La liga news round-up: day 1

It was a weekend that defied predictions as the 3 promoted sides all won at the expense of some of the bigger teams, Real looked better than expected, Sevilla won but it didn't matter, Barca bored and Valencia and Atletico bottled it once again.

Barca 0-0 Racing

As a certain Spanish newspaper put it, 'fantastically boring'. Fair play to Marca, it made me chuckle.

As Sid Lowe said on Football Weekly, it was all rather depressingly familiar to Barca fans: a total lack of width, urgency, agression and worryingly, not much inspiration in attack.

But Zambrotta's right, you know:

“During the pre-season we have been a 'fantastic' team and won everything. Now just because of one match there’s all this fuss."

I also second Xavi's frustration at all this 'fantastic four' rubbish. Certain sections of the press need to remember that football is a team sport.

What has sparked some worry amongst the fans and the press is that while Messi was arguably the best of the trident, he was the one who was subbed off for Henry to come on, instead of Ronaldinho or Eto'o, who would be more likely to have a tantrum about it. Rijkaard insists the substitution was done that way for tactical reasons, but he's definitely under scrutiny for his (apparent lack of) willingness to test the discipline of Ronnie and Sammy by benching them. Messi himself didn't look too happy to be bought off, but in the post-match interview he repeated his usual line of being at the disposal of the coach. To be honest, he's probably the least problematic of the 4 in terms of discipline, but that doesn't mean he should be the victim of the others' egos.

Incidentally, Cesc Fabregas implied in an interview this week that Henry intimidated too many of the young players at Arsenal while he was there. At least that won't be a problem at Barca, where most of the squad are established internationals in their 20s with their own egos and some are stars in their own right.

racing

They're better than I thought they'd be. Garay is as dependable as ever, and with a manager who knows how to marshal limited resources, maybe they won't be in trouble after all.

club news

Poor old Eidur Gudjohnsen. I know I placed him pretty low in the striker hierarchy for the season, but at least I didn't say this:

"Eidur knows the situation," said Beguiristáin. "We now have six players in front of him."

Ouch, Txiki (technical director 'Txiki' Beguiristain), harsh. Especially since 2 of those 6 are at least 10 years his junior.

Next up is the Gamper trophy, which we have to cheer ourselves up for despite the events of the opening round. To be honest, a first round draw away from home is far from a disastrous result, but as I said above, it's just the same old problems which is a bit frustrating for fans. I would certainly rather have the 3 points, but at least this damp squib of a result has damped down the absurd hype.

Real 2-1 Atletico

If it's unfair to judge Atletico on this performance alone, it's probably also unfair to say that Real are world-beaters based on one victory. However, they did look at least dynamic and up for it, and this is a great result for them after the pre-season madness. Good stuff.

As for Atletico, I think they've still got issues in defence, but having said that, they haven't conceded that many in previous seasons either, it's just the timing of the ones they do concede that hurts them.

Valencia 0-3 Villarreal

Being an admirer of the Yellow Submarines, I was very pleased with this result and with their slick performance, but where does one even start with Valencia? Angulo instead of Morientes to partner Villa? And what was with that defence? I didn't think they'd miss Ayala, having signed well to replace him (plus, Albiol's pretty good), but lord, they didn't look organised.

Sometimes, it's difficult for fans to accept the decline of a great player as age takes its toll, and Ruben Baraja is a prime example. I keep thinking that he's still brilliant like he was 3 or 4 seasons ago, and the reality of how far he's fallen was a shock. Sad, but at least Valencia have just signed Manuel Fernandez from Benfica to plug that midfield hole.

Sevilla 4-1 Getafe

A good win, but the gloss has completely been taken off it by the plight of young leftback Antonio Puerta, who remains in very serious condition after collapsing first on the pitch, and then again in the dressing room, where he had to be resuscitated by club doctors. Kind of puts all the fuss about referees and whiny players and unjust results in perspective when a 22-year-old is fighting for his life in hospital, doesn't it? At least the behaviour of Sevilla's cross-town rivals Betis in this matter has been commendable, which is a nice break at least from the childish acrimony that often characterises the rivalry.

All the best wishes to Puerta and his family.

Elsewhere, Zaragoza cost my fantasy team a few points as they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by new boys Murcia, for whom Pablo Garcia did a good job and record signing Baiano opened his account (although I did get some points because of this game courtesy of Ricardo Oliveira). Depor also cost me a few points in being thrashed 3-0 by Almeria. So much for the fortress Riazor.

(I should explain that I have a 'no Barca or Real players' policy for my fantasy team, which is probably going to cost me points, but has made things more interesting by forcing me to look harder at some of the other sides in the league.)


(Coming up, a post on the new Barca signings.)

La Liga season preview

This season is unprecedented in terms of spending: 477 million euros in total, breaking the previous record of 2000 by quite some distance. And the transfer window's not even closed yet. Whether all that spending will produce good football and an exciting league remains to be seen. But hey, it's not my favourite league for nothing, and the season ahead looks insanely exciting.

I'm not going to do predictions, because I'm superstitious that way. What I will offer is a question for each of the 20 teams in this season's Primera Liga.

Club: Almería
Coach: Unai Emery
In: Ortiz (Pol. Ejido), Felipe Melo (Racing), López Rekarte (Real Sociedad), Natalio (Castellón), Corona (Zaragoza), Dimas (Barcelona), Negredo (Real Madrid Castilla), Pulido (Getafe), Cobeño (Sevilla), Juanito (Real Sociedad), Diego (Atletico Mineiro), Julio dos Santos (Bayern)
Out: Valerio, De Palmas, Rodri, Larrea, Mena
My question: can the new signings help them stay up? Almeria have been tipped by many to go straight back down, and it's hard to argue with that. The list of signings certainly doesn't inspire confidence.

