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Barcelona looks for three-peat Real relies on overhaul to challenge for Spanish title
Posted: Friday August 20, 1999 05:04 PM
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Flush with cash but not shiny new trophies, Real Madrid is relying on a 13 billion peseta (US$85 million) overhaul to accomplish one aim this season: beat FC Barcelona. The club drew worldwide praise a little over year ago for winning a record seventh European Champions League crown. But in the past 16 months, the powerhouse has crumbled, losing both the 1998 and 1999 league titles to Barcelona and getting eliminated in the European Champions League quarterfinals in March. Under coach John Toshack, the fourth in less than a year, Real Madrid has embarked on possibly its biggest rebuilding ever. Gone are such 1998 untouchables as Pedrag Mijatovic and Davor Suker, replaced by an array of new hopefuls including England's Steve McManaman and Frenchman Nicolas Anelka. Anelka, 20, who broke the Spanish record with an estimated US$35.5 million transfer from Arsenal, could make his debut Saturday when the white-clad team, last season's runner-up, faces Mallorca. His debut, however, could be held up by a last-minute glitch with his transfer papers. Barcelona kicks off its league defense against Zaragoza on Sunday. Other first-round games Sunday are: Valencia vs. Racing Santander, Numancia vs. Valladolid, Deportivo vs. Alaves, Oviedo vs. Celta, Atletico vs. Rayo Vallecano, Malaga vs. Espanyol and Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad. Athletic Bilbao meets Betis in the league's other game Saturday. Real's chairman Lorenzo Sanz knows Anelka is a gamble and vows there won't be any new signings for the next three years. "His price won't be even thought of if the club wins games and cups," he said at the player's presentation to reporters recently. Last week's 3-0 hammering by Celta, however, left many wondering whether the facelift would improve the Real Madrid's recent lackluster form, and prove it deserves FIFA's adjudication as the best club in history. Meanwhile, Louis Van Gaal's Barcelona, which went on a splurge last season to end with eight Dutch players, has been relatively frugal. The club has spent about 4.8 billion pesetas (US$30 million) for four new stars, most notably Ajax's former Finnish idol Jan Litmanen and 19-year-old Portuguese prodigy Simao Sabrosa, to join world-class talent such as Brazilian Rivaldo. But Van Gaal, and particularly his penchant for Dutch players over Spanish, has won few hearts at Barcelona. The two league titles have kept the critics at bay, but a third consecutive disappointment in the Europe Champions League could overwhelm him. "We're one of the favorites," Rivaldo told the sports daily Marca. "If we steer clear of the injuries, and have some of the luck that is always needed, then we have a good chance of becoming European champions." Real Madrid's crosstown neighbor Atletico, meanwhile, is hoping new Italian coach Claudio Ranieri can bring some of the fortune he had at Valencia that took that club to a fourth-place league finish and the Copa del Rey title. Although Ranieri was unable to lure Argentine Claudio Lopez away from Valencia, he has acquired two important additions for Atletico -- defender Carlos Gamarra of Paraguay and Dutch goalscorer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for US$19 million. Contrasting with the big spenders is division newcomer Numancia, which has spent a paltry US$650,000 for a virtual new full side, signing 13 players to replace most of the squad that -- after getting the club promoted -- was returned to the teams they were borrowed from.
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