Second Leg with a Foot in the Door: Atlético Madrid vs Lazio

This Thursday in the Spanish capital Atlético Madrid and Lazio conclude the second leg of their Europa League fixture on banks of the city’s Manzanares river. Last week the Italians were humbled on their home turf, and as far as order measurements go, theirs is going to be quite a tall one if they are to progress any further in the competition. The Roman side has a 3-1 deficit to overcome against a rojiblanco team which, so far under Simeone’s stewardship, has only leaked two goals in eight competitive matches.

Domestically speaking, neither team had a encouraging weekend on the back of last week’s encounter, with both being frustrated by “lesser” opposition. In Lazio’s case, the wounds they were left to lick were particularly deep, as eighth placed Palermo gave them a 5-1 pummelling, which saw them drop down to fourth in Serie A and led an embarrassed Edy Reja to admit, "we had a total blackout" after the final whistle.

Lullabies and good night kisses are what one would expect the former Napoli coach to lavish upon Sunday’s experimental 3-4-1-2 formation before putting it to bed ahead of Thursday’s trip to the Calderon, but his hand may be forced again as injury woes still abound for the Biancocelestis (White and sky blues). So depleted is the Lazio squad at the moment that Christian Ledesma was played as a centre half during the humiliation in the Stadio Renzo Barbera on the weekend. With the likes of Stefan Radu and Giuseppe Biava still out, and players like Abdoulay Konko (suspensed for the Palermo game) probably low on confidence after being humbled against the Spanish side last week, Reja has very few resources at hand to pacify the Atleti front line.

Luckily for him though, aside from their master class in Rome last week, the rojiblanco machine has not exactly been firing on all cylinders of late. On Sunday Cholo’s men were held to their third league stale mate in a row, as a plucky, second-from-bottom Sporting Gijon held them to a 1-1 draw in the Molinon. This uninspiring string of results raises some legitimate concerns about the wastefulness on display, especially considering the talent at the Madrid’s club disposal - they had to rely on Canella to score an o.g. for their only goal in Cantabria.

Dropped points not withstanding, the worst thing to come out of Sunday’s la liga clash was the news of Diego’s hamstring injury, which will see the Brazilian side lined for at least a month. Without his creative flair and vision in the centre of the park Atleti are definitely a weaker team and his absence on Thursday arguably leaves Simeone without his best player since taking over. On a positive note for the Argentine, Tiago should be available to fill in for the Werder Bremen loanee, and with Mario taking on the role of the holding midfielder, the Portuguese player could be pushed higher up the pitch (a position he is already comfortable with) to help pull the strings for the likes of Koke, Adrian and Falcao.

Whatever the concerns about firepower are for the home side, the fact of the matter is that this game is theirs to lose and as long as they can contain Klose and Alfaro up front, Lazio don’t stand much of a chance of beating them. Defensively, Atleti look very assured and breaking them down will be a real test for the off-form visitors.

The Italians are in a catch 22 situation, where committing men forward in order to overhaul their deficit is necessary but at the risk of exposing a make-shift defence to the likes of Adrian and Falcao who thrive on counterattacking football.

Prediction: Like the first leg I see Atlético upping their game for the European stage, especially at home, where they have convincingly won all of their Europa League matches so far this campaign.

Lazio vs Atlético Madrid: Familiar Faces and Old Friends

Having recently received a hero’s welcome on his return home to the Vicente Calderón to help get his beloved  Atlético Madrid’s season back on track, Diego Simeone is now preparing himself for a trip back to yet another cherished old hunting ground from his playing days, the Stadio Olimpico. This Thursday ‘El Cholo’, through pure chance, will lead his Rojiblancos out into the Roman caldron to take on his other beloved club, Lazio, in his first European test as a manager in the Europa League.

Much like he is associated with Atleti’s brief run of success in the nineties, the Argentine is also fondly remembered by the blue half of the Italian capital for lifting titles. During his four spell here, between 1999 and 2003, he added a Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the Super Cup to his list of accolades.

