Los Tres – the 3 big issues in Spanish football this weekend

by Paul Cox

Hola amigos, welcome to what will hopefully be a regular item here on Prost Amerika, Los Tres.

We’ll cover three things about Spanish fútbol, whether upcoming or just happened. While most of the time we’ll be talking La Liga, I hope to get out and cover some of the lower divisions from time to time as well. Odds are we’ll be heavy on the Valencian Comunidad teams since I’m based here in Valencia proper.

We are heading into Week 4 of La Liga’s season, which would mark 10% of the season gone already – and it’s time for everyone to take stock in where they’re at and how they’re feeling.

Also, UEFA Champions League group matches start this week, so it’s time for clubs to get serious- they can’t just say “well, we’re still kind of in start-up mode”.

Barcelona and Atletico play Tuesday evening (vs PSV Eindhoven and Monaco, respectively) and then Wednesday sees two Italian giants invade Spain, with Real Madrid hosting Roma and Valencia hosting Juventus.

Three things to watch for this week:

• 1. Can Valencia wake up and get moving?

This season is the 100th anniversary celebration for the younger of the two sides here in Valencia, and VCF had high expectations with their return to European play.

Unfortunately, they drew a tough schedule; a draw against Atletico Madrid to open the season, a loss to Espanyol, and then another draw to crosstown rivals Levante leaves Valencia sitting on just two points and in 17th place in the Liga table after three weeks.

This weekend they host Real Betis, who are coming off their own derby match against Seville. Betis are in Europa League but don’t start until next week, so they can field everyone. Having held onto striker Rodrigo Moreno (who was getting a lot of interest from Real Madrid), Valencia want to make a run in both La Liga and Champions League.

Considering their CL group includes Juventus and Real Madrid (as well as Young Boys, of Switzerland), Valencia face a gut check this week and really need to get moving in both leagues.

• 2. Who drops points first, Barcelona or Real Madrid?

The two giants of La Liga are off to torrid starts, both perfect on the season. Both have only given up two goals in three matches; Barca have a slight edge with 12 goals scored to Real’s 10.

Barcelona face Basque side Real Sociedad in La Liga, and then Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in Champions League in midweek; Real have a tougher week, with Athletic Bilbao, also from the Basque country, and then Roma.

Both should collect wins in the Liga and Champions League, but whoever drops points first will be talked about as displaying weakness.

• 3. Will the Barca-Girona match really be played in Miami?

A running theme this season, until it’s either canceled or played, will be the proposed La Liga match in Miami between Catalan clubs Barcelona and Girona.

La Liga is actively looking for ways to try and make up ground in the US market. The big TV contracts and coverage that the EPL captured means the Premier League has a large head start, and La Liga sees the match as a less of a money-maker and more of a way of injecting itself into the consciousness of American soccer fans.

They’re tried to buy off the fans’ complacency with expensive gestures; Girona (who are losing a home match that would normally be completely sold out) are offering free airfare and a free ticket to the match for 1500 fans. If someone is not drawn for that allotment, they can also purchase a flight, hotel, and ticket for under US$600.

On top of that, if a Girona season ticket holder doesn’t go to Miami, they will have a shot at 5,000 tickets for the Barcelona-Girona match in Barcelona (on September 23) and will receive a 20% refund on their season ticket cost for this (18-19) season. Finally, if they can’t or don’t go to Miami OR Barcelona, they would get a 40% discount on their season ticket for next season.

Between these pretty massive financial concessions and a lack of a strong fan/supporter organization in Spain (there are fan orgs here, but they are not as well organized or funded as the FSF or Supporters Direct in England), it appears that the public’s opposition to the match has been reduced, if not completely dealt with.

There’s still massive hurdles to be surmounted, though. As of last week, numerous parties that have essentially absolute veto power were saying they hadn’t even been contacted:

The Spanish FA still insist they have not been contacted by La Liga on the proposal to play games abroad. Approval needs to be sanctioned by FIFA, UEFA, CONCACAF and the US FA. Players are threatening to strike. Managers backing the players. Unpopular with fans. A total mess.

— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) September 6, 2018

In typical Spanish fashion, this is a pretty messy situation.

This exact type of terrible planning with a lack of foresight is exactly why La Liga has lost ground over the past 10-15 years to the Premier League in the first place.