Time For 'La Liga de Filiales'?

Each professional futbol federation in Europe has their own way of operating. From the number of teams in the first division to promotion/relegation/Champions League/UEFA Cup playoff scenarios (don't even have me try to explain the Dutch one. It'll take hours). Countries like Scotland have a league specifically for youth or reserve sides. Italy features regular weekday matches between reserve sides. And then there's Spain which has a quirky setup where reserve teams, commonly known as 'B' or 'C' teams, play against other clubs vying for promotion to the next level. In the case of a reserve team in El Infierno, it makes for the odd situation where promotion can never be attained since the parent side is already in the first division. However this might change soon and the case of this year's Sevilla Atletico presents a good argument.

Simply put, Sevilla Atletico never had a chance this year and were officially relegated after last weekend's defeat versus 'lider' Xerez. They were a sacrificial lamb all season long which has resulted in just one solitary win in 34 weeks so far this season. All the other teams in El Infierno could look at the 'temporada' and at least count on six points in the two matches they were to play against Sevilla Atletico, which is Sevilla FC's youth/reserve team. The low point for the squad came a couple weeks ago when first division aspirant Hercules thumped them 8-0. Talk about a world-class thrashing...

Sevilla Atletico is in the unfair position of being a feeder team that is competing against teams who are aiming for promotion to the first division or trying to stay alive in the second division. There's a conflict there. The other 19 teams are looking to win every week, Sevilla Atletico's goal is to develop players into first division quality. The first emphasis is not on winning, but rather individual development... and that's not fair to players and fans. Why should a player even care about winning when promotion is impossible? Instead, the attitude turns to, 'Let's see how well I can play individually today and maybe get noticed by a first division team.'

So what is the remedy? A 'Liga de Filiales', or rather, a "Reserve League' where clubs like Real Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona can have their 'B' teams compete against each other in one league and have their 'C' players compete against each other in another league. And with so many clubs having so many reserve teams, you could have a Liga de Filiales B-1, B-2 where promotion and relegation is at stake.

It's time for the Spanish Futbol Federation to start looking at this option so we can stop putting up with conflicting interests in games with high stakes like last weekend's Xerez-Sevilla Atletico tilt.

Other news from El Infierno... I failed to mention last week that Jozy Altidore had toenail surgery and is out for four weeks. I have to doubt that he'll return this season.

Massive game this weekend at La Romareda between Zaragoza and Tenerife who are in the 3rd and 2nd spots respectively. A victory would most assuredly secure Tenerife's spot in La Primera Division next year.

Big thumbs up to the players at Alicante who pulled off the huge upset defeating Rayo Vallecano last week and dropping them out of the promotion place. The Comunidad de Valencia side is still 9 points from safety but has had a terrific second half of the season. It's a shame their 'ida' went so poorly or else they would be spending another year in El Infierno. As it looks now, they'll be relegated to the Segunda B but I can't help but think we'll see them in this blog again during the 2010-2011 Liga Adelante season.

Jornada 34 - Resultados
Albacete - Cordoba 1-1
Celta - Levante 2-2
Salamanca - Elche 1-1
Tenerife - Las Palmas 1-1
Eibar - Zaragoza 2-3
Huesca - Real Sociedad 1-2
Castellón - Hercules 0-0
Gimnástic - Murcia 3-0
Xerez - Sevilla At. 2-0
Girona - Alaves 0-1
Alicante - Rayo 2-0

Clasificacion
1. Xerez - 66
2. Tenerife - 65
3. Zaragoza - 61
4. Hércules - 60
5. Rayo - 59
6. Salamanca - 53
7. R. Sociedad - 53
8. Levante - 50
9. Castellón - 47
10. Gimnástic - 46
11. Elche - 46
12. Huesca - 44
13. Girona - 42
14. Albacete - 41
15. Las Palmas - 40
16. Córdoba - 40
17. Celta - 40
18. Murcia - 40
19. Alavés - 35
20. Alicante - 31
21. Eibar - 29
22. Sevilla At - 13

Adios Capitan

We've discussed here before how rare it is for a player to stay with a club for his entire career. The current nature of futbol does not lend itself to permanency. Look no further than our friend 'El Loco' Abreau for Real Sociedad! But this week futbol saw a career come to an end for a player who spent a whopping 20 years with the same club. A rarity indeed.