Club: Athletic Bilbao
Coach: Joaquin Caparrós
In: David López (Osasuna), Muñoz (Osasuna), Aitor Ocio (Sevilla), David Cuéllar (Nàstic), Gorka (Espanyol)
Out: Urzáiz (Ajax), Javi González (Hércules), Iturriaga (Salamanca), Lafuente (Espanyol), Sarriegi (Panathinaikos)
One to watch: midfield wizard Yeste needs to have a good season to help the team stay out of trouble
My question: Will Caparros lift them out of the hole they've been in for the past few seasons? They've lost a few important players, and while the enforcements are useful, they're not going to solve all of Athletic's problems. I see there's been a couple of impressive performers from their youth system (one of the best in Spain) during pre-season, who can hopefully help the club avoid another relegation battle.

Club: Atlético Madrid
European commitments: UEFA Cup via Intertoto Cup
Coach: Javier Aguirre
In: Raúl García (Osasuna), Diego Costa (Sporting Braga), Christian Abbiati (Milan), Luis García (Liverpool), Diego Forlán (Villarreal), Cléber Santana (Santos), Simão (Benfica), Jose Antonio Reyes (Real Madrid)
Out: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Gabi (Zaragoza), Galletti (Olympiakos), Molinero (Mallorca), Martin Petrov (Manchester City), Pichu (Éibar)
One to watch: after all the hype, this could be Sergio Aguero's time to come good
My question: as with every season when they spend big - is this their year to push on and get into the Champions League? Atletico are the masters of the false dawn, but having managed to keep their admirable coach and spent wisely, they might benefit from the having the spotlight shifted off one person (the dearly departed Torres). Still looks a bit fragile in defence, but a midfield of Raul Garcia, Maniche, Simao and Maxi Rodriguez and a strike force of Aguero and Forlan ought to keep things ticking over nicely.

Club: Barcelona
European commitments: Champions League
Coach: Frank Rijkaard
In: Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Yaya Touré (Monaco), Eric Abidal (Lyon), Gabi Milito (Zaragoza)
Out: Gio van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Javier Saviola (Real Madrid), Ludovic Giuly (Roma), Maxi López (FC Moscow), Juliano Belletti (Chelsea)
One to watch: it's hoped that talented canterano Gio Dos Santos will follow the path of Messi circa 04-05 and be gradually eased into the first team.
My question: will dressing room infighting or fitness issues stop us from playing the way we did 2 seasons ago? If not, then we can talk about winning things.

If you have a season in which you're top of the league for 24 of the 38 weeks, score the most, concede the least, lose the least, and finish equal on points with the champions but still fail to win the league, you can draw one of two conclusions. One, that nothing is fundamentally wrong with the team, it was just luck that meant you lost out, and therefore big changes are unnecessary. Alternatively, you can see it as a signal that change is needed if a team who are evidently pretty good still failed to bring the title home. Those in charge at Barca seems to have staked out the middle ground by buying some players to bolster the current system. It remains to be seen how well they'll bed in.

Club: Real Betis
Coach: Héctor Cúper
In: Mark González (Liverpool), Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen), Mariano Pavone (Estudiantes), Ricardo (Sporting Lisbon), Lima (Atletico Minerio), Leandro Somoza (Villarreal)
Out: Romero, Robert (PSV), Dani (Cádiz), Contreras (Cádiz), Maldonado (Nástic), Juanlu (Córdoba), Lembo (Danubio), Assuncao (Al Ahli)
One to watch: Young Argentine striker Mariano Pavone earned rave reviews when winning the title with Estudiantes. If he can adapt well, then Betis may have the marksman they need and haven't really had since the departure of Ricardo Oliveira.
My question: Can Cuper turn things around at an internally chaotic club? They've bought quite well, but I'm not sure the defensive problems have been fixed. Good to see that they've finally got a better 'keeper than Doblas though.

Club: Deportivo La Coruna
Coach: Miguel Ángel Lotina
In: Pablo Amo (Recreativo), Rubén Castro (Nàstic), Xisco (Vecindario), Antonio Tomás (Racing), Momo (Racing), Andres Guardado (Atlas), Manu (Sporting de Gijon), Lafita (Zaragoza), Aythami (Las Palmas), Filipe (Rentistas), Jairo (Sporting de Gijon)
Out: Capdevila (Villarreal), Duscher (Racing), Juanma (Tenerife), Arizmendi (Valencia), Estoyanoff (Valladolid), Jorge Andrade (Juventus)
One to watch: if talented Mexican midfielder Andres Guardado can adapt well to the league, then he could help solve Depor's problems going forward
My question: with the departure of the defensive bedrock that allowed them to stay out of trouble despite a dismal scoring record, can Depor maintain their solidarity? If not, they could be in trouble, since the club doesn't really have the funds to buy the attacking players they need to improve.

Club: Espanyol
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
In: Kiko Casilla (Real Madrid Castilla), Valdo (Osasuna), Clemente Rodriguez (Spartak Moscow), Lola (Partizan Belgrade), Lafuente (Athletic)
Out: Velasco, Robusté (Levante), Walter Pandiani (Osasuna), Costa (Gremio), Ito (Córdoba), Gorka (Athletic), Sergio Sánchez (Racing)
One to watch: as ever, moody but highly talented midfielder Ivan De La Pena is key to their success. Hopefully he'll be back from injury soon.
My question: do they have what it takes to push for an UEFA Cup place? As they showed last season, Espanyol under the admirable Valverde are a fine side in the league, and without the distraction of a (very good) UEFA Cup run, they could conceivably aim higher this time around.