Simeone is not the only one psyching himself up for a blast from the past on Thursday night though. Miroslav Klose and Diego will also have to deal with familiar faces from their past, as they face off against each other for the first time since their wonderful spell together at Werder Bremen ended, a club where they formed an almost telepathic partnership that produced 72% of the team’s goals (55) in 2007 and helped the German side to a Champions League spot. Klose, an out-and-out striker, who incorporates intelligent movement, good decision-making and great finishing, was the perfect match for the Brazilian’s sharp passing and jaw-dropping vision. Since moving on from the Bundesliga, they have both developed other partnerships: the German has found another Brazilian provider in the form of Hernanes, while Diego has the likes of Falcao and Adrian to look for up front.

Back in October, the Madrid outfit was beaten in Italy 2-0 by Udinese in the same competition, but that was under Manzano, and the match was played in the wrong Italian city. History favours los colchoneros when it comes to playing in Rome, where they have never lost. Back in 1998 they were held to a goalless draw against Lazio in the semifinals of the UEFA Cup, which saw them knocked out on aggregate, and in 1999 they came back from the Mussolini-constructed arena with a 2-1 win, however, that was against Lazio’s bitter rivals and stadium co-lodgers, Roma.

Lazio have enjoyed a decent season so far, currently sitting third in Serie A, but coach Edy Reja has a bit of a selection dilemma ahead of this European clash due to the troublingly long list of injuries he has to contend with.

In defense, veteran centre-half André Dias is out, and it looks as though the always reliable Stefan Radu will be missing at left full, as well as the versatile Senad Lulic, who have both had to sit out training this week. In their absence Reja has been experimenting with Abdoulay Konko at left back this week. If the Frenchman were to start against the likes of Adrian, Falcao and Arda Turan on Thursday, he could be in for a rough night as he’s not proven. There is talk of new signee, Antonio Candreva, filling in for Lulic on the left of midfield.

As far as selection problems for Simeone go, the main concern is Tiago who is still carrying a knock after playing against Racing Santander on Saturday. The Portuguese player will be missed in the middle of the park, where he would more than likely act as the thorn in Hernanes’ side, keeping the Brazilian’s breathing time on the ball to a minimum. To that end, it might be a good opportunity for Paulo Assunção – who, so far under Simeone, has been a rare sight on match days - to impress his new boss on the European stage. Apart from that, Atleti look at full strength and should be looking to get something from this game to take into the return leg the following week.

Simeone’s arrival has shored things up defensively for the south Madrid club, Thibaut Courtois has not had to pick a single ball out of the back of his net since the former midfield general took over from Manzano. As well as that, away form has picked up dramatically compared to before Christmas, when they were the most road sick team in the league. In recent weeks though, the team has been running on hot air and scoring has become an issue that needs to be resolved. The return of European football and the big occasion is as good a catalyst as any to invigorate this group of very decent players again and the depleted state of their hosts is not doubt something the players are well aware of.

Prediction: a 2-0 win for the visitors as Lazio’s injury list proves too much of a burden for them to deal with.

Villarreal: the start of the end?

As far as la liga presidents go, Fernando Roig is quite a likeable character, one who seems to float above the sea of corruption, irresponsibility and downright incompetency many of his counterparts shamelessly choose to tread water in.

Since taking over at small town club Villarreal in 1997 his stewardship has been a massive success. A season or two of yo-yoing between la segunda and la primera at the beginning of his reign has long been forgotten and now the tiny outfit from Castellón can not only boast about being able to call Spain’s most prestigious competition, la primera liga, it’s home, but more precisely the higher echelons of the competition, where it has managed to finish in the top half of the table for the last eight seasons. As a result playing in Europe is no longer a fairy tale like novelty for the fans, rather a pre-season requirement: gracing the Champions League three times, getting as far as the Europa League semi-final twice (one of those times last season) and lifting the now sorely missed Intertoto Cup has seen to that.

