The overwhelming dominance of one team rarely makes for an interesting story in a sport which thrives on rivalry and competition. Yet Barcelona’s delightful game and their continued remarkable success got neither old nor tiring in 2011. There were plenty of surprises in the Serie A, but as far as the La Liga and Champions League went, it was hard to look past Barcelona yet again.
La Liga
The only club expected to challenge Barcelona was Real Madrid, especially with Jose Mourinho now in charge. They got plenty of opportunity to do so as well, as the first half of the year pitted the bitter rivals against each other in the league, the Copa del Rey as well as the Champions League. Fans drooled at the prospect of the four clasicos in the space of 18 days, yet the much-awaited contests between two of the continent’s best teams soon turned ugly. There were plenty of theatrics both on and off the field, with Real’s accusations of bias and Barca’s assumption of the moral high ground leading to an acrimony that did little credit to either side. It resulted in Mourinho being banned for five matches for his comments after the Champions League semi-final, though the ultimate low came later, with the ‘eye poke’ incident in the Super Copa.
Barring the cup final, however, which gave Mourinho his first trophy as Real Madrid coach and the team their first Copa del Rey in 18 years, the capital club was no match for the Catalans on the pitch. A 1-1 draw in the league effectively handed Barcelona the league title, while a 2-0 loss at the Bernabeu in the first leg of the semi-final ended Madrid’s Champions League hopes. The two teams met a further three times in the course of the year, and though Real looked better in every game, they still came up short in the end. Pep Guardiola remains unbeaten in the clasicos since taking over at Camp Nou, while Mourinho is still looking for an answer to his career’s biggest nemesis.
There is a small ray of hope for Madrid going into the New Year though, as they lead Barcelona in the standings at the winter break by three points. With Mourinho gaining more power after the dismissal of director general Jorge Valdano and making additions to the squad over the summer, the club has made an impressive start to the new season. They were on a 15-game winning streak before their latest clasico defeat in December, and have outscored their title rivals with 56 goals in 16 games so far. Meanwhile, Barcelona have shown some signs of weakness this season, drawing four matches and losing one so far, and they will also have to contend with the injuries and fatigue that have caught up with them at times this season.
Then again, this is a Barcelona side that won five trophies this year, the last of which was a Club World Cup triumph to give Guardiola victory in 13 out of a possible 16 competitions. They have bench strength as well, with the summer arrivals of Cesc Fabregas – who has fit in like he never left – and Alexis Sanchez and the emergence of more youth players like Thiago Alcantara and Isaac Cuenca.
And then there is Lionel Messi. The Argentine genius continues to baffle opponents with his ability to find space and the skills to create something out of nothing. The goals seem unstoppable too. After finishing with 31 goals and 20 assists in the 2010-11 season and as the topscorer in the Copa and the Champions League, Messi has already racked up 17 goals this season, one of which was his 200th for Barcelona as he became their second-highest goalscorer of all time. With Messi’s brilliance putting all else in shade, it is no wonder he is in line to win his third successive Balon d'Or.
All of which is rather unfortunate for Real and their star player Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese had a stellar 2010-11, scoring 40 goals to break the record for most goals in a La Liga season, and he is on course to cross that landmark again, with 20 already this season. Unfortunately, only three of these goals came against Barcelona, and though he did net the winner in the Copa del Rey final, doubts remain over his ability to find the net against bigger teams after a disappointing show in the December clasico.
Meanwhile, the gap between the top two and the remaining clubs in Spain continued to widen, even as calls were made for more equal distribution of TV revenue. Among the best of the rest, Valencia have done well despite losing key talents like David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata these past two seasons, finishing third, albeit 21 points behind Real Madrid. Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, and Villarreal struggled to keep up, while big-spending Malaga, under new Qatari owners, are challenging for a top-six finish rather than the title, despite bringing in players like Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The story of the season, though, were the little-known Levante. The club has a total budget less than Messi’s wages, has a threadbare squad that includes 15 players who have been relegated before, and they almost went down again last season. Yet the minnows found themselves at the top of La Liga at the end of October. Their surreal success is largely down to motivational coach Luis García, and while Levante end the year having slipped down the fourth, they deserve plenty of credit for competing with the big boys, even if only for a little while.
Serie A
It may not have been as much of a surprise, but over in Italy it was still a fairytale finish for Massimiliano Allegri as Inter Milan’s five-year grip over the title was finally broken.
