It's the Sids 2013! The complete review of La Liga 2012-13
From Messi's miracles to the player who lived his dream as a fan it is time for the annual end-of-season Spanish football awards
In the end it was Tito Vilanova's season and Eric Abidal's too. They became the symbol of the suffering and the success of Barcelona's fourth league title in five years, the feeling in their celebrations.
And
yet there was something strange about the 2012-2013 campaign,
Barcelona's greatest ever season greeted like a disappointment. The
league was won so early that there was something anticlimactic about it
and they finished without the injured Leo Messi, without the Champions
League, destroyed 7-0 over two legs by Bayern Munich.
They
finished too with that nagging sense that something, or maybe many
things, were not quite right. Again, Abidal was a symbol: he returned to
action 402 days after having undergone a liver transplant, but departed
in tears, the promise broken.
Barcelona also missed out on the
Copa del Rey, where they had been knocked out by Madrid and were
defeated by their rivals' subs in the league. But this was a colossal
season for Barcelona, not least given the problems they faced. Javier
Mascherano put it well when he noted: "Our coach is not in New York on
holiday, you know." Even with illness and injury, even with a short
squad that desperately lacks defenders, even with the doubts, they still
produced a near perfect 2012: 17 wins and one draw, 2-2 against Madrid.
José Mourinho claims that he ended Barcelona's hegemony but Barcelona
won the league again, 15 points ahead of Madrid. That's the biggest ever
gap between first and second. They equalled Madrid's points record,
reaching 100.
Meanwhile, Mourinho and Madrid were unravelling and
as each layer fell away, it became clearer that those stories, dismissed
as "literature" by the club's president, were largely true. Mourinho
gave up the league title before Christmas, which might not have mattered
had his team not been knocked out in Europe and however much they sold
"success", everyone knew this was not it. The divisions grew more
entrenched, the battle bitter, complete with press campaigns,
punishments and even a pre-match plebiscite.
When the man assumed
to be Mourinho's faithful defender turned it was hard not to think: "Et
tu, Pepe?" Alvaro Arbeloa still stood up for his coach but by then he
stood alone. And by then, Mourinho had long departed – mentally if not
physically.
By then, too, his team had lost the Copa del Rey final to Atlético Madrid.
The Rojiblancos
finally defeated their rivals for the first time since 1999. Atlético
also took up a place in the Champions League after finishing third,
where they will be joined by Real Sociedad, the best team to watch in
the second half of the season. European places went to Valencia, who
Real overtook on the final day, and to Betis – another team that was
brilliant to watch on a shoestring. With Málaga and Rayo both denied
Uefa licences, there could still be a European place for Betis's city
rivals Sevilla, all the way down in ninth. A team that didn't win a
single away game.
Good news for Sevilla, not so good for the
league: an eloquent comment on a league that is, at an organisational
shambles; a competition where financial crisis grips and no one can
compete with the big two. Not just compete: where nobody else even seems
to matter. Which is a pity, because beyond Madrid and Barcelona, there
are great stories, great games and great players. But for how long?
Radamel Falcao has already gone and so have Fernando Llorente and Jesús
Navas. They will almost certainly be just the first as a familiar trend
continues, a trend in which everyone else's good players depart. The
winter transfer window was reality, laid bare. Less money was spent in
the whole of Spain than QPR spent on Chris Samba.
This was also the season that was marked by match fixing, after Levante
midfielder Barkero accused his team-mates of selling themselves
following a 4-0 defeat by Deportivo de La Coruña. Allegations like those
are nothing new in Spain; in fact, they have long been indulged as just
one of those things, accepted as part of the game. But this time is
different; this time it could even be good news. The incoming league
president Javier Tebas insisted that he was going to make match-fixing
his priority – why he didn't when he was vice-president and de facto
president is another question – and launched an investigation, with
evidence passed on to the anti-corruption attorney. Maybe this time
something will actually be done.
At least the scandal meant that
the familiar whiff that surrounds the final day was not there this time;
alarm bells had been sounded, players and presidents warned. They were
being watched. On the final day, four teams could go down; in the end,
Deportivo, Zaragoza and Mallorca did, while the side that stayed up were
Celta de Vigo, prompting a proper party, with fans hanging off the
crossbar and players disappearing tearfully under piles of bodies,
emerging in just their pants.
Iago Aspas's suicidal head-butt in
the Galician derby and subsequent four-game ban had not cost his team
relegation after all. Instead, he provided the assist that saved them.
No wonder he was delighted. No wonder Hugo Mallo was too. And not just
because he's the first man up as the Guardian once again hands out the
most prestigious awards in the game …
Best fan
Hugo Mallo finally lived his dream of travelling to the Galician derby to watch his beloved Celta face Deportivo in enemy territory with his mates from the Iago Aspas fan club. Mallo boarded the bus, posed with a For Sale sign superimposed across debt-ridden Depor's badge while his mates gigglingly stuck it up on Twitter, and then sang his way through the journey before heading into the stadium two hours before kick off, ready for war. It was dark but he wore sunglasses and pulled his hood up, shouting for Depor's fans to come and have a go if they thought they were hard enough, singling out his victims and grabbing his crotch, inviting them to get their lips round this until a policeman in riot gear intervened. All of which would be pretty tame, but for one thing: Hugo Mallo is not just a Celta de Vigo fan, he is a Celta de Vigo player.Best put-down
One man not impressed with Mallo, or team-mate Iago Aspas whose red card in that game cost Celta victory and almost survival was striker Mario Bermejo."When you go to bed with children," he declared, "you wake up covered in piss."