Club: Getafe
European commitments: UEFA Cup via Copa Del Rey final
Coach: Michael Laudrup
In: Pallardó (Valencia), Uche (Recreativo), Mario (Recreativo), Pablo Hernández (Cádiz), Daniel "Cata" Díaz (Boca Juniors), Kepa (Sevilla), Oscar Ustari (Independiente), Signorino (Nantes)
Out: Alexis (Valencia), Paredes (Zaragoza), Verpakovskis (Dynamo Kiev), Pulido (Almería), Pachón (Rayo Vallecano), Vivar Dorado (Valladolid), Dani Güiza (Mallorca)
One to watch: they've gone out and bought Argentina's next big thing in terms of goalkeepers to go with the current no.1, so who's going to play? Ustari is truly promising, so hopefully he won't waste away on the bench.
My question: can Laudrup maintain the good work done by Schuster? As ever, the club have lost some key players but bought smartly to compensate. I think Laudrup will do fine, but Getafe will have trouble improving on their finish from last season given a distracting UEFA Cup run.

Club: Levante
Coach: Abel Resino
In: Savio (Real Sociedad), David (Sevilla), Geijo (Xerez), Viqueira (Recreativo), Kujovic (Roda), Cirillo (AEK), Arveladze (AZ Alkmaar), Robusté (Espanyol), Pedro León (Murcia), Javi Fuego (Sporting), Storari (AC Milan)
Out: Zé María, Déhu, Molina, Salva (Málaga), Kapo, N´Diaye (Tenerife), Diego Camacho (Valladolid), Reggi (Castellón), Carmelo (Numancia), Alexis (Valladolid)
One to watch: La Liga veteran Savio has still got the occasional magic, and Levante really do need some spark.
My question: after a season in which they stayed up based largely on defensive solidarity, can they do the same again? Many people are tipping them for relegation, and it's hard to argue that they look like they're going to be in trouble.

Club: Mallorca
Coach: Gregorio Manzano
In: Valero (Castilla), German Lux (River), Webo (Osasuna), Molinero (Atlético Madrid), David Navarro (Valencia), Dani Güiza (Getafe), Gonzalo Castro (Nacional)
Out: Prats, Diego Tristán (Livorno), Maxi López (Barcelona), Jankovic (Palermo), Jordi López (Racing), Delibasic (Real Sociedad)
One to watch: forwards Guiza and Webo will be looking to replace the goals scored by previous top scorer Jankovic.
My question: having lost the aftementioned goalscoring midfielder, will they cope? The early signs look good (and they've still got their other goalscoring midfielder Arango), and Manzano's an old hand at this midtable finish thing by now.

Club: Murcia
Coach: Lucas Alcaraz
In: Íñigo (Éibar), Arzo (Recreativo), De Lucas (Alavés), Goitom (Udinese), Regueiro (Valencia), Carini (Inter), Pablo García (Real Madrid), Mejía (Real Madrid), Curro Torres (Valencia), Fernando Baiano (Celta)
Out: Juanmi, Emerson, Capi, Lledó, Aranda, Carrera, Pablo Ruiz, Antoñito, Pedro León (Levante), Ramón González (Xerez)
One to watch: Fernando Baiano, the undoubtedly talented forward who scored 15 for relegated Celta last season. Having broken their club transfer record to get their man, Murcia will be looking to him for the goals they need to stay up.
My question: They've got some useful players in, and if they bed in well, Murcia could stay up. Will probably be a close call, though.

Club: Osasuna
Coach: Cuco Ziganda
In: Margairaz (Zúrich), Hugo Viana (Valencia), Javier Portillo (Gimnàstic), Walter Pandiani (Espanyol), Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Medina (U. Chile), Dady (Os Belenenses), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco)
Out: Robert Soldado (Real Madrid), Raúl García (Atlético), Muñoz (Athletic), Valdo (Espanyol), Milosevic, David López (Athletic), Cuéllar (Glasgow Rangers), F. Moreno (Albacete), Webó ( Mallorca), Mikel Arruabarrena (Tenerife)
One to watch: Arsenal's tremendously talented young Mexican Carlos Vela, who's only on loan because he can't get a visa for England. Osasuna should enjoy his services while he's here.
My question: will the losses in midfield and defence hurt the traditionally solid team? Osasuna lost their entire strike force in the transfer window, but they've done very good work in replacing the likes of Milosevic and Soldado, in the case of the latter by swapping one Real Madrid Castilla product for another (Javier Portillo, who is a decent player). Pandiani proved last season that he's still useful, and Dady has done very well in the Portuguese league. But Raul Garcia was very important for them, and I'm not sure they've worked out how to replace him.

Club: Racing Santander
Coach: Marcelino García Toral
In: Jonatan Valle (Málaga), Ayoze (C. de Murcia), Samuel (Sporting), Trevi, Duscher (Deportivo), Jorge López (Valencia), Jordi López (Mallorca), Sergio Sánchez (Espanyol), Brian Sarmiento (Estudiantes de la Plata), 'Ebi' Smolarek (Borussia Dortmund)
Out: Matabuena, Alfaro (retired), Balboa (Real Madrid), Lionel Scaloni (Lazio), Felipe Melo (Almería), Antonio Tomás (Deportivo), Momo (Deportivo), Rubén (Celta), Zigic (Valencia), Vitolo (Celta)
One to watch: Polish forward Smolarek, who just arrived. Racing will be looking to him to replace the goals that the departing Zigic scored.
My question: can they stay out of trouble having sold their best player from last season? Goalscoring young Argentine centerback Ezequial Garay is still there, which is good news, but it's easy to see them struggling without Zigic.

