Atletico Madrid favourites, Gareth Bale the 'present' of Real Madrid and Luis Suarez going nowhere, says Guillem Balague
Monday 31 October 2016 16:14, UK
In his latest Sky Sports column, Guillem Balague looks at Atletico Madrid's La Liga title chances, as well as Gareth Bale's new Real Madrid contract and speculation linking Manchester United with Luis Suarez.
The only team that seems to be doing everything right is Atletico Madrid. They shoot more than last season, score more than last season, and tactically they are more versatile. They are getting players scoring when regular goalscorers don't do it. Kevin Gameiro or Yannick Carrasco, two cases in hand.
The decisions taken by Diego Simeone also tend to work, for instance in the second-half against Malaga the team were 3-2 up but playing with 10 men. He decided to put Carrasco on his own up front, and asked him to run as much as possible, and that's how the third goal came; from a pass from Angel Correa, who was asked himself by Simeone to move to the left side of the attack. It all worked.
Movements are working, tactics are working, the players are responding to the challenges, the team attacks more than they used to but still defend as well as they did, there are so many things they are doing well.
They have consistency, they have alternatives, and in my eyes they are favourites to win the league.
I know it's early, but they will compete until the last minute. Then, of course, the outcome will depend on many things. They have one superstar in Antoine Greizmann and the rest are hard workers, or players improving (especially Carrasco), but with quality and opportunity to grow, you can still win this league.
Real Madrid won against Alaves, even though they fell asleep for the first few minutes of the game, as they have done so often this season. But because they have the quality of players up front, they came through.
Barcelona didn't play well against Granada, almost like they knew they were going to win anyway. For Barcelona to play well, you need to build from the back well, link the midfield well, and of course the absences of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta makes it more difficult. But they won, albeit unconvincingly.
Bale is the Real focus
Gareth Bale signed his contract 11 or so days ago, and negotiations began in February, and now the player feels he got everything he wanted from the negotiations.
All the messages that came from the club were very, very clear, as they have been from the moment of his arrival at the club. He is the present of Real Madrid, not the future, the present.
They want him to stay there for the best years of his life, which he has accepted, because it was a dream of his also.
The club feel at the end of the season he will be seen as the main player at Real Madrid. It doesn't matter how much Ronaldo dislikes the idea, or fights against the concept of being moved away from the focal point of the team.
Little by little you are going to see Gareth Bale becoming the leading light of the team, even though at the moment the lack of consistency, in terms of rotation and injuries, means that individually players have not been able to reach the level they think they can.
Quite clearly the target this season is the league title, for everybody. The club have put that to Zinedine Zidane, but they need a Gareth Bale who keeps improving. Saying that, out of all of the stars, he is the most-improved player this season compared to last.
I think we are about to see a more settled Gareth Bale in terms of lifestyle. He feels happier than ever and it was his priority to stay, even though each and every summer Manchester United have approached him to see if he'd consider moving.
Great news for La Liga, who keep another superstar.
Suarez to Manchester United? No chance
I've seen rumours in the British press about Manchester United preparing a £135m bid for Luis Suarez.
The dream of Luis Suarez was to come to Barcelona. He has no intention whatsoever of leaving Barcelona anytime soon.
It's where he wants to end his career as a top athlete. Other clubs may try it, of course, but it would be futile.
Guillem answers YOUR questions...
Went to the Calderon Saturday! Will the move to the new stadium take away the advantage they get a la Arsenal with Highbury? Richard Kosmala @superkos
Who knows what the reaction will be. I know what you're trying to say about the Calderon, it's a stadium that is on top of the players, but it's an old stadium, and as an experience it's not the greatest.
I don't see much change. The new stadium has also got the idea of having all the feelings of the fans that will transfer to the players, which was crucial for Atletico Madrid.
They have to move to the next space and stage, they have come out from the dark ages of having a chairman that put them in a lot of financial difficulty, and they have come out with honours.
It's good to see them moving on, and becoming challengers in years to come.
Will Real Madrid let Zidane rebuild the squad once the transfer ban ends? Jamie Ireland @jireland94
Real Madrid think they have an opportunity of reducing the ban. I don't know where that optimism comes from, but they think they can reduce it to just one window.
We'll see about that, but in any case, we'll see if Zidane is still in charge, because we know how Real Madrid devours coaches, and not everybody is convinced that he is the manager for Real in the long term.
He did so well in the short term, in short-term competitions, and he has all the ingredients he needs to challenge for the league, but we'll see if he does it.
When will Spain start collective bargaining for TV revenue? Vusumuzi Khuphe @vusumuzi_khuphe
In a way it has been done. Basically Real Madrid and Barcelona kept the same money, and everybody else got more, and it starts this season, which is good news.
What do you think is responsible for Barca's recent injury problems? Omo Ogidan @IamBaba2nde
Luis Enrique says he is not a magician, and that they are trying all the prevention, giving as much information about nutrition as they can, looking after every single aspect of the players performance.
There is a lot of work being done, but they still get injuries. So if he cannot answer that, nobody can!
