Reality set to bite for trophy-less Madrilenos
They beat Bilbao 5-1 on Saturday night and a win against the Basques is usually something Madrilenos delight in. But the reaction from the players tells its own story.
“Both teams have done enough to win the league,” said goalkeeper Iker Casillas on Sunday.
“It’s a shame there is only one trophy,” echoed Sergio Ramos.
The cold reality is that Barcelona are now massive favourites to retain their title, although only after nearly causing collective heart failure across Spain by going 3-0 up at Sevilla, then conceding two goals in three minutes.
Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuán stadium always seems to prey on Catalan minds.
Older fans remember how they lost the European Cup final on penalties after being held to a goalless draw by Steaua Bucharest. They also crumbled there three years ago when Ronaldinho missed a penalty and the team then frittered away a title.
Now Madrid’s hopes rest on taking three points on Sunday in Malaga, and Barca failing to beat Valladolid. Both Valladolid and Malaga will scrap for their lives as they are locked in a relegation battle with three other clubs all on the same points.
Valladolid also have a reputation for stubborn defence, but their record at Camp Nou is worse than almost any other club in La Liga. By contrast Madrid won fewer than half of games they have played at La Rosaleda.
Whatever the outcome of these top versus bottom clashes, the final weekend provides stark evidence of the chasm between rich and poor in La Liga. With little external revenue, the clubs at the bottom have essentially to rely on youngsters and hope they will impress sufficiently to produce good transfer fees.
By contrast, Madrid and Barca have TV contracts with Mediaproduccion SL which guarantee them an income of around €1 billion each over the seven years to 2013. Around 40% of their revenues come from these contracts and the two clubs scoop up more than half of the €520 million La Liga receives from broadcasters every year.
Official policy favours a move to a collective agreement, with the model being the Premier League. Serie A is about to complete its breakaway which also involves a move to collective TV rights, and that has encouraged the smaller Spanish clubs to turn up the pressure for change.
Twenty-four clubs met yesterday to discuss a return to the group rights which existed before 1996. But although that represents a majority in terms of numbers, the Big Two currently enjoy the support of the other big names in La Liga, such as Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.
The big clubs are all in favour of the Premier League model, as it should generate more cash, but there are divisions over whether TV cash should be shared more equitably.
“Real Madrid and Barcelona will try to make sure it doesn’t happen, but it’s inevitable,” says Esteve Calzada, formerly Barcelona’s chief marketing executive and is now boss of Prime Time Sport, and a FIFA agent.
That may be true in the long run, but the current set up must call into question UEFA’s “financial fair play” initiatives. If the playing field is so uneven in one major league, providing massive funding for two of the richest and most powerful clubs, how can there be equity on a European scale?