The expectations were not high when Allegri came in, but AC Milan finished the season comfortably ahead of city rivals Inter for their first Scudetto since 2004. New signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic played a key role, ending as the club’s joint-topscorer and leading provider of assists, but it was an all-round team effort from Milan, with 14 goals from Alexandre Pato and Robinho and consistent performances from Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mark van Bommel.
Inter, meanwhile, recovered after a disastrous start to the season as Leonardo came in to replace Rafa Benitez, eventually finishing second after trailing Milan by 13 points at Christmas. The nightmare was not over for Inter though. The Brazilian left for PSG, and new man Gian Piero Gasperini lasted only a miserable five games before being replaced by Claudio Ranieri. Improved results finally saw Inter push up the table towards the end of the year, but the uncertainty surrounding the club continues.
There are no such worries for Juventus, who go into the New Year joint top with AC Milan after an unbeaten start to the season under new manager Antonio Conte, justifying the club’s decision to remove Luigi Del Neri, under whom they could only finish seventh. The squad was strengthened as well, with Mirko Vucinic, Arturo Vidal and AC Milan’s Andrea Pirlo coming in. The lack of European football has also proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the Turin club, now playing at a new 40,200-seat stadium, aim to win their first title since the 2006 Calciopoli Scandal.
Outside the big names, it was Napoli's third-placed finish and their return to the Champions League after 21 years that caught the eye. And with stars like Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi in their ranks, Napoli have kept up their good form, though arguably their biggest achievement came on the European stage, when they knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League by finishing second in a tough group.
Udinese – with league topscorer Antonio Di Natale in their ranks – and Lazio also proved their fourth and fifth-place finishes in 2010-2011 were no fluke, keeping pace with Milan and Juve in the new season as well. However, erstwhile contenders Roma – under new owners – could only finish sixth last season, and are yet to come to terms with new coach Luis Enrique’s flexible tactics and football philosophy.
The biggest surprise from the Serie A in 2011, though, came in the form of the transfer of Inter striker Samuel Eto’o. Few may be able to pronounce the club’s name – as Florent Malouda recently illustrated – but this was a year in which everyone came to know of Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. Bankrolled by billionaire owner Suleyman Kerimov, the club has made clear their intentions to gatecrash Europe’s elite, and after capturing Brazilian World Cup winner Roberto Carlos, the coup came in the form of Eto’o, on reported wages of 20m Euros a season. With the club being located in the troubled southern Russian province of Dagestan, Anzhi players live and train at a training camp outside Moscow for safety reasons and travel to Makhachkala for home games. Despite that, however, almost every big football name, from Didier Drogba and Robin van Persie to Guus Hiddink and Fabio Capello, has been linked with Anzhi. With the January transfer window about the open, this is a name the fans will not forget in a hurry.
Champions League
Jose Mourinho had managed to stop them in 2010 but couldn’t do it again. Alex Ferguson had tried in 2009 and tried again in 2011, but failed. And so Barcelona were crowned the champions of Europe for the third time in two seasons, which merely added more fuel to the debate seeking to place them among the all-time greatest sides.
After an ill-tempered semi-final with Real Madrid, the final was supposed to provide a spectacle of football as the English and Spanish champions came head-to-head at Wembley. Unfortunately for Manchester United though, they had very little part to play in it, as they were completely outplayed and – in Ferguson’s words – ‘given a hiding’ by Messi and company. “There is no shame in losing to Barcelona,” said the chastened manager afterwards, before vowing to try yet again.
Revenge will not come this season though, as United made a mess of what was arguably the easiest group, failing to progress to the knock-out stages of the Champions League for only the third time in 17 years after a humiliating loss to Swiss side Basel.
Their misery would have been only slightly alleviated as bitter rivals Manchester City also failed to come through, and while their group was certainly harder – containing a strong Bayern Munich side and Napoli – the early exit was disappointing for a team with an array of expensive talent like David Silva and Sergio Aguero at its disposal.
Arsenal and Chelsea – defeated by the finalists in the previous season – are then the only Premier League teams remaining in the competition, with the Italian sides for once overshadowing their English counterparts. Inter had been humiliated by Schalke in 2010-2011 while AC Milan went out early to a Gareth Bale-inspired Tottenham Hotspur, who did well to come that far in the first place, having been drawn in a group with Inter, Werder Bremen and Twente. However, the two city rivals came through the group stages this year with relative ease, and the draw has pitted both the remaining English teams with Milan and Napoli respectively, setting up some compelling encounters for next year.
And while Barcelona will be the overwhelming favourites once again, their thunder was stolen by the unheralded Apoel Nicosia, who became the first Cypriot club to reach the knock-out round.
And they say the romance in football is dead!
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