Club: Real Madrid
European commitments: Champions League
Coach: Bernd Schuster
In: Robert Soldado (Osasuna), Balboa (Racing), Metzelder (B. Dortmund), Julio Baptista (Arsenal), Pepe (Porto), Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool), Javier Saviola (Barça), Schorch (Hertha Berlín), Royston Drenthe (Feyenoord), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Chelsea)
Out: Roberto Carlos (Fenerbahçe), Beckham (LA Galaxy), Diego López (Villarreal), Miñambres (Hércules), Pavón (Zaragoza), Raúl Bravo (Olympiakos), Pablo García (Murcia), Mejía (Murcia), Ivan Helguera (Valencia), Jose Antonio Reyes (Atlético Madrid), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Emerson (Milan), Cicinho (Roma)
One to watch: is Wesley Sneijder the 'brain' Real have been looking for since Zizou left the building?
My question: will all that spending come together to make a good team? Real were the biggest spenders in Spain and indeed Europe yet again, and as El Pais wrote, 'the most expensive team in the world' and in the history of Spanish football. But having done their spending so late on, whoever is in charge of technical decisions at Real have given Schuster a very untenable situation. He's under a lot of pressure to win games, and win them well, but to be still bedding in new players in the first few games of the season is not the ideal preparation.

(By the way, the four most expensive players in the history of La Liga: Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and now Robben. All by Real, of course.)

Club: Recreativo
Coach: Victor Munoz
In: Varela (Sporting), Martins (Sporting), Camuñas (Xerez), Beto (Bordeaux), Sorrentino (AEK Athens), Quique Álvarez (Villarreal), Marcos (Villarreal), Cáceres (Villarreal), 'Pampa' Calvo (Boca Juniors), Mariano Barbosa (Villarreal)
Out: Pablo Amo (Deportivo), Uche (Getafe), Mario (Getafe), Viqueira (Levante), Arzo, Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Guerrero, Merino, Cheli, Laquait
One to watch: Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who proved such a surprise success last season. His partners in attack have all left, though, so it's up to him alone now.
My question: with the amount of change at Recre, will they be afflicted by second-seasonitis? Early signs do not look good. They lost their manager and many of their best performing players, and while some of the replacements look okay, the rest are of dubious quality.

Club: Sevilla
European commitments: Champions League (from qualifiers)
Coach: Juande Ramos
In: Tom De Mul (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Chelsea), De Sanctis (Udinese), Keita (Lens), Mosquera (Pachuca)
Out: David (Levante), Kepa (Getafe), Aitor Ocio (Athletic), Cobeño (Almería)
One to watch: this may be Jesus Navas' breakthrough season if he can overcome his psychological problems. The dictionary definition of 'brilliant but brittle'.
My question: will last season's amazing feats go up in smoke because of that dreaded beast, internal unrest? The way things have gone in the last few weeks with the separate sagas involving Chevanton, Dani Alves and coach Ramos himself have not boded well, but hopefully they can put all that behind them and perform well again, both in the league and in the Champions League.

In the transfer window, the club have bought well and cheaply yet again. Here's an amazing statistic, courtesy of El Pais: the Sevilla first 11 that defeated Real in the Bernabeu to win the Spanish Super Cup cost 26 million euros in total. Now that's a great achievement.

Club: Valencia
European commitments: Champions League (from qualifiers)
Coach: Quique Sánchez Flores
In: Arizmendi (Deportivo), Mata (Real Madrid Castilla), Alexis (Getafe), Timo Hildebrand (Stuttgart), Sunny (Pol. Ejido), Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid), Zigic (Racing), Manuel Fernandez (Benfica)
Out: Pallardó (Getafe), Jorge López (Racing), Roberto Ayala (Zaragoza), Tavano (Livorno), Regueiro (Murcia), Hugo Viana (Osasuna), Butelle (Valladolid), David Navarro (Mallorca), Aarón (Xerez)
One to watch: Youngsters Mata and Sunny had pretty good tournaments at the U20 World Cup and will be looking to get some minutes this season.
My question: will this be their season? Valencia have a sensible coach, an enviably large squad which is to their credit filled with Spanish players and finally now seemingly no more potential for internal unrest. They are difficult to beat and can play some great stuff. So what's stopping them from challenging for the title and for the Champions League? If they can avoid injury problems and more internal unrest, the sky's the limit.

Club: Valladolid
Coach: José Luis Mendilíbar
In: Sisi (Valencia), Butelle (Valencia), Alberto, Vivar Dorado (Getafe), Estoyanoff (Deportivo), Diego Camacho (Levante), Ogbeche (Alavés), Sesma (Cádiz), Cifuentes (Real Sociedad), Alexis (Levante)
Out: Chema, De la Cuesta, Gonzalo Vicente, Mario Suárez, Toché, Manchev
My question: will their imperious procession to the Segunda division title translate into the kind of form that will ensure them survival? I think they'll do well enough to stay up, but it is early days yet.

