The dust is settling on all of Europe’s big leagues and now for the winners it’s time to look back fondly on a great 10 months, but the losers must wipe away the tears, work out what went wrong and come back stronger.
Believe me, as a Burnley fan I know.
There were highs and lows in La Liga this season as Real Madrid marched to a 35th Spanish title and Barcelona began a revival. But in Andalusia, there was a final day nightmare for Granada as they were relegated against all the odds.
The Highs
Clasico bosses can take a lot of credit
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have endured some turbulent times on and off the pitch over the past few years, but there is an air of calm and confidence at both clubs now following the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti in Madrid and Xavi in Catalonia.
There is no denying Ancelotti is one of the greatest managers ever to walk the planet but even he must be delighted by the way his team has performed, fired by the goals of Karim Benzema to the title. And this week, Los Blancos are preparing for a Champions League final date with Liverpool and that is not a game to miss.
Over in Barcelona, the season started terribly with the loss of Lionel Messi and poor results on the pitch, but the return of another playing legend turned things around as former midfielder Xavi arrived to coach the team he loves.
And he’s done a great job. Despite a last day defeat to Villarreal, Barca finished in second place as the January signings of Dani Alves, Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang, and Ferran Torres proved to be crucial.
At one poin,t the La Liga 2022 betting odds brought the Blaugrana into the title race but it turned out to be a step just too far.
Iago Aspas and Raul de Tomas
Celta Vigo and newly promoted Espanyol had comfortable mid-table finishes in 11th and 14th and they each had a talismanic striker to win the big games.
Celta had struggled in the 2019 and 2020 campaigns, finishing 17th both times, but recovered in the 2020/21 campaign to a top half finish and it was the goals of all-time top scorer Iago Aspas which had kept Celta in the top-flight. And the 34 year old was at it again this term, scoring 18 times. He’s been capped 18 times for his country and Celta fans wonder why Aspas hasn’t played for Spain more often.
At 27 years of age, Raul de Tomas is coming into his prime. And after top scoring in Espanyol’s Segunda Division promotion campaign, he impressed again by bagging 17 goals on his return to the top-flight and picking up his first two international caps in the process.
Both Aspas and De Tomas have a rate of 0.52 goals per 90 minutes and one-in-two striker is worth his weight in gold.
And a surprise result
The SBOTOP vote for the result of the season was Barca’s stunning 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in March. Aubameyang scored twice on his Clasico debut while Torres scored one and Ronald Araujo also headed in a cross from the excellent Ousmane Dembele.
With 10 games to play, Xavi refused to rule out a late run for the title. There were some surprising La Liga 2022 results in this campaign, but this was the biggest and the most significant of all as, despite failing to catch Los Blancos, the belief had returned to Barcelona.
The Lows
Granada down and out
Granada’s last day relegation came as a shock to many fans from outside Andalusia as well as Granada’s faithful. The last two seasons had resulted in seventh and ninth-place finishes and a Europa League adventure but this campaign ended in disaster despite the best efforts of a new manager.
Appointed in April, Head coach Aitor Karanka was given six matches to save Granada. He started with a 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid and beat relegation rivals Real Mallorca 6-2 to put Granada in control, and they just needed to win at home to Espanyol on the final day to secure their survival, with the safety net of both Cadiz and Mallorca playing away.
But as Cadiz won away to Alaves and Mallorca recorded back-to-back wins in their triumph over Osasuna, Granada just couldn’t break through the stubborn Espanyol defence and a point wasn’t enough to save them.
Granada join Alaves and Levante in the Segunda Division.
Antoine and Ansu had seasons to forget
With seven goals at an average of over 300 minutes per strike, Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann laboured throughout the campaign on his return to the Wanda Metropolitano.
Angel Correa top scored for Los Rojiblancos with 13 goals while Luis Suarez had 12. Griezmann’s rate of 0.28 goals per 90 minutes made him the club’s fifth-most productive goal scorer, while only Suarez took more shots and eight players had a better shot accuracy than the Frenchman
Griezmann would not like to be known as a one in four striker.
Over in Barcelona, Ansu Fati was fit for only 45 days of the 2021/22 campaign, suffering a knee niggle in September and then being sidelined with a hamstring injury for almost five months between November and March.
After being hailed as “the new Messi” by desperate Barca fans, there is a huge weight of expectation on the teenager’s shoulders and next season will be crucial.
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