Chapter 374 The Basque Country rises and Alavés upgrades!

However, Celta relied too much on signings at that time. It can be said that they were the first La Liga club to field a lineup without Spaniards. After participating in the Champions League in the 2003-2004 season, they were suddenly relegated from the league. This is unprecedented in Spain and will surely never happen again.

Although they returned to La Liga in the following season and entered the European war in the 2005-2006 season, they were relegated in the same year as participating in the UEFA Cup, which finally exhausted the team's confidence.

The current chairman Mourinho took over Celta in the relegation season. It was also from that time that Celta really began to pay attention to its talent training.

In addition to Aspas, goalkeeper Alvarez, and captain Hugo Mario, who are currently playing for the team, there are also outstanding young players like Rodrigo (currently playing for Valencia, played for Celta for four years before joining the Real Madrid youth team at the age of 18), Denis Suarez (currently playing for Barcelona), Mina (currently playing for Valencia), and Jota (currently playing for Eibar) are all the results of Celta's youth training.

Their own talent training, coupled with the short stay of the current Barcelona coach Enrique three years ago, also opened up the domestic talent introduction channel from Barcelona to Vigo for the team.

Although Celta's midfield is still dominated by foreigners, the overall structure of the team is much healthier than it was ten years ago.

This is especially important for a team that has been relegated twice in the European season.

After one of the main strikers, Nolito, left for Manchester City, Celta, as one of the teams with the least personnel loss in La Liga this season, still maintains a competitive lineup. In the same place, they will not fall for the third time.

Argentine coach Berizzo was once a witness and participant in Celta's glorious era. He came to the team at the end of his career in 2001, and helped the team reach the King's Cup final, participate in the Champions League, and return to La Liga the year after relegation. After that, he chose to hang up his boots in Cadiz, the "Moon Bay" of Andalusia.

His coaching career began as a deputy to the famous coach "Madman" Bielsa (during the coaching of the Chilean national team). It can be said that Berizzo's coaching style is deeply influenced by Bielsa.

After his success in the Chilean club Osiés, he took over the Celta left by the current coach Enrique, and left them with a deep mark of focusing on offense and neglecting defense.

Although Celta suffered repeated defeats last season, the team was always able to tear open gaps in the opponent's defense line, and finally it was only one step away from entering the Champions League.

Celta has been looking for experienced goalkeepers to join in the transfer market this summer. Although two of the three goalkeepers in the team are well-known family members, they are still somewhat incapable of dealing with the Europa League and domestic competitions.

The main player Alvarez is the oldest, but he only kept a clean sheet 22 times in 93 La Liga games, and only kept a clean sheet in 8 games out of 31 appearances last season.

The second goalkeeper Ruben Blanco is the youngest among the three. Although he experienced the 1-7 defeat to Real Madrid away last season, he performed much more steadily than Alvarez in the remaining 7 games.

The injury of former Barcelona player Fontas last season led to the promotion of his junior Sergi Gomez, who also came from Barcelona's youth training. Gomez and Cabral are the team's first choice as central defenders.

However, compared with the offense, Celta's defensive ability is not very reassuring, just like their goalkeeper. After Fontas was exempted from the game, Celta even promoted Diego Allende, who was only 17 years old, and David Goard, who was 20 years old, from the echelon last year to supplement the central defender substitutes.

In the new season, the team introduced their main central defender Roncaglia from Serie A Fiorentina, and retained David Costas who returned from Mallorca on loan. They hope to match a pair of central defenders who are more stable in actual combat, and also make sufficient strategic reserves for the new season's European war, King's Cup, and league three-line battles.

Celta's full-backs are all built by their own youth training.

Jonny Castello and captain Ugo Mario, who are not yet 25 years old, are separated on the left and right sides. The two participated in a total of 12 goals last season, and their assist ability is very good. While there is Planas, who has strong defensive ability, as a rotation on the left, Celta also bought Alvaro Lemos, who played for Lugo in the Spanish Second Division last season, on the right in the summer window. Together with Roncaglia, who can also play on the right, these players will fight in Celta's multiple fronts in the new season at the full-back position.

The contract with midfielder Pablo Hernandez was renewed until 2021, showing the team's attention to the Chilean midfielder.

Last season, he rushed forward in the three-man midfield, connecting and organizing the offense, and was the absolute core of Celta's midfield. The competition for the defensive midfielder position in the new season is still fierce. Augusto Fernandez was recruited by Atletico Madrid in the winter window last season due to his excellent performance. The partner of Danish international Voss was wavering between the defensive Serbian Radoha and the offensive Chilean Diaz.

In the new season, Celta also promoted Pape and Borja Fernandez from the second team. Both of them appeared in the league last year. As reserves, the team can ensure that there is no shortage of personnel in multi-line operations or sudden accidents.

Celta, whose main tactics are 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, relies heavily on the performance of wingers in offense. The departure of Nolito, who mainly appeared on the left last season, led to the joining of Naranjo and Sisto.

It should be noted that Celta is not a traditional winger tactic with two wings flying together. Nolito and Aspas at the center position support each other, and the intelligence international Orellana on the other side also plays a supporting role. But the main job is to "feed bread" to Aspas and Nolito.