A glance at some of the playing staff to have adorn the yellow jersey in recent years sheds some light on the club’s success: Marco Senna, Santi Cazorla, Diego Forlan, Pepe Reina, Juan Roman Riquelme, Borja Valero, Guiseppe Rossi, Javi Venta and Robert Pires to name but a few.

Roig’s impact at the club doesn’t just end with the first team either, he has also had the foresight to invest wisely in the ‘cantera’ (youth team). The imaginatively titled Villarreal B has been gracing la segunda division for the past three seasons, making Villarreal, along with Barcelona, one of only two clubs to have representation in Spain’s top two leagues.

An unrelated picture of a submarine which has seen better days.

An impressive story for such a modestly sized outfit but such formidable achievements come at a price, and in this case it comes in the form of raised levels of expectation. Similar to the legend of Ikarus flying too close to the sun and crash-landing to earth, the Yellow Submarine is feeling the heat this season, after reaching some pretty lofty heights over the past decade.

The current campaign has been marred by an almost supernatural string of calamities and misfortunes for Roig’s beloved club. Admittedly the team was already starting the season on the back foot after the reluctant departure to Málaga of buck-toothed cantera whizz, Santi Cazorla. Losing such a creative and cherished member of the dressing room-Senna compared his exit to losing a finger- was an ominous sign of the suffering to come. In fairness to Roig, his hand was twisted on the matter of el Cuín leaving-it was either the Spaniard or his team mate of note, Guiseppe Rossi, who made way as the lucrative offers from across Europe came in for the pair. Perhaps on reflection the wrong man went, seeing as how Rossi has been nursing cruciate ligament damage for the majority of the season, but more crucially the wrong men came in to replace him. Hindsight is easy thing to dish out but it goes without saying that Jonathan de Guzman and Cristián Zapata have fallen well short of the mark so far.

The players’ strike was the next thing to put a dent in the team’s confidence as a trip to the Camp Nou, where a 5-0 drubbing was mercilessly handed to them, was to be their season opener instead of what surely would have been a more comfortable game at home to Sporting Gijon to ease them into the campaign.

Imperfect start: Messi celebrates Barca's fifth goal in the opening match of the season.

Things went from bad to worse and the meagre opening tally of seven points from a possible 27 was overshadowed when the disaster of what was to be one of the worst Champions League performances got under way with a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich. Despite being pitted against the German giants, nouveau riche Man City and Serie A revelation Napoli, zero points in six games and a pitiful two goals scored was an awful return, one which led to Juan Carlos Garrido’s team being the laughing stock of the group stages (Manchester clubs aside).

A decent, or at least honourable, run in the Copa del Rey was also beyond the club’s reach as it embarrassingly fell to Segunda B side Mirandes at the first jurdle.

It must be said that none of this was helped by injuries. The loss of Rossi was a massive blow but the house of cards-like squad depletion that followed was plain tragic and completely unforeseeable, with Cani, Marco Ruben, Nilmar, Senna, Camuñas and Zapata joining the Italian on the physio’s bench. At one stage Garrido only had 13 first teamers to choose from, including sub keeper Cesar.

Sitting in the relegation zone during the Christmas period forced Roig into drastic action yet again, this time having to axe Garrido as first team coach. The amicable nature in which he left the club reflected the inevitability of the decision, however, his replacement raised more eyebrows than it did fans’ hopes. Former Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Spanish international (left wing and keeper) José Molina was put in charge of the embattled submarine despite coming straight from the second team which itself was struggling to keep it’s head above the relegation zone of la liga Adelante.

Roig has always had a policy of rewarding loyalty and hiring from within (Garrido being a prime example), which would go to explain Molina’s appointment. Financial constraints, something that has affected this man of industry greatly during the current economic crisis, may also have played a part in this internal promotion.

