I’m ignoring the big questions that surround the North London power shift and flying over to the Costa del sol, to Andalucia, to ask whether their has actually been a La Liga power shift.
This season has seen the unprecedented rise of Real Betis, a Seville based team that seemed to always be living in the shadows of its bitter, but globally recognised rivals Sevilla CF.
In my view, the power has certainly shifted. Sevilla are stuck on 35 pts in 10th whilst Pepe Mel’s drilled Betis team lay in one of the craved Europe spots in 7th, a mere 3 points off Malaga who are sitting in 4th spot.
So why has this shift occurred? Where Sevilla are having serious troubles financially, Betis are thriving on a low budget team with key players on loan.
This includes players from the likes of Parma, in the form of classy winger Pavon and Costa Rica international Joel Campbell. This may be considered a lapse of judgement, having two of your best players earmarked for another club, come the end of the season, but who’s to say they can’t replace them or even upgrade come the summer? After all, they may receive a surge of cash as a result of finishing in the spots bound for Europe.
Having a successful loan plan has been critical in Pepe Mal’s side reaching this peak in their game, and it hasn’t helped Sevilla that due to their rocky financial situation they have had to sell some of their best in recent times.
However Sevilla certainly have the squad to change things around with the likes of spaniards Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas, Croat Ivan Rakic, and Chilean Medel all fully capped internationals who are considered to be at the very peak of their playing careers. Surely at the end of the day it comes down to poor management and a lack of commitment.
However, this shift in power could lead to greater things and a complete mismatch in who controls La Liga, as we have seen with Diego Simeone’s dominance over Madrid rivals Real. I’m asking are Barca next on the agenda? There’s certainly a long way to go until that point, but only time will tell.
What’s your take? Are Real Betis now a better side than Sevilla?
Twitter @RobinVanKloezej
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