The changes in personnel in the new season will inevitably lead to changes in the offensive firepower configuration of the forwards.

Last season, it was difficult for the substitutes, whether it was young player Dragic or Bowu, who was still on the injury list, to enter the starting lineup. The newly signed Naranjo was more suitable for the center position and was not the first choice on the wing.

In this way, Sisto or Bangada, two right-footers with better explosive power and physical fitness, will inevitably appear in Nolito's position.

As for Joseph Sene, who came from Real Madrid's youth training, he may still be relatively marginalized in the team. Even in the case of multi-line combat, he will not get much playing time.

Last season, the two strikers Aspas and Guidetti performed well enough in the domestic arena. Not only did they score 30 goals together, they also provided 6 direct assists.

With such an efficient starting and bench configuration, if there is no need to compete in the Europa League, I am afraid that Celta will not still be looking to poach a forward to enrich its lineup in the summer window.

Due to the promotion of Alaves, the Basque Country will welcome four La Liga teams in the new season, tying Andalusia.

In fact, as early as the early days of La Liga (the 1930s), the Basque Country, as the earliest region in Spain to be exposed to modern football, once had 4 teams in La Liga with only 10 teams (Real Sociedad-Gipuzcoa) , Real United - Guipuzcoa, Athletic Bilbao - Biscay, Getgio Arenas - Vizcaya), and in the 1930/31 season with Alaves (Alava) The upgrade once reached five teams.

However, time flies, and Getjo Arenas and Real United later sank into the lower leagues and never returned to La Liga.

Until the miraculous promotion of Eibar (Bizcay, which, like Getgio Arenas, is near Bilbao), for a long time the Basque Country was just Real Sociedad and Bilbao, and a few blips. of Araves.

Alaves means Arava people. This club is located in Victoria, the capital of the Basque Country.

Although Victoria is the second largest city under the jurisdiction of the autonomous region, the population of the province of Álava where it is located is much lower than that of Biscay and Guipuzcoa. This is not surprising. Basque clubs like to recruit talents nearby. , it is basically difficult for Alaves’ youth training to send any talents to the first team.

After reaching La Liga twice in the 1930s and 1950s, Alaves did not stay long before falling all the way to the third level. It even dropped to the fourth level in 1987. It took 10 years for Alaves to bottom out and rebound. .

They returned to La Liga in the 1998-1999 season and began an impressive journey.

The 5-3-2 tactics created by coach Mane helped the team finish sixth in the league the following year, and Alaves entered the European competition for the first time.

In the UEFA Cup in the 2000-2001 season, although Liverpool became the champion in the finals and won five crowns that season, the experience of reaching the finals was also magical (defeating Inter Milan 5-2, knocking out Rayo Vallecano 4-1, Sweeping Kaiserslautern 9-1), not to mention losing with a golden goal after a 4-4 score with Liverpool.

The experience of reaching the UEFA Cup again in the 2002-2003 season dragged down the team. The league has been hovering in the middle and lower reaches from the beginning. Finally, the weak lineup was overwhelmed by multi-front operations, and it was difficult to return to the European competition. The status was relegated to the second division (similar to Betis three years ago).

However, Alaves, whose personnel retention was relatively neat, reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey the year they were relegated to the second division (they were eliminated by Real Zaragoza, who eventually won the championship, on fewer away goals), and returned to the semi-finals in the 2004-2005 season. Return to La Liga.

At that time, Alaves was acquired by Ukrainian businessman Dittman and became a foreign-owned team.

However, the professionalism of the boss was worrying. The team not only bought and sold heavily, but also changed 4 head coaches during the season. The result was a 1-point disadvantage and was relegated to the second division after Racing Santander and Huelva.

In the following two years, under the rule of the Ukrainians, Alaves went from bad to worse, relegating themselves to the Second Division every year. Finally, in the 2008-2009 season when Dittman left, they were relegated to Group B (the third level) of the Second Division.

After four years of dormancy in Group B of Segunda División, Alaves returned to Segunda División B.

The first two years were somewhat difficult, but last season, under the leadership of Bordalas, the team won the championship and returned to La Liga.

After the upgrade, the team has upgraded its coach and lineup.

Now Alaves has changed more than half of the team compared to last season. If the team cannot quickly get into shape in the new season, I am afraid that a flash in the pan will happen to Alaves again.

If a new goalkeeper is not introduced, Alaves may raise the 20-year-old Cosada from the B team to partner the team's third goalkeeper.

Last season's backup goalkeeper Pau Torres moved to Real Valladolid in the Spanish Second Division on a free transfer, and the team loaned Ortola from Barcelona B to fill his vacancy.

Ortola was the main goalkeeper of Barcelona's B team last season, conceding 32 goals in 34 appearances and keeping no opponents in 16 games. However, he still lacks first-team experience.

Pacheco, Alaves' main goalkeeper and the hero of last season's promotion, came from Real Madrid's B team. After serving as a starter for Real Madrid's B team in the 2013-2014 season, he entered the first team but only played once in the Copa del Rey. .

