Granada top La Liga after stunning start by newly-promoted side
La Liga newcomers Granada have shocked Spanish football by topping the table after 10 games but how have they done it. Adam Bate speaks to the journalists on the ground to find out...
Tuesday 29 October 2019 14:43, UK
It must be big news because they even cracked the duopoly on the cover of the Spanish newspapers on Monday.
Sport and Mundo Deportivo stuck with Barcelona. Naturally.
Marca went with Real Madrid. No surprises there.
But AS were good enough to acknowledge the biggest story of the weekend - Granada are top of La Liga for the first time in 46 years.
Granada. Newly-promoted Granada.
The 1-0 home win over Real Betis on Sunday took the Andalusian side to 20 points from their first 10 games - as many as they managed all season in their previous La Liga campaign. The only aspect of that campaign that resonated over in England was the shock appointment of Tony Adams complete with his even more shocking training ground drills.
The club was in a mess back in 2017. Owner Gianni Pozzo had sold up but this was a club that owned hardly any of its own players let alone its stadium or training ground. There was no identity. Adams named a team of 11 different nationalities for his first game in charge against Celta Vigo - and none of them were Spanish. Everything was heading one way.
Or so it seemed.
Adams, who reverted to the role of advisor to the club's new Chinese owners, had at least spoken sense when he talked of wanting "to give the club back to the fans" and that is precisely how it now feels for the Granada fans. A dozen of the squad are from Andalusia. Head coach Diego Martinez has been a revelation, guiding the club to promotion last term.
Even so, they were still up against it this season. Only two teams in La Liga have a lower salary cap. The starting line-up at the weekend cost around €7m or about a quarter as much as Betis substitute Borja Iglesias. And yet, the wins keep coming. Incredibly, victory away to Getafe on Thursday would guarantee top spot at the start of November.
For Antonio Navarro, correspondent for local newspaper Ideal, it is an unexpected turn of events that has captured the imagination of a city.
It's not just the Alhambra drawing gasps in Granada now.
"You can imagine how excited people are," Navarro tells Sky Sports.
"The mastery that Diego Martinez is demonstrating is key. Despite having no experience in the top division, he has managed to turn the team into a perfectly-oiled machine last year. They are seamless in defence and electric in attack where everyone participates.
"It is all about the collective. Many players from last season have stayed and those who have come in - important players like Yan Eteki, Maxime Gonalons and Roberto Soldado - have adapted to what Diego Martinez demands.
"Diego is a hard worker. He analyses his rivals very well and he knows where his own team's weaknesses are too."
The significance of Martinez's role in all this can hardly be overstated. A charismatic figure with a penchant for standing on the touchline wearing T-shirts emblazoned with logos from brands such as Giorgio Armani and Hugo Boss, the youngest coach in La Liga is already causing a stir. Bigger jobs are expected to follow but first there is work to do.
Victor Olivencia, a journalist based in the city with Granada Hoy, also credits him for the run that the club is enjoying right now.
"For me, there are two reasons for the success," Olivencia tells Sky Sports.
"The first is Diego Martinez. The second is that the players are playing as a real team - and that is down to Diego Martinez.
"He has convinced the players to trust him and so this is a group where the individuals are at the service of the collective. He has no famous players really but they always fight until the end. It is a team that knows its limitations but has managed to hide them through commitment, effort and a great mentality. They never give up.
"They were a very tough team last year who all defended well and always knew how to compete in any stadium. They are very good tactically. Under Martinez, there are able to read a football match and play in very different ways even with the same game."
Navarro agrees.
"They defend as a team and if Diego leaves an important player on the bench there is no fall-out because everyone accepts that the whole squad is important," he explains. "It is a phrase that is repeated by the players in interviews."
Soldado was on the bench at the weekend but the veteran has played his part in this success, responsible for one of the five headed goals that Granada have scored. No other team has more than two. In part, that is because they have scored more set-piece goals than any other side. This is a success forged on the training ground as much as the pitch.
The former Spurs striker is enjoying his twilight years as a footballer but others in this Granada team are making a name for themselves.
The 21-year-old Venezuela international Yangel Herrera, on loan from Manchester City, has been a real presence. "He is evolving to a great level here and is the master of the centre of the midfield," says Navarro.
"Alvaro Vadillo and Antonio Puertas also did a great job last year and this year they are continuing to shine in La Liga."
But it the defence that has been the bedrock of Granada's success so far.
The 2-0 home win over Barcelona has been the undoubted highlight but there have been three further victories since then in front of their own fans at Los Carmenes and they have not conceded a goal in any of them. With wins away to Espanyol and Celta Vigo too, Granada have six clean sheets from 10 games - as many as the big two combined.
Navarro is full of praise for the "spectacular performances" of German in defence but it is a team effort. "Rui Silva, perhaps the next goalkeeper of the Portugal national team, is having a great season," he adds. "He is well protected by German, Victor Diaz, Domingos Duarte and Carlos Neva - the four defenders who almost always play."
How long can they keep this up?
The odds are against them but, as Martinez puts it, this is a team that has learned to wear many suits. They are capable of sucker-punching opponents. Only Alaves have seen less of the ball this season but it does not seem to matter. They are finding ways to win.
Navarro likens them to the Joker from the Batman comics. Granada smile at their opponents and just when things look bleak, they sow chaos.
"An exceptional environment has been created," says Martinez himself but he asks that nobody forgets this is a newly-promoted team. "They must keep working hard to succeed."
Olivencia is similarly cautious.
"It is still very early and tougher times are sure to arrive but the fans are delighted with the team. The objective is to stay up and they already have half the work done."
For now though, there are not just three teams below Granada but 19 of them.
Front-page news and deservedly so.
