Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
The headlines in Spain this week have no doubt been dominated by Manchester City’s clash with Real Madrid, and on Thursday morning it was front page news, with varying degrees of delight and doom depending on which part of the country you were in.
Having said that, the reaction has not been as dramatic as it could have been. Perhaps it was the impressive nature of City’s domination that have encouraged Real Madrid not to change their summer plans, nor to decide to sack Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season. There was some talk about the end of a cycle, but ultimately, most have held their hands up and acknowledged just how good City were.
Elsewhere, heads were less cool. Fernando Torres manages Atletico Madrid’s under-19 side, and Alvaro Arbeloa is in charge of Real Madrid’s same age group. The two nearly came to blows at the weekend as the former Liverpool teammates went head to head – which isn’t altogether wise given how large Torres looks these days.
Meanwhile Ronaldo Nazario lost his temper on Twitter last weekend too. The Brazilian owns Real Valladolid, who are battling relegation, and thought they had taken the lead against Sevilla, only to realise that the referee had blown his whistle as Sergio Escudero was taking aim. They went on to lose 3-0.
? La POLÉMICA en el #ValladolidSevillaFC ?
El árbitro no dio validez a este gol de #Valladolid que hubiese supuesto el 1-0
El árbitro hace el gesto de pitar antes de que Escudero impacte con el balón
Pero llega a pitar antes del impacto ??
Que opináis ??
??… pic.twitter.com/JHGUv4Urpi
— Futbol Objetivo del Sr Destrangis ? (@FutbolDestrangi) May 14, 2023
Barcelona were in a cheery mood after they secured the La Liga title on Sunday night, but it nearly went very wrong. While they celebrated on the pitch, city rivals Espanyol, who had just been beaten 4-2 and themselves look as if they might go down now, fans charged onto the pitch and forced the Blaugrana players to sprint off. They held their title parade the next day, coasting through the streets to massive crowds.
Barca enjoying the moment but now being chased off pitch by Espanyol fans pic.twitter.com/UfKv78NPOS
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) May 14, 2023
Director of Football Mateu Alemany was supposed to be heading off into the sunset, or to Birmingham to join Aston Villa in the summer, but he appears to have had second thoughts after a trip to the Midlands. It now looks as if he will be staying, and will be tasked with trying to sign Joshua Kimmich from Bayern Munich – as well as Lionel Messi of course.
