THE TOWN OF La Coruña is based in the north-west of Spain.
There is no clear explanation of where the name of the town derives from but the romantics say it comes from Gaelic and that the famous Tower of Hercules was built so that the people of Galicia could climb it to have a view of Ireland.
Whether there is any truth to these myths remains to be seen but one thing that is very clear is that should the people of Coruña want to see any First Division action, they may need to climb the tower.
Down and Out
On Saturday night, six teams fought it out to avoid the drop. Deportivo fancied their chances.
They faced a Valencia side with nothing to play for and with Mallorca facing Atletico De Madrid, Real Sociedad against Getafe and Zaragoza away to Levante, some thought that Super Depor would be safe.
That name came about during the early 90s when a team with Mauro Silva and Bebeto would provide competition in La Liga for the big two.
Although they came close it wasn’t until 2000 that they won the league.
They would beat Man Utd and Arsenal away from home in the Champions League and Euro Depor was born. Yet the club was built on funds that they didn’t have.
A team that once dazzled with players such as the temperamental Djalminha and Rivaldo were forced to sign players that nobody wanted such as Miguel Mista and Ángel Javier Arizmendi, two strikers that just didn’t know how to score.
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Coming to the end of the decade Super Depor were no more and this season they became Super De-Bore.
Goals! You Won’t Find Any Of Those Here!
The old cliché that ‘the league table doesn’t lie’ is true but it can be surprising.
A quick look at Depor’s stats will raise an eyebrow or two. They lost one game less than Athletic Bilbao (Bilbao lost 16, Deportivo 15). Bilbao finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League.
In fact, excluding the top four, only three teams lost fewer games than Depor, Atletico de Madrid, Sevilla and Sporting de Gijon. But as it is now clear it wasn’t losing that was their problem, it was drawing and goal-less draws especially.
Thirteen draws (Sporting had one more) and out of those 13, eight would be scoreless. On top of that they would fail to score in 12 of their defeats. Also Depor would have to wait nine games for a win at the start of the season and couple all that with the club’s failure to beat relegation rivals and you begin to see where the problem was.
Draws with Real Madrid and Barcelona are little consolation when you are relegated
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Depor started the match knowing that they had a chance. They had a bitter history with Valencia but some felt they’d go easy regardless.
They did but Depor couldn’t convert their chances and Valencia took theirs. Depor will complain of bad luck but when your goalkeeper is counted in your top 10 goal scorers you know that it is about more than luck.
The fans at Depor’s ground, Riazor, did their club proud urging the team on at every moment. When Soldado scored, he seemed sad to have done so, it was then that the reality hit.
A team that was once the darling for all those who hated Real Madrid (Depor beat Real in the Santiago Bernabeu in the final of the Copa Del Rey on their 100th birthday) were down.
Players stayed on the pitch as some fans screamed abuse. Others left wondering what would happen to their beloved club. In Spain there are no parachute payments, but the club is working on a deal, and with a club that is already stripped to the bone and €100m in debt the future doesn’t look good.
They have also parted company with manager Miguel Ángel Lotina. With news that bitter rivals Celta Vigo may get promoted via playoffs La Coruña isn’t the happiest of places to be. Yet, some fans still look to the bright side and made their way down to the training ground to applaud their players’ efforts.
If the players can match their supporters’ passion they won’t be long in the second tier.
Around The Grounds
Real Betis, Deportivo De La Coruña, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo all played Champions League football and all relegated at some point after. A poisoned chalice?
So Ronaldo wins the Pichichi but still confusion over the amount of goals he scored. Refs’ reports and the official count, including Real Madrid website, all say 40 but Marca are running with 41.
Real trashed Almería 8-1 and then on Monday, Mourinho broke his media silence to speak to fans about fair play, no to racism and tolerance. Expect this to be analysed for hidden messages to Pep. The match also saw Jerzy Dudek say goodbye and he got a great ovation for all his bench warming.
Kun Agüero scores his first hat-trick but doesn’t seem too happy to celebrate. He then speaks in past tense. Cue media frenzy.
Agüero seemed to follow a common gesture from strikers in Spain not to celebrate goals in away grounds against relegation-threatened clubs. More stories came out on Monday evening when he made his way to the Vicente Calderon where he asked for a transfer. We are into ‘Silly Season’.
Ivan De La Peña has called time on his career. The ‘Shaven One’ as he is known called time due to injuries and his emotional farewell left very few with dry eyes. The midfielder gave us many hours of great football. As they say in Spain: Gracias Crack y Suerte!
