T
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D
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N CUPFINAL
Inonlythesecond
CopadelRey finalnot
involvingBarcelona
orRealMadridsince
2010 ,RealBetisbeat
Valenciaina penalty
shootoutinSeville.It
markedLos Beticos’
first CopadelRey
victory since 2005
andonlythefourth
majortrophyinthe
club’s history.
EUROPEAN
QUALIFIERS
Barcelona,Sevilla
andAtleticoMadrid
clinched theother
three Champions
Leaguespots,with
BetisandReal
Sociedadqualifying
fortheEuropaLeague.
ChampionsLeague
semi-finalists
Villarrealearneda
spotintheEuropa
ConferenceLeague.
RELEGATEDAND
PROMOTEDTEAMS
Allthreeof 20 20-21’s
newly-promotedteams
managedtosurvive
relegation,with
Alaves,Levanteand
Granadadropping
downa division.Real
Valladolidmakean
immediatereturnto
LaLiga in 2022-23,
alongsideAlmeria,with
theplay-off winners
still to be decided.
PLAYEROF
THESEASON
Whoelse?Pichichi
winnerKarimBenzema
recordeda newpersonal
bestforgoalsscoredin
a singleseason.Healso
becamethe fifthplayer
tonetover 40 goalsin
onecampaignforReal
Madridafter AlfredoDi
Stefano,FerencPuskas,
HugoSanchezand
CristianoRonaldo.
“Karim,Ballond’Or”,werethechants
fromtheRealMadridsupportersinside
theSantiagoBernabeu,withthestriker
applaudinginresponse.He’djust scored
whatwouldturn outtobethewinner
against AthleticBilbaotoputhisside
seven pointsclearatthetopofLaLiga.
Thedate wasDecember1, 2021 ;
twodaysearlierLionelMessihadbeen
awardedhisseventhBallond’Or,and
thechants weren’ta celebrationbut
anactofdefiance.A protestagainsta
resulttheydeemedunjust.The France
forwardhadjust beeninvolvedinhis
19 thgoalfromhis 14 thleaguegame
ofthe season.Inthe eyes of thefans,
thebestfootballeronthe planetwas
standingin frontofthem.
KarimBenzemainspiresLosBlancosto
arecord-extending 35 thleaguecrown
RealMadrid
secure 35 th
LaLigatitle
RealMadrid,lookingtomake up
fortheirtrophyless 20 20-21 season
underthe (somewhat)newleadership
ofCarloAncelotti,werealready
steamrollingtheirwaytowards
thetitlebythe winterbreak.
TheItalianmanager, whoguidedthe
clubtotheirtenthChampionsLeague
- theelusive “LaDecima” – in 2 014 ,
hadagreedtoa secondspellafter
ZinedineZidaneresignedinMay,
althoughtheformerEvertoncoach
wasn’tMadridpresidentFlorentino
Perez’sfirstchoice.Infact,he probably
wasn’tevenhissecond,third or fourth,
notthatthe businessmanwouldlikely
admittothatanymore.
Expectationsatthe startofthe
seasonweretochallengefor theleague
titleand,otherthanmatchdaythree,
Ancelotti’s sideremained topofthe
tablethroughouttheentire campaign.
After thefinal-daydramaof
2020 -21,thisseason’sLaLiga title
racehasbeencomparativelytame.
That’snottosayit’s beenboring.There
havebeenmoments whenRealMadrid
fansweremadetoshudder;losingto
Espanyol in weekeight,Getafeinweek
19 , drawingwith relegationstrugglers
Elcheinweek21,andsufferingthat
humiliating4-0homedefeatto
Barcelonainweek29.
Yet eachofthosesetbacksproduced
a response.After theEspanyoldefeat
theywon 2 -1attheNouCampintheir
verynextleaguegame;theywentmore
thantwomonthsunbeatenafter the
Getafe defeat,andafter theBarcelona
thrashingtheywon everygameinApril.
Every timethedoorwas slightlyopened
fortheirrivalstopursue them, it was
quicklyslammedshutagain.
Somecriticssuggest RealMadrid
played toodeep,over-reliedon
Benzemaor simplybenefittedfrom
theirflailingtitlerivals’inconsistency.
Indeed,the statsdoreveala team
lininguptwo-and-a-halfmetres deeper
thanlastseason.But Realalsomade
morepasses persequencethanany
teaminLaLiga, tookthemostshots
andscoredthe most goals.
40 WORLDSOCCER
Lethal...KarimBenzemaandViniciusJunior
assistedeachotherfor11goalscombined
Bumps...Carlo
Ancelottiis
thrownintothe
airbyhisplayers
TEAMOFTHESEASON
MarcosAcuna
(Sevilla)
(RDavidealMAlabaadrid)
SergioCanales
(RealBetis)
ViniciusJunior
(ReaMadrid)
EderMilitao
(RealMadrid)
LukaModric
(Realadrid)
KarimBenzema
(aMadrid)
JuanFoyth
(Villarreal)
CarlosSoler
(Valencia)
NabilFekir
(RelBetis)
ThibautCourtois
(ReMadrid)
JAREDTINSLAY
SPAIN