"Fix this mess": Roig and new coach Molina

Whatever the case he is the manager now and with three games down, the draw, lose and win he has under his belt have made drawing any conclusions quite difficult so far. A valiant point against local rivals Valencia was followed by a limb performance and loss against a revitalised Atleti, which in turn was followed by a ruthless 3-0 win over Sporting that finally took the team out of the relegation zone, albeit on goal difference. All very Jekyll and Hyde really.

So with no cups to play in and no hope of gaining a European position for next year, the season is all about damage limitation now and trying to crawl back to a somewhat respectable position. Something the club should be able to do considering the talent it has at it’s disposal.

The real concern is what will come after that. With pocket strings so tight as to cause friction burns and a talented squad not exactly showing a fighting spirit or willingness to die for the cause- the dispirited performance in the Calderon two weeks ago a case in point- in all likelihood the summer will see a mass exodus of players, with Rossi, Nilmar (if he hasn’t already left by then) and Borja Valero all rumoured to be eyeing up the backdoor of the Madrigal.

Were that to happen reclaiming it’s place as one of Europe’s most exciting teams would be a monumental task to undertake. Roig has always been pragmatic about signings and won’t be flashing the cash to lure any big name players in so the story of the little club which punched way above it’s weight looks to be coming to a sad and somewhat overdue end.

Málaga vs Atlético Madrid

Tuning into tonight’s clash at the Rosaleda one could have been forgiven for thinking that they had stumbled upon some kind of River Plate exhibition match. Los Millonarios were well represented by both Málaga and Atlético on the pitch, with ex-players Falcao, Buonanotte and Demichelis present, as well as on the sidelines, with former Argentina Primera División championship winning coaches, Manuel Pellegrini and Diego Simeone controlling the respective benches.

But despite the Buenos Aires connection, there was no feeling of “friendly” or “testimonial” hanging over this encounter. Both sides were out to start this year with a bang and put a disappointing 2011 behind them and this desire to rectify two poor league campaigns ensured for a hotly contested match from start to finish - although it has to be said that the intensity of the first half trailed off somewhat during the second.    

Simeone and Pellegrini on the sidelines

This was the juiciest of all this weekend’s fixture list ties for many reasons but the main one concerned the arrival of one man in particular.

All eyes were on the aforementioned Diego ‘El Cholo’ Simeone, Atleti’s new manager. And the Argentine showed his intent to change things for the South Madrid club before the match had even kicked off, with the controversial (if not head scratching) decision to drop arguably Atleti’s two most consistent performers, Arda Turan and Adrian, from the starting XI.

Pre-match talk of a baptism of fire for Manzano’s replacement was not completely overstated. While Málaga hasn’t come close to firing on all cylinders yet, their home form in the league has been impressive (5W, 1D, 1L). Also, los Boquerones are in direct competition with Atleti for a European spot in May, with both clubs no doubt eyeing up the fourth Champions League as their main objective, so tonight’s game bore even more pressure than an ordinary managerial debut would.

In the end it finished scoreless, neither team possessing the required fire power to really trouble their opponent. But that’s not to say there weren’t any chances. With the back and forth tempo at the beginning of the match both sides had opportunities to open up the scoring: Tiago could have released Salvio, who was running into space, instead of tamely attempting to lop Willy Cabellero. Seconds later, and at the other end, Buonanotte was denied from an acute angle when Courtois came out to save his shot. Even Felipe got in on the shooting action with a well-struck volley from outside the area, but ultimately Cabellero was able to smother it comfortably.

Again Pellegrini favoured Salomón Rondon over Van Nistelrooy in his selection and his faith in the Venezuelan was almost repaid early on, when the striker rose to meet a Santi Cazorla free kick with a bullet header, that was destined for the back of the net. However, Belgian wonder kid Courtois spectacularly diverted it with an instinctive and strong left handed save, putting it out for a corner instead.

Soon after and the visitors could have nicked a lead after some trickery and an element of luck saw Salvio wriggle past Demichelis on the left to pass to Diego, whose shot took a wicked deflection and ricocheted off the cross bar.

