La liga bad patch. Osasuna v Betis

By: Shane | March 21st, 2008

Spain is going through a rough patch. And I am not just saying this because of who they selected to represent them in the Eurovision contest
I am referring of course to La Liga. This year La Liga, which was last year described as the best league in the world, has been poor in and off the field. It was labelled a horrible season by the newly appointed Murcia coach Javier Clemente, and one would struggle to argue.
On the field Spanish teams have been pretty useless in Europe bar Barcelona, the only Spanish team represented in the quarter finals of the champion’s league compared to four English teams. And its not as if Barcelona would carry the flag for Spain, as you would struggle to find one in the new camp.
There domestic reason is also an absolute stinker. Real Madrid are leading the way with 7 points, but only because they are the best of a really bad bunch who cannot take advantage of Madrid’s slips (they have suffered 8 defeats in 2008 alone).But its not just the top two that have disappointed, Valencia are a mess internally and 26 points behind the leaders, while Zaragoza who were at the start of the year tipped for greatness are only avoiding relegation thanks to goal difference. Once good, Deportivo are probably now the most boring team in La Liga, and the likes of Villarreal and Atletico Madrid are terribly inconsistent.
This holy week where people in the south dress suspiciously like members of the kkk , Other souther visitors slightly less scary but not by much are visiting Pamplona, Betis.
And this is where this eason begins to get ugly off the field. Betis are arriving in el Reyno after being handed a two match ban which sees the Sevillian club playng the next two home games in behind closed doors. The incident occurred during the Betis v Athletic Bilbao game 20 Mintues febore the final whistle with Athletic winning 1-2. Some idiot in the crowd decided it was a good idea to throw a bottle onto the pitch hitting the visiting goalkeeper in the face knocking him unconscious. The 3 points were awarded to the Basques and Betis might feel a bit hard done by as there was still a good 20 minutes to play and the visitors were down to 10 men.
This is a most wing game for both clubs, and Osasuna must take full advantage of a distracted Betis.

Hopefully this season is just a blip for the wonderful Liga, and hopefully Osasuna reach salvation fast so we can start building for next years. As Osasuna are the largest suppliers to the Spanish under 21 squad called up for a friendly (Monreal, kike Sola, and Javi Garcia) which promises a good young talented squad for next year as long as the big clubs keep there grubby hands of them.