Until the turn of the millennium, Deportivo Alavés was little more than another club in the lower echelons of Spanish football, scrapping for their very survival season after season, holding off the…
Tag: la liga
“He is a great goalscorer but a poor footballer.” These were supposedly the words of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff when discussing the qualities of his compatriot Ruud van Nistelrooy. The quote is…
TO THE OUTSIDERS LOOKING IN, the sight of a teary 34-year-old, with his right forearm and two of his fingers hastily wrapped in a plaster cast must have appeared bemusing and bewildering. Indeed,…
Deep in the Barranco Seco, a light-hearted game of tag broke the morning sun. Pre-season in Gran Canaria’s capital was officially underway, while the promotion celebrations of June were finally put to an…
Building a squad to thrive in Europe’s top leagues can take years of careful planning and stability, but Rayo Vallecano’s finances dictate a completely different approach to the transfer market. Last season Los…
This feature is part of A Tale of One City Seville is an astonishingly beautiful city. Cloaked in distinctive, Moorish architecture and set against the dramatic backdrop of the river Guadalquivir, many would…
The opening weekend of the football season is one when hope, however temporary, triumphs over all else. In August 2007 this was the case for Sevilla, who were riding the crest of a…
In the words of Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle: “Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.” There is no club more self-sufficient in world football than Athletic Club and after another season fighting for European qualification in…
“We are a nation of 200 million Germans,” wrote Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte, days before the 2014 World Cup final. ‘Brasil, decime que se siente, tener en casa a tu papá’ (Brazil, tell me…
The year was 1966; the month, November. American singer-songwriter Little Richard had just performed a brief but energetic gig at L’Olympia in Paris. In the surroundings of one of the French capital’s most…
ALMOST 550 APPEARANCES, 15 trophies and 25 years of loyal service; José María Gutiérrez Hernández, or ‘Guti’ to you and I, came within two twilight seasons of becoming a one-club man for the biggest…
On 30 April 1988, one of the most remarkable El Clásico encounters to ever take place unfolded at the Camp Nou between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The game came just two days after…
Reggiolo is a rural cheese farming town in the heartlands of Italy’s north. Famous not only for its parmesan cheese, but a certain eyebrow-raising, world-class footballer and manager: Carlo Ancelotti. Born the son of…
FRIDAY JULY 12, 2013 – Istanbul, Turkey: José María Giménez was 24 hours away from the biggest game of his life to date – the under-20 World Cup final. After a host of…
As featured on Guardian Sport “POOR OLD PACO PAVON, an honest but not exceptional central defender, had the misfortune that his name was seconded to Perez’s scheme. The Pavones were never given…
One of the many interesting facets of modern football is how it is at once a fresh, new game as well as being a regurgitation of what we have seen before. As we move through…