Club: Villarreal
European commitments: UEFA Cup
Coach: Manuel Pellegrini
In: Vidangossy (Unión), Cáceres, Capdevila (Deportivo), Diego López (Real Madrid), Rio Mavuba (Bordeaux), Santi Cazorla (Recreativo), Tomane (Sporting), JD Tomasson (Stuttgart), Giuseppi Rossi (Manchester United), Angel Lopez (Celta)
Out: Alessandro Tacchinardi, Quique Álvarez (Recreativo), Arruabarrena (AEK Athens), Arzo (Murcia), Diego Forlán (Atlético), Peña (Celta), Marcos (Recreativo), Cáceres (Recreativo), López Vallejo (Zaragoza), José Enrique (Newcastle), Leandro Somoza (Betis), Mariano Barbosa (Recreativo)
One to watch: American-Italian Rossi has the potential to be a great striker in La Liga, and if he settles well Villarreal will look very smart indeed having made so much money off Forlan and bought Rossi for what will then look like a very small sum (around 10 million euros).
My question: can they continue their great form from the end of last season given all the personnel changes? (And will the presence of a sulking Juan Roman Riquelme at training disrupt team spirit?) What seemed like the spine of the team left, and despite reinforcing well in some respects I still worry that they're short of a few defenders, especially given the serious injury suffered by Gonzalo Rodriguez yet again. I'm sure Pellegrini will mold the newcomers into a unit soon enough, but with an UEFA Cup run injuries at the back could be a problem.

Club: Zaragoza
European commitments: UEFA Cup
Coach: Víctor Fernández
In: Gabi (Atlético), Paredes (Getafe), Ricardo Oliveira (Milan), Generelo (Nàstic), Roberto Ayala (Villarreal), Pavón (Real Madrid), Matuzalem (Shakhtar Donetsk), López Vallejo (Villarreal)
Out: Gerard Piqué (Manchester United), César Jiménez (retired), Corona (Zaragoza), Aranzábal, Ewerthon (Stuttgart), Gabi Milito (Barcelona), Lafita (Deportivo), Longás (Tenerife)
One to watch: Matuzalem is a tremendous talent and will add even more South American flair into a team already packed with it.
My question: will an UEFA Cup run affect their league form? Zaragoza have enforced very well indeed, especially on the somewhat murky and yet ingenious move that bought Roberto Ayala as a more than adequate replacement for Gabi Milito. Losing Gerard Pique is a shame, but one can understand him wanting to play for Manchester United. Bringing Ricardo Oliveira in on loan now looks very smart indeed given the dubious state of fitness of last season's top scorer Diego Milito. Oliveira may have been useless in Serie A, but he's a goal machine in La Liga.


Here's Sid Lowe's (always entertaining) season preview, and here's Tim of La Liga Loca's for his blog and for Football365. Phew. It's certainly good to have proper football back in La Liga again.

La Liga news round-up: friendlies galore

For many of the big European leagues, the sweet relief of proper competitive football is just a week or so away. Unfortunately, La Liga (and Serie A) are taking longer holidays, with almost all the teams jetting around the world, playing friendlies. Yawn. Thank God, then, for the diverting prospect of European club competition, with the early rounds of the Champions League, the UEFA Cup and the Intertoto already under way.

European Football

The third qualifying round draw for the Champions League has now been made, with the two Spanish clubs involved having had mixed fortunes. Valencia have been handed a relatively good draw against the winners of Debreceni of Hungary and Elfsborg of Sweden. Sevilla on the other hand were lumbered with the unappealing prospect of a tricky trip to Greece (never fun for Spanish teams), having been drawn against AEK Athens, coached - ironically enough - by former Betis manager Lorenzo Serra Ferrer.

I really want both clubs to make it through. As has been pointed out on numerous columns by various La Liga experts, too many people still see La Liga as a duopoly. I've cringed far too many times at the assertions of the ignorant that the likes of Valencia or Sevilla aren't big clubs. At least Valencia, having been regular European contenders for some time, now have a fairly good reputation abroad. Sevilla on the other hand have been hugely underrated. I want them in the Champions League proper so that they can show just how good they are and surprise a few people.

The draw for the second qualifying round of the poor man's Champions League, the UEFA Cup, has also been made. Having made it through their Intertoto adventure, Atletico Madrid have been rewarded with a tie against Vojvodina of Serbia, who beat Hibernians FC - no, not that one - of Malta convincingly in the last round. Here's hoping that Atletico's travelling mishaps do not continue to dog them.

Lastly, this isn't exactly La Liga-related, except for perhaps being of passing interest to Barca supporters, but I couldn't resist mentioning that Helsingborgs of Sweden are also in this round (they're going to play Drogheda United of Ireland), having overcome Trans Narva of Estonia 9-0 on aggregate with a brace in the first game from - rather inevitably - Henrik Larsson.

Yes, my favourite Swede is back in European competition with his hometown club. Helsingborgs qualified for the UEFA Cup by winning the Swedish Cup during Larsson's first season with them. What a career the man's had, and it really makes me glad (and a little sad that he left us so soon) to know that he's still out there, and still occasionally banging them in.

Barca

Despite having pretty much finished shopping for the season and laid out a list of the players we're looking to ship out (Maxi, Ezquerro and Motta, if you're wondering), Barca are still plagued with transfer stories, from the ridiculous to the frustrating.

The prime example - and the only one stupid enough that I feel the need to point and laugh at it - is Deco giving an interview to the Sun in which he very politely says that he'd like to work with Mourinho again someday. How this got spun into headlines of Deco's imminent exit, Lord only knows. Anyhow, Deco says he wants to stay, and Laporta says he's definitely not for sale. Besides, does Chelsea even need another midfielder?

On the subject of players leaving the club, it's going to be difficult to find a home for Maxi for obvious reasons (i.e. him not being any good for the past season), and Ezquerro will hopefully have his case resolved before 15 August, with Athletic, Celtic and various Premiership clubs all likely destinations. If he goes to the former, then Barca are likely to let him leave on a free transfer, but otherwise we'll be looking to get a token amount for the player. Considering we signed him for free, it won't be a lot.

The matter of Thiago Motta has only gotten increasingly complicated and contentious. Motta himself is hurt that the club have made it so clear that he's not wanted, weakening his negotiating position with potential suitors. Fair enough, but Thiago, man, everyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish football already knows that you aren't exactly in huge demand at the club. He wants a free transfer, and we want some money (5 million euros is the figure they're hoping for) for him. This could get messy.

