Delete
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema during a recent press conference. AFP
A case of lost identities

A case of lost identities

A look at La Liga ·

La Liga's big three teams seemed to have reinvented themselves to the point of being unrecognisable

Saturday, 19 February 2022, 12:09

Spanish football's major teams trade on their global brand and their marketing teams thrive on the historical identity, yet it seems that there is quite a revolution going on.

Real Madrid is famous for Hollywood football; FC Barcelona renowned for "tiki-taka"; and Atletico Madrid known for their conservative approach to nicking games. However, this season, the world has turned on its head; there is an 'Italianization' of Real, Barcelona are stealing points by throwing it to the "big man", and Atleti have gone goals crazy.

Twitter was rife with suggestions that the disbanding of the "away goals" rule was the cause of Real's safety-first approach to the Champions League tie in Paris. Clearly those theorists haven't studied Carlo Ancelotti's team recently. The 0-1 defeat to PSG was preceded by a scoreless draw with Villarreal, 1-0 win against Granada, and 0-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa.

It is partly the careful methods of the coach and partly down to the players at his disposal. The early season success had been so dependent on the energy and goals of Karim Benzema. As he's struggled with fitness, Ancelotti has chosen a more cautious approach. Like a Yorkshire cricketer, he's happy to take quick singles rather than lashing the ball around the park.

Over at the Camp Nou, it's like an edition of "Who Do You Think You Are?" You don't have to go back many years to discover that FC Barcelona would refuse shirt-sponsorship and the stadium was sacrosanct.

In 2022, there are negotiations for a controversial shirt and stadium sponsorship with Spotify worth a reported €280 million in the pipeline. Chief Executive Ferran Reverte has resigned after stories of a link up with a cryptocurrency company. It's all quite unimaginable.

On the field, standards have clearly slipped. They are depending on free transfers or loan players. Luuk de Jong scored the vital goal last weekend, Adama Traoré was the surprise winter signing, Memphis Depay arrived last summer, they courted Eric Garcia for several months, and they were dependent on Martin Braithwaite at the start of the season. All the players above have plied their trade in England and not one of them established a reputation in the Premier League. I don't think any of them will make their way into the museum's Hall of Fame.

Atletico Madrid's team construction hasn't changed nor has their manager. Yet the style of football fans are seeing at the Metropolitano is almost unrecognisable. Diego Simone has won trophies and earned a reputation by adopting a defensive style and frustrating the opposition.

Last week they edged a seven-goal thriller against Getafe, following a 2-4 defeat to Barcelona and 3-2 win against Valencia. It's almost as if they have reinvented themselves? As luck would have it, their next opponents in Europe are Manchester United, a club that never struggles with its identity or living up to a reputation!

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para registrados.

Reporta un error en esta noticia

* Campos obligatorios

surinenglish A case of lost identities

logo

Debido a un error no hemos podido dar de alta tu suscripción.

Por favor, ponte en contacto con Atención al Cliente.

logo

¡Bienvenido a SURINENGLISH!

logo

Tu suscripción con Google se ha realizado correctamente, pero ya tenías otra suscripción activa en SURINENGLISH.

Déjanos tus datos y nos pondremos en contacto contigo para analizar tu caso

logo

¡Tu suscripción con Google se ha realizado correctamente!

La compra se ha asociado al siguiente email