Atl�tico, M�laga, Athletic and Espanyol are taking up position behind Levante in the battle for the fourth and final place
The team that finished fourth last season, taking the final Champions League place, are 16th, a solitary point from the relegation zone ? and things are improving under their new manager. The team that finished fifth, favourites for one of this season's Champions League places, got rid of their coach because they reckoned that was not quite good enough, only to discover that things could always get worse. They're down in 11th ? and have just sacked their manager after their stadium on Sunday night filled with chants of "Dimisi�n! Dimisi�n!" Resign! Resign! And the team that splashed out almost ?60m net, more money than anyone else ? yes, including them ? have lost as many times as they have won. They sit in ninth. Their goal difference reads: -5.
And yet ninth-placed M�laga have a game in hand. Win against Granada on Monday night and they will go back to within a point of a Champions League place. Because if they're not great ? and, with just one win in seven, they're not - nor are the rest. Right now, the best of them have their focus drawn elsewhere: there are Copa del Rey semi-finals to be played. And there is the Europa League coming up, too. Look at the table. The team immediately behind M�laga in ninth had a Champions League place within their grasp just a few weeks ago even though they had conceded seven against Real Madrid and eight against FC Barcelona. Now they have gone five without a win. The team that are seventh sacked their coach over Christmas, having won just three in 12. The team that are sixth didn't win in their first five. The team that are fifth lost four of their first sixth. And the team that are fourth ? well, the team in fourth are Levante.
Yes, Levante. You know, Levante. Football's Expendables; the team who are "poor, ugly and bad football" ? even if they say so themselves. The team whose miracle ended in week 10 ? more than three months ago. No one expects them to stay there. Only they have stayed there. For 15 consecutive weeks Levante have occupied a Champions League place; not so much because they have defended it with their lives ? they have gone six without a win and collected just two victories in 12 ? but because no one has attacked them. The drawbridge was down but that advancing army still didn't advance.
Meanwhile, the team in third are the team in third and that is part of their problem. As Unai Emery awkwardly admitted on Sunday night, Valencia have a weird psychological problem; they live in a kind of limbo where motivation does not come easily, trapped within their own success. They have set up home in third; they have bolted the back door; Madrid and Barcelona have bolted the front. Valencia were third last year, third the year before and they are third now. They are even third in the all-time table. Third is the least their fans can expect; it is also the most. Deep down, Valencia know they are not going to finish any higher and they know they are probably not going to finish any lower (and even if they did, victims of the strangely successful sterility of their situation, fourth amounts to much the same thing). There's little emotion and still less motivation.
In the last two seasons, Valencia finished 21 and 25 points behind second and nine and eight points ahead of fourth respectively. Now they are 11 points behind Barcelona and 18 behind Madrid, but they are five points ahead of fourth ? and fourth are Levante. And all the while, Valencia have a Copa del Rey campaign, the chance to actually win something. On Wednesday they play Barcelona in the semi-final second leg with the score at 1-1 from the first; they have been playing Copa del Rey games every midweek in January. In that time, they have not won in the league ? five league games without a win.
They have not needed to win, though. At the Calder�n on Sunday night Valencia faced Atl�tico. It was a big Champions League clash. It should have been exciting, dramatic, and tense. Even Paulo Futre had decided to go ? scarf round his neck, singing, shouting and joining chants about "shitting on the milk", in with the hardcore Frente Atl�tico. Instead, as one newspaper put it: "The game was born ugly and died ugly." A 0-0 draw denied Atl�tico the chance to occupy the final Champions League place; instead they are seventh. At the same time, it maintained Valencia's seven-point gap and the head-to-head advantage over Atl�tico.
So it was that the Champions League clash that really was brilliant was the 3-3 draw between Espanyol and Athletic at San Mam�s ? intense, exciting, and packed with great goals. But even there was a something missing: a point each did little to break the trend. And that's the thing. If Valencia are not winning, they can afford not to. Weirdly, so, it seems, can many others. Those who started well turned bad and those that started badly turned good. Two riders are out in front; behind them, the peloton grows.