Vice-president in charge of finance and transfer talks (that's not his official title, by the way) Soriano is very pleased with himself. To be fair, he has done a good job with all the negotiations.

On to some tour-related news. Barca landed in Beijing (only a two-hour drive from where I was born, incidentally) yesterday, jetlagged and disorientated from the long flight. They'll play Beijing Guo'an - who used to be a decent team but are now rubbish - in a few days time.

There has been much artificial "controversy" over the tour, which stemmed from these very reasonable comments by Lilian Thuram when asked about pre-season tours:

"I do not think it is possibly the best way for the team to prepare," he continued. "But that is how football is and all the big clubs do it nowadays."

Sounds about right. But of course his words (and similar remarks from Zambrotta and Oleguer) have been blown out of proportion by a press gleeful for some pre-season drama.

(Incidentally, if you want pre-season drama, I quite liked the story that Ronaldinho, suffering under the new training regime, shouted "life shouldn't be like this!" - jokingly or not, depends on which source you listen to - at Rijkaard when he demanded more intensity from the sweating players, wilting under the sun.)

There's good news and bad news on the injury and personal front. First, the good news. Carles Puyol is moving forward with his recovery and should be back for us at the end of September. By the way, I re-watched the 04-05 Clasico in the Camp Nou a couple of days back, and God, Puyol played almost perfectly in that game. Nothing got past him. Injuries robbed him of that kind of form last season, but hopefully we'll see that Puyol again.

The other piece of good news is that the three players absent from the squad due to their participation in the Copa America are due back early next week. Messi, Marquez and new signing Gabi Milito will fly into Barcelona and begin their pre-season programme. Hopefully we'll see them in the friendlies against Bayern and Inter before the start of the season. Personally, I can't want for Marquez and Milito to get back to full fitness - that centerback pairing of Thuram (class) and Oleguer (occasionally class) really worries me. Plus, I really want to see Messi and Henry playing together.

Now the bad news. The drama related to Bojan Krkic's call-up for the Spanish U17 side has finally been resolved in favour of the Spanish federation, and he'll miss the pre-season (and probably the start of the season). Normally, I'm in full support of players being released by clubs to go play international matches, but in the case of Krkic, I can kind of see the club's point. Krkic has already played quite a bit for the U21s, so I'm not sure what he's doing with the U17s. I think he's proven that he's got skill some way above that age level. Just to be clear, I'm totally in favour of him playing for Spain when he's needed, but surely he's entitled to stay at at least U20 level? Hopefully this won't prevent him playing a part in the first team this season.

Lastly, and apologies for the Spanish link, but I haven't found any English sources reporting this yet. Poor injury-dogged Juliano Belletti is going to be out for 7 to 10 days, having hurt himself in training in China. This means that he'll probably play no part in any of the games on tour. You know, he's probably thinking that he would have done better to get injured back in Barcelona and stayed behind with Gudjohnsen. Now he's done all this travelling for nothing.

Real

Unlike Barca, Real's South Americans who were at international tournaments (that's Marcelo, Gago, Baptista, and Robinho) have already gone back to work with the squad.

In related news, Julio Baptista has stated his desire to stay at Real and fight for a place this season. I do hear rumours that the club might sell him if their price is met, which is a little sad for him, but at least all the clubs he's been linked to are big ones.

Real played their second friendly against Bundesliga side Hannover 96 and lost 3-0, thanks to 1) the German club being further along in their pre-season, 2) missing and/or injured players, 3) terrible finishing from Higuain in particular and 4) chaos in defence, Cannavaro in particular showing that he still hasn't shed the problems of last season.

It was only a pre-season friendly, though. And hey, they won their third one 5-2, beating Lokomotiv Moscow to advance in the Russian Railways Cup (other participants AC Milan and PSV). The game started in a similar fashion to the loss against Hannover, with errors in defence. Real staged a great comeback from 2-0 down at half-time to win with goals from Guti, Saviola (pen.), Higuain and Balboa. They'll play PSV in the final after the Dutch club beat Milan on penalties.

Sevilla

I have to say, I was surprised by Dani Alves' outburst. (Basically, he wants to be allowed to leave for a 'bigger' club. Read: Chelsea.) I felt that it was somewhat disrespectful of Sevilla, who are after all very ambitious, and who have improved every season in the past few years. If the move to Chelsea doesn't come off, I'm not sure what's going to happen to him. I'd be very sorry to see him go, to be honest. Sevilla are the kind of team who don't depend on any one player, and have sold their star players to good effect before (Reyes, Sergio Ramos, Baptista), but they won't be the same without Alves, at least in the short term.

On the other hand, the club have landed the Colombian defender Aquivaldo Mosquera from Pachuca of Mexico. I hear that he's quite an excellent player, so good work by Sevilla.

They've also been participating in a pre-season Trophy, in this case the Chicago Trophy, starring Toluca of Mexcio, Reggina of Italy and Wisla Krakow of Poland. Sevilla beat Toluca 1-0 and needed a draw against Wisla to claim the trophy. Unfortunately they lost, but as Juande Ramos pointed out, having only trained for five days prior to the games, it's not been a bad workout for the team.

(Speaking of Ramos, did you know that he used to coach Barca B? Although, so did Jose Mourinho.)

Valencia

Valencia started their pre-season tournament brightly, beating an Argentine-less Inter in the Emirates Cup. Unfortunately a re-shuffled Valencia side then lost 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain. I don't think anything should be read into their defeat, other than maybe that PSG are going to have a better season in France this time around.

