ZCZC
BSP-05
FBL-ESP-LIGA
La Liga pins hopes on the unpredictable as Spanish football returns without
heavyweights
MADRID, Sept 11, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – La Liga begins on Saturday without its
top teams and still without fans but with hope that an unusual summer could
lead to a season of surprises.
Lionel Messi has stayed but will be playing a friendly against Segunda B’s
Gimnastic Tarragona on Saturday because Barcelona do not start their league
campaign under new coach Ronald Koeman until the third round.
Barca, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla have been granted extra
time off, meaning the top four from last term will all be absent on the first
weekend, when only seven fixtures are taking place.
Yet more than the heavyweights, who will take to the field later this
month, the league will miss the fans, whose absence might be felt even more
keenly at the start of a new season than during the desperate attempt to
finish the last one.
At Cadiz, who are back in the top flight after 14 years away, the stands at
the Carranza would have been bouncing, revelling in a new beginning against
Osasuna.
Instead they will be empty, and there will also be silence at the league’s
curtain-raiser at Ipurua, where Eibar are continuing their own miracle by
embarking on their seventh consecutive year in the top flight, at home to
Celta Vigo.
La Liga’s plan had been to stagger the return of supporters through the
autumn, building up stadium capacities from, at first, 30 per cent through to
full grounds some time in the new year.
But a worrying rise in coronavirus cases in Spain means those plans have
been shelved, with the league awaiting better news from the government before
taking any steps forward.
“I believe that to see stadiums like before it can only happen with a
vaccine,” said La Liga president Javier Tebas on Monday. “I hope it can be in
January or February. Several governments have already announced it and that
would be the beginning of the end of this bad dream.”
While the pandemic may be beyond their control, La Liga and the Spanish
Football Federation have hardly helped an already slow start by creating
further chaos over fixtures. – Stuttering start –
The original opening game between Granada and Athletic Bilbao, scheduled
for Friday night, has been moved to Saturday, an announcement made on
Wednesday night, 48 hours before the planned kick-off.
It continues a long-running dispute between the organisations over
scheduling, which a judge in Madrid is due to settle on October 6.
Yet a stuttering start to the season may lead to something more promising
as La Liga’s traditional duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid appears open to
challenge.
Both were exposed in the Champions League last season, with Madrid’s
convincing defeat by Manchester City and Barca’s humiliation at the hands of
Bayern Munich raising doubts about their quality.
With a new coach and still recovering from Messi’s attempt to leave, there
are certainly no guarantees for Barca, whose rebuild may well see things get
worse before they get better.
Madrid, meanwhile, are the reigning champions after dominating the sprint-
finish in June and July but they have not yet added to an ageing squad.
The reduced spending of the traditionally wealthy clubs could level the
field, with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla handed a chance to join the title
race and those beneath them to break into the top four.
Villarreal, under the newly-appointed Unai Emery, and Real Betis, under
Manuel Pellegrini, will be among those with European ambitions while Getafe,
Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao could capitalise too.
At the other end of the table, Huesca and Elche join Cadiz as the newly-
promoted sides focussed on survival, albeit unable to count on the levelling
effect of their fans when at home to the big teams.
Floating in between are Valencia, whose selling spree this summer under an
unpopular owner has prompted many to wonder if they will be contenders for
the Champions League or for relegation.
With so much missing, La Liga is pinning its hopes on the unpredictable.
Fixtures (GMT)
Saturday
Eibar v Celta Vigo (1400), Granada v Athletic Bilbao (1630), Cadiz v
Osasuna (1900)
Sunday
Alaves v Real Betis (1200), Real Valladolid v Real Sociedad (1400),
Villarreal v Huesca (1630), Valencia v Levante (1900)
BSS/AFP/GMR/0908 hrs