That's 'grows', not 'goes'. Sunday threw together Sevilla and Villarreal. It should have been a Champions league clash. It wasn't. With Sevilla in 11th and Villarreal in 16th, with not one team from fourth to 10th able to win more than half their games, the final Champions League place currently looks like being one of the cheapest there has been. It has become a slow bicycle race. Madrid have 55 points, Barcelona 48 and Valencia 37. Then Levante have 32 points; Espanyol, 32; Athletic, 30; Atl�tico, 30; M�laga, 28 (with a game in hand); Osasuna, 28; Getafe, 27 and Sevilla 26. In other words, just two points separate four teams, just four points separate six teams and six points separate eight teams.
Even those that are flying have had to come from so far behind that they have not been able to make a sustained charge at that final place. Not yet, at least. Now, though, they are taking up position. Sevilla and Villarreal probably will not recover now and Levante and Osasuna's challenge is unlikely to last. But there are four teams, separated by just four points, given a second chance to fight it out for a single place. Forget the first three; the real race is the one for fourth ? and for all the teams involved, it would be a huge achievement. For Atl�tico, a return to the competition that they believe is their natural place, one they waited anxiously 11 years for; for M�laga, a first ever appearance and a return on their colossal investment; for Athletic, their highest finish since 1998; for Espanyol, their highest since two years earlier.
For all of them, Champions League football would represent the peak of their league ambitions. Utterly implausible not long ago, perfectly plausible now. Under Diego Simeone, Atl�tico are unbeaten in five and have not yet conceded a goal: they have had to come back from a long way behind but must be considered genuine candidates; "they are 11 testicles running over the pitch," wrote Roberto Palomar in Marca on Monday morning, "when blood finally flows to the brain and they stop to think a little too, they will be a great side." Mauricio Pochettino's Espanyol have over-achieved again ? unbeaten in the last six ? and, unlike last season where they made ludicrous sales, have added to the squad during the winter window. M�laga never quite seem to be there but never quite go away either and with Toulalan, Cazorla and Isco they have to be taken seriously; when Julio Baptista finally returns, that seriously will be very seriously. And then there's Athletic Bilbao. Playing with intensity and intelligence, slick and your throat, open and attacking, 19 goals in their last four games, Marcelo Bielsa's team overcame those early season doubts, imposing a new style, and at the moment are arguably the most exciting team to watch in Spain.
The bad news is that, until now, that's not saying much. The good news is that, from now, the sprint finish could be pretty special.
Talking points
? Madrid and Barcelona won. Just. Next.
? If Athletic are the league's most exciting side to watch right now, Rayo Vallecano are not far behind ? very open, very fun and lots of goals at both ends. Michu, who learnt everything he knows at Real Oviedo, is the league's top scoring midfielder on 10. His latest goal completed a comeback against Real Zaragoza after Helder Postiga had opened the scoring with another spectacular overhead kick ? his second of the season. And there's only been four in the whole of La Liga. Zaragoza's crisis continues, though.
? Sporting's new manager Inaki Tejada might not have a great 'tache but he did get a point on his debut ? against Osasuna. Speaking of new managers, Sevilla sacked Marcelino on Monday morning. A week after their sporting director said: "I have as much faith in Marcelino now as I did the day I employed him." Which can mean one of two things: a hell of a lot has changed in a week or they weren't that convinced at the start. Anyway, surely the real problem is Jos� Antonio Reyes: Sevilla have not won since he joined them from crisis-hit Atl�tico. Atl�tico, meanwhile, have not lost. Hmmm.
Results: Mallorca 1?0 Betis, Athletic 3?3 Espanyol, Levante 1?1 Racing, Getafe 0-1 Real Madrid, Barcelona 2?1 Real Sociedad, Sporting 1?1 Osasuna, Sevilla 1?2 Villarreal, Zaragoza 1?2 Rayo, Atl�tico 0-0 Valencia, Granada-Malaga, Monday night.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/06/slow-bicycle-race-la-liga
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