In my opinion, Valencia are the Spanish club with the greatest strength in depth. They have some of the best young talent, and commendably regularly field 7 or 8 Spanish players in their starting 11, which is not something the other three top sides from last season can say. They've done some smart business on the transfer market, too, although nothing big and splashy - which is no bad thing. What it does mean is that I've not been able to write as much about them as I have about some of the smaller sides in La Liga.

However, there is some news. The most surprising is that Asier del Horno has been allowed to train with the rest of the squad again, with a view to perhaps keeping the defender at the club.

Valencia have also sent Fabian Estoyanoff, who was on loan at Depor last season, back out on loan, this time to newly promoted Real Valladolid.

Atletico

Firstly, two pieces of news, both well-covered by our friendly neighbourhood Atletico blogger, so I'll just link to his comments: Costinha gets into a training ground dust-up, and Atletico are set to leave the Vicente Calderon for the Olympic stadium, when it's actually built.

I thought Atletico were done with their summer shopping - except maybe a couple of defenders, which they seem to need - but then they went out and bought Jose Antonio Reyes. Go figure. They've certainly got enough quality wingers (Simao, Maxi Rodriguez, Reyes, Luis Garcia) to be going on with now.

Atletico minus Aguero and Forlan (both on vacation due to their international exertions) went down 2-0 to the hosts Ajax at the Amsterdam Tournament, with goals by former Barca player Gabri and Wesley Sneijder. Simao apparently played quite well, though. And Ajax manager Henk ten Cate (also known as the much-missed former Barca assistant coach, the bad cop to Rijkaard's good cop) certainly thinks Atletico will have a good season.

Villarreal

The club have conducted their business in the usual efficient manner, snapping up Giuseppe Rossi from Manchester United, thus fulfilling their need for a striker to go with the likes of Nihat, Guillermo Franco, Jose Mari and Jon Dahl Tomasson. Now that I look at that list, actually, that's a lot of strikers. Yeah, Franco couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, but the others are all useful in their own way.

I really hope they're still in the market for some defenders, because they've let Jose Enrique go to Newcastle, making him the 347th defender to leave the club in the close season. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but they really need some reinforcements.

Lastly, some news on the Juan Roman Riquelme front. Yeah, he still belongs to Villarreal, much as the club and the player might wish otherwise. The latest (very sad) news is that Boca have all but given up hope of landing him on another loan spell, because of Villarreal's asking price. I'm a neutral when it comes to Argentinian domestic football, but I've become convinced that Roman belongs at Boca, and it would be great to see them go to the World Club Cup with him. It's now looking like that scenario will remain a pipe dream, and the flogging of Roman to various clubs around Europe will commence.

Depor

The club have put a deadline on any suitors for Argentinian defender Fabricio Coloccini coming forward.

Coach Miguel Angel Lotina has told Iago, Momo, Jairo and Antonio Tomas that they can go, with loan deals looking likely.

Betis

The club have lost their first two pre-season friendlies, both against lower league opposition, to leave coach Hector Cuper frustrated and demanding more from his players.

Aside from demanding more, he's also identified the ones he wants out of the squad, including Assuncao, who had insisted that he wanted to say with the club. The others are Lembo, Maldonado, Xisco, Alberto Rivera and Fernando Fernandez.

Others

A badly-timed injury to Racing Santander striker Nikola Zigic may delay plans to cash in on the player. I don't think selling him is necessarily a wise move, given their dependence on him in the previous season, but I can completely understand the need for the funds generated to strengthen in other positions.

Zaragoza won a friendly against SD Huesca with on loan striker Ricardo Oliveira scoring a brace and Barca product Sergio Garcia chipping in with two of his own. I really hope Zaragoza do well in the UEFA Cup - they've certainly got the squad for it.

Espanyol lost 3-0 in their game at the Reebok to Bolton. I'd write more, but the reports aren't very detailed. In general, Espanyol have done pretty good business in the transfer window, and their manager is a good guy who knows what he's doing, so they should be set for the season ahead.

Newly promoted Murcia have broken their transfer record to sign Fernando Baiano from relegated Celta Vigo for 5 million euros, which tells you something about the state of things at the bottom of the Spanish league as opposed to the amount of money even the bottom Premiership sides have. I've always thought that Baiano was a decent player despite his lack of consistency, and the club did need a goalscorer. Hopefully he'll repay their faith in him. Murcia have also got Curro Torres on loan from Valencia.

Getafe have let grumpy striker Daniel Guiza go to Mallorca. Guiza isn't too happy about the move, but has no one to blame given his own unwise statements to the press regarding the relative status of Getafe and Mallorca. Once again, Angel Torres comes out on top. He really is one of the more sane and canny chairmen in the Spanish league.

La Liga News Round-up: the real silly season

'Tis the season for players to be presented and for coaches to hold press conferences, apparently. Well, that and increasingly ridiculous transfer speculation. On with the news.

Barcelona

Vice-captain Xavi talks about each of the new signings, the disappointments of last season and Frank Rijkaard.

The official website has details of the pre-season training camp in Scotland, which won't feature the players who were involved in the Copa America (Marquez, Messi and Milito).

Joan Laporta is going to sound like a broken record soon, but as long as it's necessary, he'll keep saying it: Samuel Eto'o is not for sale.

Speaking of which, Eto'o has been busy captaining an African XI against a World XI in a charity match to celebrate the birthday of that great man, Nelson Mandela. Former Barca goalkeeping great Andoni Zubizarreta played for the World XI.

Still on the topic of Sammy: he's had to come out and reiterate once again that he's not going anywhere. To his credit, this isn't one of those transfer sagas started by a star player talking himself into the papers and starting speculation. He's been consistent about his desire to remain.

