Europe’s most attractive and glamorous domestic football league, La Liga, shall kick-off this weekend. Sportspundit concludes its lookahead series by exploring the race to finish outside the relegation places in the table……
This is Xerez’s first ever season in La Liga but it’s being believed that its top flight status shall be stripped off before the season ends. They have a very small squad and an equally small ambition: to remain in the Spanish Primera Division for one more season. 2009-2010 would be Xerez’s first ever season in La Liga and there are many who feel that it would also be their only one.
Tenerife would be playing in their first season in La Liga too, first in eight years, and could be playing for the last time in their next eight years. Like Xerez and Real Zaragoza, they have gained promotion from the Spanish Segunda Division and although they have a decent striker in Nino and Alejandro Alfaro’s loan from Sevilla was extended in mid-August, 2009-2010 could be yet another disappointing season for the club from the Canary Islands.
The other club tipped to finish in the bottom three are Sporting Club de Gijon, La Liga’s very own darling. Sporting survived relegation last season only on the final day and could have gone down had Andalucian side Real Betis scored one more goal in their league campaign but this time they could really suffer. The Asturian club had the worst defensive record in La Liga last season and although their gun-ho style is refreshingly entertaining and kind of cavalier for a club with limited resources and difficult situation, the lack of a single good player in the squad (except perhaps Mate Bilic) could take them down.
Real Mallorca are another relegation prospects. The Islanders had featured among Europe’s elite in the Champions League not so long ago but these days they are in shambles. Jurado and Arango have left the club and fall-outs at the boardroom level are commonplace. 2009-2010 could see them struggle really badly and if Sporting can sustain their exuberance throughout the season and become defensive stronger, then Mallorca could be in trouble. Real trouble.
Osasuna, Real Valladolid, Athletic Bilbao and Almeria all could and perhaps should struggle. Osasuna always do struggle and could do so this season too, and although Valladolid played well last season, they didn’t really convince and struggled at times. A mid-table finish for Valladolid looks most likely but given the competitive nature of the Spanish first division, they could well be sucked into the relegation dogfight.
And so could and possibly would Athletic Bilbao. They are the only club besides Real Madrid and FC Barcelona who have never been relegated from the Spanish top flight and although no one seriously expects them to go down this season, the fact that they do retain a tendency to flirt with relegation remains. Almeria have never been the same since Unai Emery left at the end of the 2007-2008 season and could find themselves in trouble this season.
In any case, the race to finish outside the bottom in La Liga this season would be as interesting as the race to finish in pole position. Perhaps this is why the Spanish Primera Division is the most entertaining domestic football league in the world.