The middle class revolution

Covered the first third of the championship, La Liga offers situations and sensations that are different from those that have occurred in other seasons. With the first 13 days played, the classification reflects some symptoms to take into account and that they should no longer be considered, due to the volume of matches, just the result of chance. It is not that the three eternal contenders for the title, to a greater or lesser extent, go through moments of doubt and uncertainty. The champion, Atlético, is limping, especially in the defensive aspect. He has more goals against (17) than games played (12), when last season with the same number of games he had only five. The Real Madrid is irregular, capable of the best, winning in Barcelona, ​​but also of the worst, losing in Cornellá. Barcelona, ​​the most critical in points and game, fights against itself and against all the economic problems that threaten the entity and that are transferred to the field of play.

Nor should it be seen as a whim of chance that the three promoted clubs, Rayo Vallecano, Espanyol and Mallorca, travel through the middle of the table, even leaving the impression that they score fewer points than they should be due to their merits. have collected. These first three months of the League have served to demonstrate that clubs with fewer football and economic resources are being able to compete in the broadest sense of the word and their respective performances are directly reflected in the one that commands the most, the classification.

The middle class keeps the championship alive in its upper zone. The Real Sociedad, leader, repeats the good start of the previous year. It is the mirror of balance. He receives few goals, 10, and four were scored by Barça in the first game. Of the 19 that he adds in favor, 17 have marked them in the second parts. The team, in terms of game, is less brilliant than last season, but it is more effective and adapts to various tactical models depending on what each game demands.

Sevilla, the team with the fewest goals, seven goals against and seven clean sheets, brims with continuity and it shows that he has climbed to the heights to stay permanently. The present is also for teams such as Betis, Rayo and Osasuna, who animate that privileged area with their competitiveness and courage.

Osasuna, an example. Promoted to First in the 2018-19 season, the Navarrese club has shown in its last two years in the First Division how the priority objective set can be met, salvation, with the added decorum of being ranked tenth and eleventh. From the sports department, -he arrived in June 2017- Braulio Vázquez, formerly of Valencia and Valladolid, has become the cornerstone of the projectTo the point that he already has an offer on his table to extend his contract until 2026. Four more years. If the renewal is no longer a fact, it is because the club has an electoral period ahead and the terms of the renewal must be well adjusted.

From their arguments, the Osasuna phenomenon is better understood. “To explain the current situation, we would have to go back and go back to the 2016-17 season. The team fell very soon with 94 goals against and only 22 points. It was not a team prepared for the First Division. It fell well in advance. to Enrique Martín, Caparrós arrived and they finished with Vasiljevic, who was the sports director, as coach. That was when I came to the club to start working in 2017-18. We had to make a tremendous generational change in the squad to play in Second Division . We signed Diego Martínez as coach and we began to establish everything that has come later. Even if we stayed at the door of the promotion playoff, we laid the foundations, “he explains.

Braulio then considered that it was necessary to take another turn of the steering wheel and decided to change the coach despite the fact that the coach had another year on his contract. “Sportingly, Diego had gone well for us, the team was well structured, he modified concepts in Tajonar, the Sports City, but we were not hooked … We looked for a technician who had a social identification with the Osasuna context and we arrived at Jagoba Arrasate, who came from Numancia, to play the playoff. In Second we had to be a winning team and we got it … in the end. On the fifth matchday, after losing against Nastic, we were penultimate and things were not going. However, we ended up champions sweeping them away Record points, 87 and at home we did not lose. We won 18 games and tied, three. A real madness. The team, both away and at home, went for all the games. Very suffocating. High pressure. Sometimes the games were a bit of a street rider, but our fans like those games in Pamplona, ​​”he says.

The club and the team had already achieved the goal of returning to First Division. A new stage was beginning. Braulio continues with his presentation. “We changed some pieces. We signed Chimmy, Cardona, Rubén García, Brandon, Estupiñán, on loan … And we were tenth without losing the identity we had in Second. Last season, 20-21, we changed some pieces again. We signed Calleri , Budimir, Lucas Torró … players who added to the block we already had, plus the growth of homegrown players such as Kike Barja, David García, Moncayola … The team started very badly, but our patience was key to being where we are now. We were second to last, with 13 games without a win. I had to do a press conference and I said that if we had to go to Second Division again, it would be with Jagoba on the bench. And we were going to do it, but the team, in the second round, scored 28 points, which were numbers to qualify for Europe, “he recalls.

Braulio insisted with his policy of composition of the squad: highly chosen homegrown players plus foreign players, if it can be with experience in the Spanish League. “We make a compendium between the boys from Tajonar, who continue to grow to the point that almost one of them goes up to at least one of the first team every season and those from outside who make us better. We always keep a block of 10/11 players from the house such as Oier, the captain, Roberto Torres, Iñigo Pérez, Unai García and the emerging ones that we have just renewed such as Javi Martínez; Moncayola, who had Athletic, Atalanta behind him, and we have made him a 10-year contract, until 2031, with a clause of 22 million; David García, who has signed for five years… Before we could not retain these talents, but as the club grew economically we have been able to renew them “.

The result is the one presented by the classification. A seventh classified that went on to become the best team in the major European leagues away from home having won their first four away games, followed by a draw at the Bernabéu and a defeat at Sánchez Pizjuán (2-0). It is difficult for Braulio to change his principles and jacket. He wants to stay in Pamplona and has already said no to several offers. If he continues, Jagoba Arrasate will continue to be his man for the bench.

The secondary ones become protagonists

On an individual level, already resigned to the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, and now also to that of Leo Messi, and while rising values ​​such as Vinicius and Ansu Fati, Memphis, Joao Félix are fully consolidated … it must be recognized that this has not been a good start to the championship for footballers labeled as stars. Only one individual is shining with the intensity that should be demanded of this type of player: Karim Benzema (10 goals and seven goal passes in eleven games).

Conversely, a good handful of footballers accustomed to playing secondary roles, far from the spotlight, from international appearances, are achieving optimum performance in their respective teams that does not go unnoticed neither by the fans, nor by the media. Their names begin to sound and the most significant example can be identified with the figure of Raúl de Tomás. His seven goals and his two passes on goal have catapulted him to the National Team.

Arranged by position, several eleven could be formed with this type of footballers who already shine for themselves and who have played leading roles in this first third of the championship.

In goal Diego López (Espanyol), Dituro (Celta) and Sergio Herrera (Osasuna) could be aligned with full confidence.

What right sides to Maffeo (Mallorca), Nacho Vidal (Osasuna) and Iván Balliu (Rayo Vallecano).

At center behind, Aritz Elustondo (Real Sociedad), David García (Osasuna), Edgar González (Betis), Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Leandro Cabrera (Espanyol) and Vivian (Athletic)

And in the left defense zone They would be Javi Galán (Celta), Adriá Pedrosa (Espanyol) and ‘Pacha’ Espina (Cádiz).

In the center of the field, straight interiors They would be Fidel (Elche), Rodri (Betis), Dani Rodríguez (Mallorca). The midfielders: Joan Jordán (Seville), Babá (Mallorca), Comesaña (Rayo Vallecano), Lucas Torró (Osasuna), Vencedor (Athletic), Moncayola (Osasuna) and the left interiors: Danjuma (Villarreal), Luis Rioja (Alavés) and Álvaro García (Rayo Vallecano).

The offensive references They would be guaranteed with Joselu (Alavés), Boyé (Elche), Lozano (Cádiz), Kike García (Osasuna), Santi Mina (Celta) and Hugo Duro (Valencia).