Diego Milito showers his brother Gabi with praise ahead of his Barcelona presentation.

Yaya Toure has shown unusual diligence for a Barca player - Captain Caveman obviously excluded - by voluntarily starting pre-season training early. Apparently Henry has also followed him onto the empty training pitches of La Masia. Nice.

Real Madrid

Former Liverpool 'keeper Jerzy Dudek is officially a Real player.

Youth system product and Spanish U-21 international Esteban Granero commits to a 4-year contract.

Julio Baptista has returned the compliment of technical secretary Miguel Angel Portugal by saying that he wants to stay at the club.

Here's something I completely forgot to mention: Barca B weren't the only 'reserve' side of a filthy rich club relegated at the end of last season. Real Madrid Castilla were relegated from the Spanish second division, which isn't a nice experience, but still not nearly as horrible as the feat accomplished by Barca B - which was relegation from the Spanish third division, in case you haven't heard my agonised ranting on the topic before.

Real Zaragoza

Brazilian striker Ewerthon joins Stuttgart on loan for a year with the option of a permanent move.

Roberto Ayala's controversial switch has been completed. The veteran defender also announced his retirement from international football in his unveiling press conference. (I'm crushed, of course, but that's a post for another day.)

Francisco Pavon of Real Madrid (yeah, that one) and Franclino Matuzalem of Shakhtar Donetsk have signed.

The admirable coach Victor Fernandez talks about the club's transfer activity so far.

Real Betis

Hector Cuper officially takes over as coach, promising changes in mentality and praising the new signings.

Part-time Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez set to join. I thought Gonzalez was quite good for Real Sociedad. No doubt he'll prove useful for Betis.

Getafe

Michael Laudrup speaks about the tough job he has on his hands. He's got a point, especially with an UEFA Cup campaign to deal with. (How his presence makes me wish that Hristo Stoichkov's Celta hadn't been relegated. God, imagine the cat fights.)

Kepa Blanco is presented in apparently high spirits after his transfer from Sevilla.

Deportivo La Coruna

The president maintains that Coloccini and Lopo are staying, but not very firmly.

Zaragoza's Angel Lafita has joined on loan, having been stuck on the bench at La Romareda for most of the past season. Depor could use some attacking talent, and they've fixated on signing young players, a lot of them from other clubs' benches or reserve teams in order to affect the change of generation that they desperately needed as far back as 2 years ago.

Espanyol

Espanyol talisman Raul Tamudo, who has I believe never played for another club has pledged that he's happy to stay, quashing rumours of persistent overtones from Villarreal.

New signing Milan Smiljanic reported for pre-season training, but Jonatas has not. Happens every season in La Liga - South Americans being back late, that is, although I think they could probably cut the Brazilian a little slack given recent events involving a plane in that part of the world. Good on Espanyol for having actual disciplinary measures to deal with this type of thing, though. Are you taking notes, Laporta?

Real Murcia

Real Madrid's Pablo Garcia joins on loan for a year, having spent the last season on loan at now relegated Celta Vigo.

Also from Real, youth team product Alvaro Mejia has finally given up the battle for a starting spot at the Bernabeu and signed a four year deal with the newly promoted team.

Others

Sevilla's forward Javier Chevanton is suffering from a blocked vein which may keep him out of pre-season training.

Valencia's new sporting director Miguel Angel Ruiz grumbles about how difficult it is to play attractive football these days.

Villarreal coach Pellegrini speaks about the season ahead, and the need for several new signings to plug the holes left by several departures and injuries, mostly in the back but also vitally a forward. That last part won't be easy. Those who saw him in the Premiership might laugh, but Forlan scored so many goals for Villarreal and it's hard to see anyone in the club's price range who could do the same. Unless, of course, they manage to unearth a gem from South America yet again.

Osasuna, who are in desperate need of some strikers, having waved goodbye to Savo Milosevic and Roberto Soldado, has bought in an experienced hand in the form of Walter Pandiani. The former Depor player had a good season at Espanyol in the UEFA Cup, but couldn't get into the starting line-up in the league. Good buy, I should think.

From what I've heard and seen in pre-season, Racing really need help, and finally there are signs that the club will make some moves in the transfer market. Aldo Duscher, recently released by Depor and Jorge Lopez of Valencia are reportedly the first two signings.


On a final note, I usually don't deal in transfer rumours, especially those being pushed by one of the Spanish sports papers, but occasionally I come across one so absurd that I have to point it out, if only to laugh. The geniuses at Marca - which I like chiefly for not being AS - tell us that Real Madrid are thinking about paying for Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta's 60 million euro buy-out clause to prise him away. (Original Spanish version here.)

Oh dear. Iniesta's young and brilliant, it's true, and he did almost join Real as a 12 year old, coming from a town full of Madridistas. However - Let me count the ways in which this story is ridiculous:

1) As it happens, he joined Barca as a 12 year old, and he's been bought up as the club's future ever since. Why did Cesc Fabregas have to leave? Because of Iniesta's existence. They're similar players. So the club does value him - probably about as much as they value vice-captain Xavi at this point - and won't be very keen to see him go.

2) Again, he's been at the club since he was 12. We all know that footballers don't have much loyalty these days, but if I had a list of current squad members who were blaugrana through and through, he'd be near the top.

3) If Joan Laporta is stupid enough to allow this to happen, I will personally - well, I won't say what would happen, but let's just say it would involve me getting a flight to Barcelona and subsequent unpleasantness. Possibly with a hot poker.


(University has started again, so posts will become slightly less frequent, but I'll still try to keep up with all that's going on.)