PEPE
According to Spanish news outlet MARCA, Real Madrid central defender Pepe signed an agreement last Friday to extend his stay at the Bernabéu through the 2014/15 season. The deal is reported to be worth around €4 million per season, which would make him the sixth-highest-paid central defender in the world.
The Portuguese defender, and his overall health this season, has been a huge factor in keeping Real in the race for all three trophies. In many ways, Pepe is every bit as important to Real as his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, at a fraction of the price. While Madrid has several players who can put the ball in the net, probably none save San Iker are as capable as Pepe at keeping it out.
CRUYFF
The Dutch legend and Honorary President of FC Barcelona has hit out at Real Madrid for what he calls “complaining” about the fatigue of the players.
Presumably, Cruyff is referring to the Mourihno’s complaints about how the Spanish FA constantly gives Madrid short weeks in between Champions League and La Liga matches, and the fact that Madrid have asked for their La Liga match against Sporting Gijon on April 2 be moved up to April 1 ahead of their April 5 clash with Tottenham in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
To be sure it is more than fair to argue that Madrid should get no such treatment unless the English FA grants the same to Tottenham, which will likely never happen.
Cruyff wonders whether Madrid are just not used to so many games in April because they have not been in contention for the Copa del Rey or the Champions League by this time of year for several seasons.
What the smug Cruyff fails to acknowledge is that the complaints have never been about the number of games Madrid has played, but rather the inordinate number of times Madrid has been forced to play a La Liga match on a short week of rest following a Champions League match. What’s more, these complaints are completely legitimate and supported by the overwhelming evidence (which I laid out in my last post), which shows that Madrid and Valencia have been forced to play a La Liga match on shorter than customary rest four times more often than Barcelona this season.
It’s very easy for Cruyff to sit in the favored position (at least, favored by the Spanish FA’s scheduling policy) and criticize those who speak out when they are given the short end of the stick.
Despite the FA’s clear favoritism of Barca, and Mourinho’s sometimes exaggerated paranoia, and the “pundits” like Cruyff laughing off the scheduling discrepancy as mere complaints by Madrid, the only thing that matters in the end is silverware. Towards that end, Madrid and Barcelona could play each other four times between April 17th and May 4th if they both progress to the Champions League semifinals. If not, then they will still play each other twice within three days (April17 and 10) in matches which will determine who wins the Copa del Rey and who has the advantage going into the home stretch of the La Liga race. In that month, only the scorelines will tell the truth of which team reigns the game in Spain.