Luis Carlos Cuartero hung up his boots on Monday for Real Zaragoza after spending 20 years with the Aragonian club. The name will most likely be unfamiliar to you as he never scored alot of goals or really even made the starting 11 consistently. But what was consistent was his devotion to his club and to mentor younger players. Cuartero rightly served as captain for Zaragoza at the end of his career including the epic 3-2 triumph over Real Madrid in the 2004 Copa del Rey. It was Cuartero who memorably shouted from the 'palco' of Montjuic after receiving the trophy from 'Su Majestad' El Rey Don Juan Carlos, "Viva la Virgen de Pilar!" This being a reference to the statue of the Virgen Pilar at the Basilica in Zaragoza.

The native of Aragon understandedly wept at his press conference. The last two years were not what he hoped after experiencing injury and relegation from the first division with the club. But Cuartero's heart has been and will always be with zaragoza. This was fittingly summed up last year before the final game of the season when Zaragoza faced Espanyol and needed a win to have a chance at staying in the first division. Cuartero simply stated, "Yo juagria este partido con un cojo." Which means, "I would play this game completely crippled."

At the end of Monday's press conference, team officials and the press stood up and applauded the veteran, a scene rarely seen in Spanish futbol. We should do the same.

Resultados - Jornada 33
Rayo - Celta 4-1
R. Sociedad - Tenerife 1-2
Salamanca - Albacete 3-1
Zaragoza - Gimnastic 1-0
Hércules - Girona 3-0
Alavés - Xerez 1-2
Las Palmas - Eibar 1-0
Levante - Huesca 1-0
Elche - Sevilla Atletico 2-0
Murcia - Castellon 2-2
Córdoba - Alicante 2-1

Clasificacion

1. Xerez - 63
2. Tenerife - 62
3. Rayo - 59
4. Hércules - 59
5. Zaragoza - 58
6. Salamanca - 52
7. R. Sociedad - 50
8. Levante - 49
9. Castellón - 46
10. Elche - 45
11. Huesca - 44
12. Gimnástic - 43
13. Girona - 42
14. Las Palmas - 40
15. Murcia - 40
16. Albacete - 40
17. Celta - 39
18. Córdoba - 39
19. Alavés - 32
20. Eibar - 29
21. Alicante - 28
22. Sevilla At - 13

El Ultimo Suspiro

To this day, injury time remains one of futbol's greatest mysteries. How does the referee actually calculate how much injury time should be added at the end of the 90 minutes? If you watch enough futbol, the majority of the time a first half will see one minute added before halftime and then the second half will see three extra minutes added, even though you hardly noticed a difference in those two minutes of stoppage between the two halves.

There have been legendary injury times such as Manchester United's two injury time goals to beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final. There was also the classic case of a corrupt referee adding 12 (12!) minutes of injury time to a match in South America until the home side finally scored the game-winner. Those aside, any European league will feature several matches every weekend where the balance of the match is tipped either for or against a team either right before or during injury time. This happened over the weekend with Rayo Vallecano and Zaragoza.

Zaragoza traveled down to the Comunidad de Valencia to play Castellon and amid a downpour, maintained a slim 0-1 advantage after a goal in the 45th minute. With a whopping 5,000 people in attendance, time ticked down as Zaragoza was ready to claim the three precious points and situate themselves in the promotion zone. The referee ordered another three minutes be played at the Estadio Municipal de Castalia as part of injury time and that's when disaster struck for Zara. Defender Pulido foollishly brough down Nsue in the area and Ulloa gladly converted the PK for Castellon to equalise the match. Just like that, Zaragoza lost two points and fell back to one point behind in the promotion zone.

On the flip side, Rayo Vallecano and Huesca were dealing with freezing winds in the Aragon city on top of a sopping wet field after recent rains. Hardly any offense was generated at all and a 0-0 result was all but a sure thing. Then lo and behold in the 89th minute (right as injury time was about to start!) Rayo forward Piti was the recipient of a counterattack and plucked the ball from outside the area into the Huesca net to give Rayo the three points. Rayo now sits third and in the promotion zone.

Remember these two matches should Rayo finish ahead of Zaragoza in the race for promotion.

Other news and notes out of El Infierno:
Xerez coach Esteban Vigo finally gave the nod to Jozy Altidore to suit up against Hercules. That was the good news. The bad news is that Jozy didn't play even though Xerez was up 3-0 in the second half. The resouding win for Xerez over 2nd place Hercules gives Xerez 60 points a bit of breathing room.

Tenerife keeps rolling. After that 0-0 tie against Rayo, the islanders went back home and thumped Levante.

Enhorabuena to Girona and Celta for getting their first wins in El Infierno in over two months!

