caliber can’t finish a complete match. He became the most sent-off player in Liga history this season with 19 red cards (and a career total of 24 in all competitions). The central defender’s career total is twice as many as any other Real Madrid player in history. Fernando Hierro is closest with 12 reds. You can almost bank on him seeing red at some point once again this season.
Oddest punishment: Celta Vigo
Teams love to play at home (like Valencia), but not all fans are into their club. That’s what Celta Vigo had to endure at the start of the season after the league had to fine the Galicians for their low attendance. The odd punishment came after Liga officials enforced a rule that says teams must fill a minimum of 70 percent of their stadium for every home game. In September, Celta’s first two home games attracted 16,961 and 17,384 fans, respectively, at Balaidos Stadium. The intimate venue has a capacity of 29,000. In response, the club dropped their prices. The gimmick hasn’t entirely worked. The mid-table club have averaged about 15,800 fans so far this season, even lower than the 16,500 they attracted during the 2016-17 season.