But after moving to Alaves, he quickly established his main position.

Alaves sent 36-year-old center back Pellegrin to Elche in the summer window, while backup center back Borda moved to Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian League.

Another main center back, LaGuardia, stayed on the team. He only played 3 La Liga games when he was 20 years old.

Alaves' three new central defenders are designed to make up for the lack of experience in La Liga at this position: 31-year-old Alexis has played for Valencia, Sevilla, and Getafe for many years.

Last season, he played as a substitute for Beşiktaş in the Turkish Super League; both Fedal and Pantic were recruited from La Liga teams. The 191CM Moroccan international Fedal played the main role in the relegated Getafe last season. Pantic was loaned to Eibar by Villarreal and became a rotation player at center back.

Judging from the performance in the preseason, Fedal may form a double high defender combination with Alexis, while Pantic may rotate on the wing.

Last season's two main full-backs, Raul Garcia and Femonia, stayed with the team. The substitute left-back Estrada was released by the team, and the substitute right-back veteran Carpiro transferred to Cadiz in the second division.

Alaves signed defensive versatile Bigare from relegated Getafe, and loaned 19-year-old French teenager Theo Hernandez from Atletico Madrid.

Raul Garcia and Femonia both scored five goals for the team last season and are both very offensive.

However, with the arrival of new coach Pellegrino, the team's tactics may change. It is not easy to say who of the four young people can compete for the chance to start in La Liga.

The magnitude of Alaves' midfield replacement is unique among the teams participating in La Liga this season.

In addition to the captain Manu Garcia, a native of Victoria, and the teenager Yamas from Alaves' youth training, the remaining main player Sergio Mora (free transfer to the Catholic University of Murcia in the second division) and substitute David -Torres (free transfer to Alcoyano, Group B of the Spanish Second Division), substitute Hernan Bernardello (free transfer to Montreal Impact of the MLS), substitute Gagobo Beobide (cancellation of contract) four People leave the team.

Alaves has loaned two young players in their early 20s from Real Madrid and Levante respectively: Camarasa and Marcos Llorente. Compared with the other two new players, their experience in top leagues is obviously insufficient.

The Serbian Kristic (transferred from Sampdoria) and the defensive midfielder Daniel Torres introduced from the Colombian Medellin Independiente team (costing Alaves 3.2 million euros), these two foreign players are likely to serve as Pellet in the new season. Greenough's first choice of tactics.

Alaves sent away a number of wide players in the summer window, including Ijac Saenz (left winger, free transfer to West Second Division Tenerife), Facundo (left winger, free transfer) Four players, including the Catholic University of Murcia (Second Division), Dani Aballo (cancelled his contract) and Dani Pacheco (returned to Betis on loan) left the team.

The two new signings are on loan, Edgar Mendes from Granada and Ibay Gomez from Athletic Bilbao. In the past two seasons, due to injuries and condition, , He didn’t get many game opportunities, but he still has rich experience in La Liga.

Last season, Alaves' forward line was played by veteran Togilo, who transferred from Athletic Bilbao, as a single arrow. High forward David Barreiro served as a substitute. The other substitute forward was Yuri (already retired). Free transfer to Cordoba, Segunda División).

Pellegrino may tend to use two forwards in the new season, so Alaves introduced three centers in the summer window, plus Daniel Iguez, who returned from Guadalajara's loan in Group B of La Liga Yas, the team's forward competition will be very fierce.

Among the three new signings, Cristian Santos, who started his career at Banfield, is a Venezuelan international. He scored 18 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie Nijmegen last season.

Ruben Soberino belongs to Manchester City. He played on loan at Girona, which participated in the promotion play-offs last season, but only had a brief flash in the elimination of Cordoba.

Finally, Davison is the only new player with La Liga experience. He made his debut in the Portuguese Super League Benfica and performed well with the relegated team Levante last season.

As the second club to receive the royal title (the first being Deportivo La Coruña), this team from San Sebastian has not been alienated from the central government due to ethnic issues from the beginning.

Therefore, the difference between Real Sociedad and Bilbao is not in the treatment of non-Basque players. In fact, until 1998, the two clubs adhered to the principle that only Basque players could play, and the Basque derby was actually quite harmonious.

In the 1980s, Real Sociedad won consecutive La Liga championships with its local team. However, their short-term rise at the beginning of this century was due to the outstanding performance of foreign players-Serbian Kovacevic and Turkish Nihat. In the 2002-2003 season, Real Madrid's Galacticos not only failed to win Real Sociedad at home, but also hit the wall 2-4 as a guest at San Sebastian. In the final game, they defeated Athletic Bilbao and beat Real Sociedad with a two-point advantage. Win the championship.

At that time, Real Sociedad also had local talents like Xavi Alonso, but it is undeniable that a more open recruitment strategy than Bilbao promoted the improvement of the team. After all, from Gipuzcoa (where Real Sociedad is located) Province, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region), the proportion of talents coming out is much lower than that of Biscay (the province where Bilbao is located, which belongs to the Basque Autonomous Region).