Perhaps with time, Ernesto Valverde and his team sealing a first unbeaten Spanish league title since 1932 will be more valuedThe league came to a close at both ends of Riazor, two human circles forming. Deportivo de La Coruña’s players joined together, arms around each other, for a few final words offered quietly and sadly in the rain. As they broke, there were some whistles and they walked slowly towards the tunnel and the second division, relegated again. The manager, their third this season, told them to go with their heads held high, insisting “we’re not angry, we’re unhappy”, but most looked down as they left, eyes lost. In the stands above, there were tears and reproach. Do you understand...
Spartak Trnava’s workaholic coach discusses fleeing Serbia as a child, being compared to Pep Guardiola and learning his craft in West Sussex’s amateur leaguesAfter his Spartak Trnava side beat Slovan Bratislava 1-0 in a game that may very well have decided the destination of Slovakia’s league championship three weeks ago, Spartak’s 35-year-old British coach climbed on top of his dugout and celebrated wildly with the fans.With five games left until the end of the season and a healthy lead at the top of the table, Spartak Trnava are close to their first league title since 1973, back when Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia. The curiously named Nestor El Maestro – and we will come to that name later – has...
Atlético Madrid were on the ropes but there was no knockout blow at the EmiratesIt is a lovely thought, Arsène Wenger burnishing his legacy by collecting the first European trophy of his career in Lyon next month, and for a while Arsenal’s manager could dream about that perfect send-off. Atlético Madrid were on the ropes, Diego Simeone was growling in the stands and for once it seemed that Wenger was not going to regret talking about a team with the potential to win the Europa League before this match.Yet the awkward truth for Arsenal’s eternal optimist is that the best teams show no mercy when the odds are stacked so heavily in their favour. This was an occasion that ought...
La Liga has always appealed more in the Americas than in Asia but is desperate to change that and is looking at playing league games outside SpainSpanish teams may have been knocking English teams out of Europe this season but challenging the Premier League in Asia is a much tougher prospect. La Liga has talked before of making inroads in the east and, like a young Rocky Balboa, it is ready to do whatever it takes to knock the grizzled No 1 off its perch.Despite the PR overdrive it will be tough for a league that has always appealed more in the Americas than Asia but, with varied strategies that do not depend on the tired route‑one tactic of sending glamour teams...
Max and co talk Manchester City’s title win, Manchester United’s latest slip-up, the pre- and post-Pardew bounces, big Bayern news and FerrarisRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin and the Racing Post’s Mark Langdon to take a look back at the weekend in which Manchester City finally, formally, won the Premier League, which was effectively sewn up in October. Continue reading...