Wily old hand struggles to keep up with new boy

Teething problems were always likely when La Liga’s big two began the season with new coaches, but even by La Liga standards Barcelona’s Gerardo Martino and Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti have had eventful first 100 days in charge.

The less experienced Martino was expected to struggle more — and murmurs soon began around Catalonia when the new man started the season by benching €60 million signing Neymar, and substituting Camp Nou darling Lionel Messi, while regularly talking about tweaking Barca’s tactics to be more ‘direct’ and ‘vertical’.

The dam broke after mid-September’s visit to minnows Rayo Vallecano, when the opposition had more possession — for the first time in 315 games — as well as more shots on goal and more passes completed than Barca.

It did not matter Barca won 4-0, Martino was soon having to defend himself from allegations of betraying the tiki-taka style which had been so successful under previous bosses Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova.

But the former Paraguay coach kept his cool admirably and Barca have kept winning.

Saturday then brought a 4-1 win against Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou, meaning Martino’s Barca now have their best La Liga start ever — eight wins from eight. Not bad for a new guy.

Meanwhile at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, things have been heading in the other direction. Ancelotti’s new post-Jose Mourinho Madrid went through pre-season unbeaten while playing more attractive possession-based football, and avoiding the bitter off-field antics which his predecessor endured.

But then came the final days of the transfer window, when Gareth Bale finally arrived for €100 million and Mesut Ozil was surprisingly sold to Arsenal for just half that fee. Since Bale made his debut in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal, Los Blancos have been really off-colour — and even last week lost a ‘derbi’ at home to Atletico Madrid.

The Madrid media were shocked, and Ancelotti was even whistled by fans before Wednesday’s Champions League group game against FC Copenhagen. “I was not happy either,” he said, before looking on the bright side. “Being whistled is not bad. These things can be necessary sometimes, they serve to make you work better.”

Madrid’s troubles continued into Saturday’s 3-2 win at Levante, when Ancelotti’s side needed two late goals to turn things around.

One take is that Bale’s arrival and Ozil’s exit has unbalanced the Madrid team — and the Welshman’s ongoing injury problems mean Ancelotti cannot work on sorting things out.

And time is not on Ancelotti’s side. They remain third in the table — five points behind Barca and Atletico. Bale hopes to return against Malaga after the upcoming international break, but two dates have been circled in Madrid’s calendar. These are the visit of Serie A champions Juventus to the Bernabeu on October 23, and then four days later the season’s first clasico at the Camp Nou.

A Barca win there will crystalise the impression that, in the battle of the new men, Martino already has the upper hand.