Another chance for the home side went begging when somehow neither Toulalan nor Welington could direct a gloriously placed cross by Cazorla from a free kick into the net.

The second half was lower on highlights but (for any coaching enthusiasts who were watching) Cazorla encapsulated the importance of having a man guarding the post for a corner, when he prevented a goal-bound Godín header from sneaking into the bottom corner.

Pellegrini’s experience with Falcao was apparent by just how impotent the usually effective Colombian was tonight. Welington, making a rare appearance in the starting XI, had El Tigre in his pocket for the entirety of the match - outwitting the lone striker and matching him for pace time after time. Apart from a headed goal, which was disallowed for impeding Cabellero, the former Porto star’s most notable contribution to the game came in the 65^th minute, when out of frustration he chopped down Monreal with a nasty, late challenge.

El Cholo starts his managerial career with a valuable away point, something los colchoneros struggled to do up until now this season, but there will be some question marks over his team selection tonight. The fact that he waited until the 88^th minute to introduce Adrian was a particularly baffling, considering how clearly off the boil Falcao was.

Meanwhile, Málaga continue to miss Baptista, neither Rondon or Van Nistelrooy look threatening enough to unsettle opposition defences and if Champions League is the objective, then these two don’t look up to the task.

Full Time: Málaga 0 Atlético Madrid 0

Fact: Tonight was only the second time in the league this season that Málaga failed to score at home and Atleti didn’t concede away.

Málaga: Caballero, Gámez, Welington, Demichelis, Monreal, Toulalan, Cazorla, Bounanotte, Isco, Juanmi, Rondón

Subs used: Van Nistelrooy, Duda, Apoño

Atlético Madrid: Courtois, Perea, Godín, Domínguez, Filipe, Tiago, Juanfran, Gabi, Diego, Salvio, Falcao

Subs used: Adrian, Arda

Referee Texeira Vitienes

La Letdown: Málaga's Slow Start

One thing we have all learned about Russian oligarchs and Emirate Sheikhs is that when it comes to owning football clubs they’re not a patient bunch. Long term plans and talk of building for sustainability are always bandied around when one of them forks out for a new club, but ultimately these purchases are for amusement proposes and instant success is insisted upon.

At the end of his first season as Chelsea owner in 2004, Roman Abramovich handed Claudio Ranieri his P45 despite the jovial Italian getting the side to second place in the league and as far as the Champions League semi-finals. Since then the revolving door policy at the West London club has seen a total of seven different managers come and go. Man City boss Mark Hughes faced a similar fate to Ranieri when, irrespective of assurances to the contrary, he was sent packing by new owner, Sheikh Mansour as results didn’t go the Sky Blues’ way. In France more recently Antoine Kombouare also fell victim to this unforgiving nature of high expectations as PSG’s Qatari owners had him clear his desk to make way for Carlo Ancelotti.

Club owner, Sheikh Al Thani uses too much starch washing his jersey

Sheikh Al Thani at Malaga was no exception to this rule when he first took over the reins at Malaga, sacking Jesualdo Ferreira, the man he had only just hired, as the nine results under the former Porto coach weren’t to the Qatari billionaire’s satisfaction. Since then, however, los Albicelestes have done anything but shine – finishing in a paltry 11^th place last season and this time round trailing the likes of Levante and Osasuna in 7^th - yet they have held onto the same manager, Manuel Pellegrini.

This U-turn by Al Thani to a more “easy come, easy go” approach to things is a curious one. Clearly he sees something in ‘El Ingeniero’ (the Engineer) and, in fairness, the Chilean’s track record has definitely earned him enough street cred within la Primera división to merit such faith: his enormously successful five year spell at Villarreal put the tiny club on the map and many people viewed his dismissal by Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez as overly harsh, considering the club finished the 2009/10 season on 96 points.

