GOING UP
Eibar look to have turned a real corner
in their bid to avoid being dragged into
a relegation battle, with a return to
basics in 2020.
Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side have
rediscovered their grit in recent weeks,
with just one defeat between the turn of
the year and the start of February, and
an impressive 2-0 victory at home to
Atletico Madrid boosting their survival
bid.GOING DOWN
Real Betis’ drive for European football
in 2020-21 is losing momentum, as a run
of bad form at the start of the year has
pushed them into mid table.
Goals have been an issue for Rubi’s side,
with summer signings Borja Iglesias and
Nabil Fekir struggling to hit form, and
veteran captain Joaquin continuing to
carry a sizeable goal scoring burden.GOING UP
GOING DOWN
Eibarboss Pablo Machin in another move that
irked fans due to his connections with their
Catalan rivals. And it proved to be an even
worse move that the promotion of Gallego
as Machin failed to win a league game in
over two months before Yansheng showed
him the door at the RCDE Stadium.
With the team seemingly already doomed
to relegation the club opted for a more left
field appointment, by bringing in former
Alaves boss Abelardo Fernandez. This once
again showed a disregard for awareness
of fan partisanship, given his eight-year
playing career with arch rivals Barcelona.
However with the club apparently in last
chance saloon Abelardo was backed with
a transfer budget of over €50m in January,
to bring in Raul de Tomas, Adrian Embarba
and Leandro Cabrera in an SOS call for their
season.
Abelardo has asked for patience with his
new players, but with time running out, and
a tough run of games coming up, he needs
a quick turnaround.
The Europa League proved to be a
distraction for fans, and a boost for Gallego
and Machin, but now Abelardo must
navigate through a difficult last 32 tie with
Wolves while not jeopardising their battle
against relegation to the Segunda Division
between now and the end of the season.
THE UGLY
The January transfer market can be
fraught with pitfalls for players, clubs and
coaches, as bargains are searched for
across European football. One of the main
soap operas of the 2020 window was
Edinson Cavani’s attempts to leave Ligue
1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and join
Atletico Madrid.
The Uruguay international has played a bit
part role for Thomas Tuchel’s side so far this
season, and had made clear his desire to
move on from the Parc de Princes. Atletico
signalled their intention to sign the former
Napoli man, but were initially adverse to
the idea of a €10m fee for a player who
only has six months to run on his contract
in Paris.
However after some initial wrangling, Los
Rojiblancos agreed the fee and Cavani
looked to set for his move. But there was
to be further stumbling blocks along the
way, as disagreements around wages and a
signing on fee ultimately derailed the move
and left Cavani stranded in No Man’s Land.
This has since developed into a ferocious
war of words between PSG, Atletico
and Cavani’s agent and brother Walter
Fernando Guglielmone. Atletico president
Enrique Cerezo has accused Guglielmone of
purposely blocking the move, amid rumours
that his commission fee was lower than
expected.
Guglielmone has reacted angrily to Cerezo’s
comments, stating that a move to Atletico
was a ‘dream’ for his brother, and if the deal
was money-motivated he would have joined
a Premier League club. He added that talk
of a last-minute breakdown is an excuse
from Atletico’s side, indicating that they
simply failed to match PSG’s quoted figure.
The end result is likely to see Cavani see out
his time in Paris on the bench but a summer
move to Atletico now seems unlikely, with
Cerezo loath to change his stance on the
situation.TOP OPPOSITE PAGE:
Jose Bordalas
BOTTOM RIGHT
OPPOSITE PAGE:
Abelardo
BELOW:
Edinson CavaniDID^ YOU^ KNOW?
The entire^ "Cavani^ Transfer"^ has^
developed^ into^ a^ ferocious^ war^ of^ words^
between^ PSG,^ Atletico^ and^ Cavani’s^
agent and brother^ Walter^ Fernando^
Guglielmone.Real Betis