Resultados - Jornada 32

Albacete - Elche 2-1
Celta - Cordoba 1-0
Tenerife - Levante 5-1
Eibar - Real Sociedad 1-1
Huesca - Rayo Vallecano 0-1
Castellón - Zaragoza 1-1
Gimnástic - Las Palmas 0-0
Xerez - Hercules 3-0
Girona - Murcia 1-0
Alicante - Salamanca 0-0
Sevilla At - Alaves 1-1

Clasificacion:

1. Xerez - 60
2. Tenerife - 59
3. Rayo - 56
4. Hércules - 56
5. Zaragoza - 55
6. R. Sociedad - 50
7. Salamanca - 49
8. Levante - 46
9. Castellón - 45
10. Huesca - 44
11. Gimnástic - 43
12. Elche - 42
13. Girona - 42
14. Albacete - 40
15. Celta - 39
16. Murcia - 39
17. Las Palmas - 37
18. Córdoba - 36
19. Alavés - 32
20. Eibar - 29
21. Alicante - 28
22. Sevilla At - 13

El Nuevo Líder

This weekend promises to be one of the very best in El Infierno. There are several games on the slate with major consequences for teams in place for promotion, attempting to get to the promotion zone and of course teams hoping to avoid relegation. Let's talk about some of them.

Rayo Vallecano - Tenerife
Rayo officials have already declared that the game is sold out. With Rayo sitting in 4th spot, just a point behind 3rd place Hercules, they'll need their best effort against (surprise!) new leader Tenerife. The environment at Estadio Teresa Rivero will be electric. Rayo is handing out 15.000 red and white flags to fans attending the game, plus another 2,000 trumpets will be given to fans throughout the stadium. This game to be played on Saturday could either vault Tenerife into a very commanding position to earn promotion, or tighten up a race that seems destined to end on the final day of the season. Rayo is so tough at home and the Vallecas stadium will be rocking. I'd mark down a good ol' '1' on the Quiniela.

Murcia-Xerez
Well, well, well.... Xerez has finally fallen from the 1st place spot in El Infierno and have thus created panic and anxiety among their fan base. Xerez travels to a very much improved Murcia side and will have their hands full. Murcia coach Jose Miguel Campos is still foaming at the mouth after his side unjustly lost the three points against bottom feeder Sevilla Atletico after the referee gave the 'colista' not one or two, but three penalties, of which all three were converted to end the game in a 3-3 tie. Campos has all but saved Murcia's season, making him one of the hottest young coaches in Spain.
Meanwhile, Xerez is playing the, "we're not worried, we're focused, we'll be ok" card after they dropped a 2-1 result last weekend at home against Zaragoza. However a press conference yesterday by defenseman Juan Redondo was a little more revealing when he said, "if we don't get promoted this year, I'm not quite sure what will happen.." Sounds a little foreboding, no? And to top that off, now the Xerez fans are clamoring for Jozy Altidore to get a shot. All he did was score four goals in two games in CONCACAF qualifying for the US. As one Xerez fan said online, "Well, I think we should use him and take advantage of him before Villarreal takes him back." Now there's a novel idea. Ya veremos. I'm picking the sorpresa and another '1' in my Quiniela. Murcia gets it done and the Xerez crisis continues.

Elche-Alaves
Keep an eye out for this game as Alaves is looking to climb out of the relegation zone. Both Las Palmas and Cordoba are two points ahead of the Basque side and both are at home this weekend where they are tough to beat. Alaves will need a really strong road effort to have a chance to beat mid-table Elche. If both Las Palmas and Cordoba were to win their and Alaves loses, that's a massive gap of five points between safety and relegation. Considering Deportivo Alaves was the toast of Europe when they dramatically lost to Liverpool in the 2001 UEFA Cup final on an own goal in extra time. Obscure to most in Europe, their play earned praise from all over the continent. Now, they are on the brink of relegation to the Segunda B, and who knows if we'd ever hear from then again.

Resultados - Jornada 30
Celta - Albacete 0-0
Tenerife - Cordoba 2-0
Alavés - Hercules 1-3
Eibar - Rayo 0-1
Huesca - Salamanca 0-0
Castellón - Real Sociedad 0-3
Gimnástic - Levante 2-0
Xerez - Zaragoza 1-2
Girona - Las Palmas 2-2
Alicante - Elche 0-3
Sevilla At - Murcia 3-3

Clasificacion:

1. Tenerife - 55
2. Xerez - 54
3. Hércules - 53
4. Rayo - 52
5. Zaragoza - 51
6. R. Sociedad - 48
7. Salamanca - 45
8. Castellón - 44
9. Huesca - 44
10. Levante - 43
11. Gimnástic - 41
12. Elche - 39
13. Girona - 39
14. Murcia - 39
15. Albacete - 37
16. Celta - 36
17. Las Palmas - 33
18. Córdoba - 33
19. Alavés - 31
20. Eibar - 28
21. Alicante - 24
22. Sevilla At - 12