Speaking of which …
Least prepared player
Goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz was nowhere to be seen when Athletic Bilbao v Granada kicked off. "I was still in the toilet when I heard the whistle," he admitted afterwards.Best fans' wind-up
Sevilla is one of the great Spanish cities but if there is one thing that it hasn't got, and one thing that the rest of Andalusia loves to remind them that it hasn't got, it's a beach. So when Sevilla played at the Rosaleda, Málaga fans spent the game playing with lilos, dinghies, rubber rings and beach balls, sending them bouncing around the stands and laughing at their sea-less rivals.Most excruciatingly embarrassing moment
Step forward, Alex Song.
Second most excruciatingly embarrassing moment
At the end of the Copa del Rey final, José Mourinho decided not to go up to collect his medal but the assistant coach Aitor Karanka did, leaving King Juan Carlos turning to the Federation president and asking: "So, what, do I give it to this bloke?"Best threat
Atlético's Madrid's rock band lead singing, former goalkeeping assistant coach Germán "the monkey" Burgos was one man who wouldn't let himself be pushed around by José Mourinho, warning the Madrid manager: "I'm not Tito: I'll tear your head off." Mind you, that's nowhere near as frightening hearing the quiet click of the door closing behind you and turning round to see Levante centre-back and man mountain Sergio Ballesteros standing there in just a towel. "It got a bit messy because it seems I'm not allowed to be there," Ballesteros innocently said of his accidental arrival in the Madrid medical room, where he ended up in fight with Pepe."If he doesn't like this sport, he can take up boxing," Sergio Ramos said.
Least committed player
If Muniain was rumbled, that was nothing compared to Granada's Italian striker Antonio Floro Flores, who told his manager that he was struggling for fitness and wouldn't be available for their game against Espanyol … before heading off to the Sierra Nevada for a spot of skiing. He would have got away with it too if it hadn't been for that pesky fan and his camera phone.Best shirts
Imagine your favourite player running out with your name on the front of his shirt? Well, that's more or less what Real Sociedad did against Sevilla. They held a draw amongst their members, pulling out 22 members' names to be worn on the front of the shirts, from Cándida López to Jon Igay, from Igor Marín to Alex Townend. "It's time to reveal the best sponsor in our history," ran the campaign "… you."Best newspaper cover
Another award for Sport, who managed to sum up absolutely everything in a single headline. 24 hours after Barcelona were hammered 4-0 by Bayern Munich, they ran with "Madrid concede four as well." Because that makes it all right.Best post-match interview
When Canal Plus's touchline reporter Ricardo Sierra asked Cesc Fábregas about his slightly theatrical role in Gary Medel's red card after Barcelona's win at Sevilla, the midfielder replied: "he touched my face with his forehead ... if you like, I can do that to you and see what you think."Best coach's protest
Diego Simeone, who came off his bench to remonstrate with the referee for showing a red card. To opposition manager Mauricio Pellegrino.Best coach
Philippe Montanier took Real Sociedad back to the Champions League despite not always having fans and club behind him, except in the "carrying knives" sense of the word.Ernesto Valverde turned Valencia round but finally gave up negotiating with the president to stay next year because every time he went back the president was a different man. Pepe Mel continues to do a superb job at Betis, whilst writing best-selling thrillers. Paco Jémez's team are almost as stylish as his elbow-padded jackets and jazzy waistcoats.
And Manuel Pellegrini briefly made Málaga everyone's other team. But it is hard to look beyond Diego Simeone: he has exorcised an entire club, built a team in his image, won three trophies in 18 months and finally defeated Real Madrid for the first time this millennium.
In the Copa del Rey final at the Bernabéu.
Team of the Season
GK: Courtois (Atlético)RB: Carlos Martínez (Real Sociedad)
CB: Miranda (Atlético)
CB: Iñigo Martínez (Real Sociedad)
LB: Filipe Luis (Atlético)
M: Sergio Busquets
M: Xabi Prieto (Real Sociedad)
M: Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
S: Leo Messi (Barcelona)
S: Radamel Falcao (Atlético)
S: Cristiano Ronaldo (Madrid)
Subs: Rubén Castro (Betis), Ozil, Varane (Madrid), Negredo, Rakitic (Sevilla), Soldado (Valencia), Piti (Rayo), Isco (Málaga), Illarramendi, Vela (Real Sociedad), Arda, Costa (Atlético).
Finally, a few quotes
"I put the telly on for the last three minutes. They didn't show the game really, they just kept focusing on the bench." – Tito Vilanova nails it."Mourinho has put us back where we're supposed to be." – Florentino Pérez.
Hang on a minute, you're supposed to be empty-handed and 15 points behind Barcelona?
"When you look at possession, they didn't dominate us." – Xavi Hernández becomes a self parody after Barcelona's 7-0 aggregate battering at the hands of Bayern.
"At 11pm, I'm asleep." – Spain's kick-off times don't exactly suit Radamel Falcao.
"After losing to Sevilla, our fans couldn't give a toss about Madrid." – Pepe Mel misjudges the mood just a little. Betis beat Madrid and their fans looked like they did give a toss or two.
"We need bollocks." – Manolo Jiménez reverts to type. Besides, Zaragoza's problem was not that they needed bollocks; Zaragoza's problem was that they were bollocks.
"Mourinho always shows his face; he never hides." – Aitor Karanka.
"As soon as Abidal plays a game we'll renew his contract." – Barcelona vice-president Josep María Bartomeu, in December: What was that word again? Ah, yes, valors.
"I wanted to score that goal for all the kids who laugh at my son every day for being an Atlético fan." – For João Miranda, this time it was personal.
"You can be suspicious of Levante-Celta too. There are always suspicions; it cannot just be focused on our match." – Manuel Pablo doesn't so much say that Deportivo are innocent, as say that everyone else is guilty too.
