The capital truly was the centre of Spanish football, with Diego Simeone leading Atletico Madrid to an unlikely La Liga title. And to make it better for Madristas, Barcelona did not win a thing.
There were also two blokes called Ronaldo and Messi. They weren't bad either.
Here's Sportsmail's A-Z of Spanish football in 2014.
A for Atletico
Diego
Simeone’s team became the first since Rafa Benitez’s Valencia in 2004
to break the big-two’s stranglehold on La Liga when they won it in May
thanks to Diego Costa’s goals, Thibaut Courtois’ saves, some Crazy-Gang
spirit, and the brooding boss who made them believe.
Diego Simeone (centre) is thrown into the air by his players after leading Atletico Madrid to the La Liga title
B for Bale v Bartra
There
were six minutes left of the Copa del Rey final in April and extra-time
beckoned with Real Madrid 1-1 against Barcelona. Gareth Bale was on the
halfway line when he started his race with Marc Bartra, he ran off the
pitch and back on it and still out-sprinted the defender to score the
winner.
C for Court
Barcelona
spent too much time there in 2014. They were taken to court by one of
their own supporters over the Neymar transfer; and then went to the
court of arbitration (CAS) over Fifa banning them from making transfers.
Leo Messi went to court over tax evasion, and Luis Suarez also went to
CAS to appeal a ban on him training with his new Barça team-mates.
D for La Decima
You
may have heard Madrid supporters mention this once or twice. The tenth
European Cup was finally won in Lisbon in May after 12 years of trying.
They spent a billion and sacked 10 managers along the way but they got
there with a 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid.
The Real Madrid team celebrate with manager Carlo Ancelotti after winning their tenth European Cup
E for Englishman abroad
The
first man Carlo Ancelotti embraced on the touchline at the final
whistle was his No 2 Paul Clement. Becoming a No 1 somewhere will be the
Londoner’s next step.
F is for El Fideo
Nicknamed
‘The Noodle’, Angel Di Maria began the year losing his place to Bale at
Real Madrid but he ended up playing alongside Bale, scoring in the
Spanish Cup final, winning Man of the Match in the Champions League
final and moving to Manchester United.
G is for Diego Godin
The
rock at the heart of defence scored the goal that won the league for
Atletico at the Nou Camp on the last day of the season.
H is for hoops
After
115 years of wearing stripes Barcelona revealed in December that they
will wear hoops next season. The fans say it’s sacrilegious; the
kit-makers say it’a lucrative – both are probably right.
I is for Iker
After
a terrible World Cup Real Madrid’s legendary goalkeeper looked all
washed up. But he’s back to his best and in November told Sportsmail: 'I want to play until I’m 40'.
Iker Casillas (centre) holds the Club World Cup aloft following Real Madrid's win against San Lorenzo
J is for Jack Harper
Outstanding for Real in the UEFA Youth League the 18-year-old Scot is destined for big things both for club and country.
K is for Kroos
Not often Bayern Munich make a mistake in the transfer market. At €30million Toni Kroos looks the signing of the year.
L is for Liverpool legends
Kenny
Dalglish flew to Barcelona in October to present another great former
Liverpool No 7 Luis Suarez with the Golden Shoe. Suarez wanted the
presentation to take place at Anfield but schedules did not allow. ‘Come
any time, and bring your boots’ says Brendan Rodgers.
Kenny Dalglish (left) presented Luis Suarez (right) with the Golden Shoe for his prolific scoring at Liverpool
M is for Moyes
Never
mind La Masia, welcome to ‘The Moyesia’. That is what Real Sociedad
hope to be able to say in the coming years as David Moyes works his
magic at their Zubieta youth academy. He took over in November.
N is for Neymar
He
has already topped the nine league goals he scored in his first season.
And he’s kept himself busy off the pitch, flying model Soraja Vucelic
into Barcelona in October.
O is for odd signings
Barcelona
needed to rebuild their defence this summer. They signed Sao Paolo
right back Douglas for £4.4m and Thomas Vermaelen for £15m. They have
started one league game between them.
Thomas Vermaelen has been hit by a string of injuries since signing for Barcelona in the summer
P is for promoted
Eibar
won promotion to the top flight in May for the first time in their
75-year history – great news for the 5,000 fans that cram into their
stadium and for the 130 who watch from the tower blocks overlooking the
ground.
Q is for quit
Barcelona
president Sandro Rosell walked away in January. He had managed to upset
Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi, the Spanish tax man, and
FIFA during his three and a half year reign
R is for Ramos
Real
were seconds from losing the European Cup in May when Sergio Ramos
headed in the equalizer. At 28, he has already played over 300 Madrid
games. Legend.
Sergio Ramos' header hauled Madrid back into the Champions League final, which they ended up winning
S is for seventeen
Some
say Cristiano Ronaldo only scores so many goals because of weak La Liga
defences. That will be why he only scored 17 in last season’s Champions
League then.
T is for ‘Ta-ta Tata Martinez’
He
chewed gum through press conferences, organised a mid-season barbecue
to boost team-spirit, won nothing, and was gone by June.
U for Unai
Sevilla
coach Unai Emery led his team to Europa League glory in May. His
reward? The same as every other year – his best players were sold.
Unai Emery won the Europa League with Sevilla in may but his best players left the club soon after
V is for Varane
Do
you really want to be kicking the ball straight at Simeone when the
Argentine has just let the European Cup slip? Simeone stormed on to the
pitch to confront Raphael Varane and earned an eight-match ban.
W for waterworks
Sevilla
full back Alberto Moreno was in floods of tears as he said goodbye to
his team-mates in Spain in August. Some said it was because he was
joining Liverpool.
X for Xavi and Xabi
Spain’s X-men retired from international football in August having won the lot.
Xavi (left) and Xabi Alonso (right) both retired from international duty with Spain this year
Y is for yoga fan
Carles
Puyol retired last May having lifted every in trophy imaginable. He has
plenty more time now to lift girlfriend Vanesa Lorenzo as the pair
practise Acro-Yoga together.
Z for Zarra Telmo
When
Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra retired aged 34 in 1955 his haul of
251 La Liga goals looked unbeatable. Messi smashed the record this
November, aged 27.
Post a Comment