Spanish Primera Liga 2009-10 – Barcelona Versus Real Madrid

Primera Liga is the First Division of Spain’s Liga de Futbol Profesional or Professional Football League and is also known as the Liga BBVA after the bank that sponsors it. It’s one of the most glamorous and competitive leagues in the world and the crowning glory of football in Spain.

Founded in 1928, La Liga de Futbol Profesional actually consists of two divisions – Primera and Segunda, known as La Liga Adelante, but when people talk of La Liga, they are generally referring to just the First Division.

Having won 31 and 19 Liga titles respectively, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are undoubtedly the dominant forces of Spanish football and are particularly bitter rivals. Beating the old enemy is as important as winning a title or a trophy in Spain, so given FC Barcelona’s recent successes daggers will definitely be drawn in 2009-10.

Barca completed the most successful season in the history of Spanish football in 2009 by winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in 2009. And they did it by playing what was widely considered to be the most adventurous and entertaining football in the world.

Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol and, of course, Josep Guardiola are just a few of the names behind this fantastic side, which prides itself in being led by local Catalan players. What’s more the signing of Swedish goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan will add strength and variation to an already fearsome attack.

Under new president Florentino Perez, Real Madrid have responded by bring out the checkbook and after spending more than 300 million euro, glamour is back at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the shape of the New Galacticos. The superstar signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Xabi Alonso alongside Madrid veterans such as Raul and Casillas, guarantee a real battle for glory in 2009-10.

Amongst the other top teams are Sevilla FC and Atletico de Madrid, who are both representing Spain in the UEFA Champions League this season and modest Villarreal and a talented but unpredictable Valencia CF, who are playing in the Europa League along with Athletic Club Bilbao – a reawakened giant back at the top after a long period away.

Amongst the other sides there’s always a surprise team, and Malaga, Deportivo or Espanyol could well finish in European places at the end of the season.

However, few people would back any team other than FC Barcelona or Real Madrid for La Liga, and what’s more, with this year’s Champions League Final taking place in the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid will be especially keen to stop the reigning champions raising the cup again.

This year more than ever, La Liga is down to two sides – Barcelona and Madrid.

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FC Barcelona Players – Dani Alves

If any player has all the hallmarks of a ‘typical’ Barcelona signing, then it has to be Dani Alves.

With the potential of being to right back what Roberto Carlos was to left back, Dani Alves has the lot – pace in abundance, aggression, skill, attitude and seemingly limitless energy.   Who needs a right winger when Alves is playing right back?

Born in Juazeiro in Brazil in 1983, Daniel Alves da Silva first came to the notice of European eyes whilst playing for Brazil in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championships.   Sevilla snapped Dani up from his first professional club, Esporte Clube Bahía, and, during season 2003/04 he really began to shine in Spanish football.   As part of the Sevilla side that won the UEFA Cup in consecutive seasons, Dani Alves began to develop his reputation as a tough tackling, marauding full back.   In fact, in 175 career games for the Andalucian side, Alves scored 11 goals – not bad for someone who didn’t take the penalties.

After the 2006/07 season, Chelsea appeared to be on the brink of signing Alves – at least they thought they were.   They reckoned without Sevilla’s powerful and idiosyncratic president, José María Del Nido, who took exception to Chelsea’s methods and insisted on holding out for a transfer fee that even Chelsea thought was too high.   Much to the player’s annoyance at the time, Alves started the following season an unwilling Sevilla player.   There then followed one of those ‘if he doesn’t like it he can stay in the reserves for the season’ comments that presidents love to make and the relationship between club and player appeared irrevocably destroyed.

The tragic death of team mate Antonio Puerta, however, put things in perspective for all the parties concerned and Alves went on to make 33 league appearances for Sevilla, in what turned out to be his final season for them.

When he did leave, in the summer of 2008, as the world’s most expensive right back for a potential total fee of EUR35 million, Alves left Sevilla in tears with the memorable phrase that he arrived at the club a boy, but was leaving it as a man.

Watching Alves play for Barcelona now, it is hard to imagine him playing for any other team.   His exuberant style completely fits into his new surroundings.   He does appear to be in defence one second and in attack the next and his tireless enthusiasm quickly won over the local supporters.   In seemingly no time at all, he developed an intuitive relationship with Lionel Messi that sees them linking on the right flank and mesmerising the opposition.

Now fully established in the Brazilian national team – he scored one of the three goals in the team that won the Copa America in 2007, Dani Alves can perhaps claim to be the best attacking right back in modern world football.

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