Although Real Madrid sit atop La Liga with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid not too far behind, much of the talk at the beginning of this campaign has centred around the supposed minnows in the Spanish top flight. Rightly so.
Until the past weekend’s fixtures, Las Palmas were confidently leading the way and the manner of their last-gasp defeat at Sevilla will have upset manager Quique Setien, who had again marshalled his troops superbly.
Kevin-Prince Boateng has garnered most of the column inches for the Canary Islanders but Roque Mesa has been their conductor, expertly fusing together the defensive and attacking aspects of Setien’s ideology.
The team have always had a semi-defensive core, but now that they’ve added genuine talent as an attacking outlet, in three game weeks so far it can already be acknowledged just how difficult this side will be to break down.
Ditto Alaves.
Up from the Segunda Division this season, they’ve already proved that their point at Atletico was no fluke.
On that occasion they’d held out until the 93rd minute before going behind, yet Mauricio Pellegrino’s side came straight out of the traps and took a share of the spoils with a 95th minute equaliser.
That should’ve been enough for Barcelona to sit up and take notice because complacency can be the only reason that the Basques were allowed to storm the Camp Nou ramparts and depart with all three points.
Like Las Palmas they were full value for the win too, playing attractive attacking football allied to a phenomenal work ethic. Even the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Iniesta found they were moribund against Alaves’ never-say-die game plan.
The third team in this unique hat-trick is another promoted side, Leganes.
Unlucky to lose against Sporting Gijon last time out, they’ve more than proved they’re ready for the big time with an incredible opening day away victory at Celta Vigo — one of the most difficult trips on the calendar — and a goalless home draw against Atletico.
Whether this is a temporary blip to some of the big guns is largely missing the point.
For too long now, teams have lost a game before they even step onto the pitch against the supposed best teams.
What this last few weeks has shown is that, with the right mentality prior to the match and the right application during it, anything is possible.
It might also put paid to the notion that this is a two-team league from start to finish.
Here’s hoping…
— The author is an expert on Spanish football