Garreth Nunn is the co-founder and writer for the website www.madridatleticos.com. He contributes to a weekly podcast called ‘This is Atleti’ that gives insight into following a Spanish Club and is available via iTunes. You can find him also on Twitter: @madridatleticos and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/madridatleticos
The Spanish Corner: Ireland loses its La Liga connection
THE TOWN OF La Coruña is based in the north-west of Spain.
There is no clear explanation of where the name of the town derives from but the romantics say it comes from Gaelic and that the famous Tower of Hercules was built so that the people of Galicia could climb it to have a view of Ireland.
Whether there is any truth to these myths remains to be seen but one thing that is very clear is that should the people of Coruña want to see any First Division action, they may need to climb the tower.
Down and Out
On Saturday night, six teams fought it out to avoid the drop. Deportivo fancied their chances.
They faced a Valencia side with nothing to play for and with Mallorca facing Atletico De Madrid, Real Sociedad against Getafe and Zaragoza away to Levante, some thought that Super Depor would be safe.
That name came about during the early 90s when a team with Mauro Silva and Bebeto would provide competition in La Liga for the big two.
Although they came close it wasn’t until 2000 that they won the league.
They would beat Man Utd and Arsenal away from home in the Champions League and Euro Depor was born. Yet the club was built on funds that they didn’t have.
A team that once dazzled with players such as the temperamental Djalminha and Rivaldo were forced to sign players that nobody wanted such as Miguel Mista and Ángel Javier Arizmendi, two strikers that just didn’t know how to score.
Coming to the end of the decade Super Depor were no more and this season they became Super De-Bore.
Goals! You Won’t Find Any Of Those Here!
The old cliché that ‘the league table doesn’t lie’ is true but it can be surprising.
A quick look at Depor’s stats will raise an eyebrow or two. They lost one game less than Athletic Bilbao (Bilbao lost 16, Deportivo 15). Bilbao finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League.
In fact, excluding the top four, only three teams lost fewer games than Depor, Atletico de Madrid, Sevilla and Sporting de Gijon. But as it is now clear it wasn’t losing that was their problem, it was drawing and goal-less draws especially.
Thirteen draws (Sporting had one more) and out of those 13, eight would be scoreless. On top of that they would fail to score in 12 of their defeats. Also Depor would have to wait nine games for a win at the start of the season and couple all that with the club’s failure to beat relegation rivals and you begin to see where the problem was.
Draws with Real Madrid and Barcelona are little consolation when you are relegated
Saturday Night Live
Depor started the match knowing that they had a chance. They had a bitter history with Valencia but some felt they’d go easy regardless.
They did but Depor couldn’t convert their chances and Valencia took theirs. Depor will complain of bad luck but when your goalkeeper is counted in your top 10 goal scorers you know that it is about more than luck.
A team that was once the darling for all those who hated Real Madrid (Depor beat Real in the Santiago Bernabeu in the final of the Copa Del Rey on their 100th birthday) were down.
Players stayed on the pitch as some fans screamed abuse. Others left wondering what would happen to their beloved club. In Spain there are no parachute payments, but the club is working on a deal, and with a club that is already stripped to the bone and €100m in debt the future doesn’t look good.
They have also parted company with manager Miguel Ángel Lotina. With news that bitter rivals Celta Vigo may get promoted via playoffs La Coruña isn’t the happiest of places to be. Yet, some fans still look to the bright side and made their way down to the training ground to applaud their players’ efforts.
If the players can match their supporters’ passion they won’t be long in the second tier.
Around The Grounds
Real Betis, Deportivo De La Coruña, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo all played Champions League football and all relegated at some point after. A poisoned chalice?
Real trashed Almería 8-1 and then on Monday, Mourinho broke his media silence to speak to fans about fair play, no to racism and tolerance. Expect this to be analysed for hidden messages to Pep. The match also saw Jerzy Dudek say goodbye and he got a great ovation for all his bench warming.
Agüero seemed to follow a common gesture from strikers in Spain not to celebrate goals in away grounds against relegation-threatened clubs. More stories came out on Monday evening when he made his way to the Vicente Calderon where he asked for a transfer. We are into ‘Silly Season’.
Garreth Nunn is the co-founder and writer for the website www.madridatleticos.com. He contributes to a weekly podcast called ‘This is Atleti’ that gives insight into following a Spanish Club and is available via iTunes. You can find him also on Twitter: @madridatleticos and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/madridatleticos
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