All the same, having splashed out €58 million during the summer transfer window alone, not to mention the €7.3 million spent last January on Diego Buonanotte (€3.8m), Julio Baptista (€2m) and Ignacio Camacho (€1.5m), you’d expect to see the Rosaleda side sit above Levante, a club that has spent a mere €400,000 in the last four years on players.

New faces: Van Nistelrooy, Bounanotte, Toulalan, Monreal,  Sergio Sanchez, Joaquín, Mathijsen

Where the acquisitions by Chelsea, Man City and PSG were done with a view to challenging for the Premier League and Ligue 1 titles straight away, Malaga was never under any illusions as to what it’s objectives should be. Even with a war chest big enough to rival any other club in the world, the Costa del Sol club knows competing with Real Madrid and Barcelona is a faraway ambition, for now European football and establishing an identity are the twin goals.

So far the first of these targets is still attainable, mainly because of the inconsistencies of the other teams around them battling it out for fourth spot, so whether they scrape it into the Champion League or have to settle for a Europa League spot remains to be seen.

As far as carving out an identity is concerned though, malaguistas shouldn't  hold their breath, unless of course flat and uninspired are what they were after in the first place. Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss at the hands of Real Madrid was a good example of this. Although they are still in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, this defeat put a huge psychological dent in their chances of progressing any further in the competetion. They head into next week’s second leg having thrown away a two nil half time lead during a 10 minute frenzy in the second half, in which Mou’s side battered down Willy Cabellero’s goal, scoring three times, which could easily have been more. Even if they beat Madrid in the return leg, a particularly unfavourable draw would see them face Barcelona in the quarters, unless of course Osasuna pull off a miracle against Spain’s sturdiest defence by scoring five times without reply next week.

During the summer there was no shortage of opinion and discussion about Pellegrini’s signings, while he spent big, he didn’t buy extravagantly, choosing instead to marry up-and-coming talent with “been there, done that” assuredness. Sure Santi Cazorla and, to a lesser extent, Isco are fantastic players capable of changing games but the majority of the new signings were brought in because of their vast experience: before turning grey, Toulalan’s hair had been gracing Ligue 1 since the start of the millenium, Van Nistelrooy has been around longer than many land forms have, Mathijsen and Demichelis are no spring chickens nor is la liga stable Joaquín, who is now enjoying his 11^th season in the Spanish top flight.

But Tuesday night’s performance wasn’t the only time these accomplished players have pissed away a lead this season. Remember the start of December when Real Sociedad snatched all three points from them in the final minutes, scoring twice to win 3-2.

Diego Ifran cooly slots past Willy 

So what is the explanation for such lacklustre performances from these already established names? Well the word “mercenaries” may account for some of the problem. As with any takeover, when new faces start arriving questions about club loyalty are naturally raised. Many of the new recruits brushed aside accusations of being lured solely by the money by pointing to the long-term project within the club: improving the training facilities, investing in youth development etc. So perhaps it’s presumptuous to call them “guns for hire” but this lack of sting in Malaga’s tail has gone on longer than a simple case of a gelling in period can account for.

Creativity is a glaring problem and 20 goals in 16 league games is a noteworthy statistic for the wrong reasons. Baptista’s absence has definitely coincided with the club’s austere spell in front of the net and now there are hints of discontent within the dressing room, which can only go to worsen matters.

The apparent rift between Van Nistelrooy and Pellegrini is a particularly recurring rumour. The Dutchman’s return to Spain has so far been a flop and it appears as though the summer’s marquee signing has been relegated to the bottom of the manager’s pecking order. Considering Baptista’s long, injury-induced absence and Salomón Rondón’s awful finishing, the decision to so unceremoniously drop Ruud may seem harsh, but there is a theory that one of the main reasons for signing him in the first place was to attract other big names, and not to rely on him on the pitch as much.

Surely Al Thani’s patience with how his giant subutteo set is doing is wearing thin and one would imagine that, with the dawn of the second half of the season upon us, Pellegrini’s tenure at the club will depend on how well or badly the next four months go. For his sake things would want to pick up. And quickly.