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Spanish football : Spanish Primera Division 2007/2008 season preview

First crown in four seasons

Real Madrid won their 30th Spanish league title on the final day of the 2007/08 season. Coach Fabio Capello's team came from behind to beat Mallorca 3-1 and beat rivals Barcelona by virtue of a superior head-to-head record. Barcelona's 5-1 triumph at Gimnastic Tarragona was not enough for the title. Real Sociedad dropped out of the top flight for the first time in 40 years after drawing 3-3 at Valencia. Celta Vigo also joined already-relegated Gimnastic Tarragona despite a 2-1 home victory over Getafe in the final round. Here is a short summary of the 2006/07 Primera Division campaign:

Real Madrid have fired coach Fabio Capello at the end of June despite the Italian guiding the club to their first Spanish league crown in four years. It is the second time the 61-year-old has left Real soon after lifting the title, but in 1997 he decided to leave of his own volition and return to Milan. Capello had two years left on his contract.

teamstitles2002/032003/042004/052005/062006/07
Real Madrid3014221
Barcelona1862112
Atletico M.911711107
Athletic B.87581217
Valencia651734
Deportivo1339813
Betis18941416
Sevilla1106653
Villarreal-158375
Osasuna-121315414
Mallorca-911171312
Espanyol-171651511
Racing-1617161710
Zaragoza--1212116
Getafe---1399
Levante---18-15
Recreativo-18---8
Valladolid-1318---
Murcia--20---
Almeria------

This table shows the overall number of titles since 1929, for each club in Spanish Primera Division and their league standings in the last five seasons.

Schuster returns to Real

German coach Bernd Schuster has been named as Fabio Capello's replacement. He has agreed a two-year deal to coach Real Madrid. Schuster, who has coached Getafe for the last two seasons, steered the modest side to consecutive ninth-placed finishes in the Primera Division and to a first final of the King's Cup, where they lost 1-0 to Sevilla. The 47-year-old confirmed that he had bought himself out of his contract with Getafe by paying a compensation fee of €480,000, thus allowing him to make the switch. Schuster, a former Germany defender, had long been linked with a return to Real Madrid where he made 62 appearances as a player.

This page is introduction to the 2007/2008 Spanish Primera Division season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Spain page.

Getafe have appointed former Denmark international Michael Laudrup as their coach in place of Bernd Schuster. The 43-year-old has agreed a two-year contract with the Spanish club, who will be playing in the UEFA Cup this season. Last June Laudrup stepped down at Brondby after four years at the helm, his first job as club coach having previously been an assistant to Morten Olsen with the national team.

#teampoints g.dif. win-draw-loss
1Real Madrid762623-7-8 (38)
2Barcelona764522-10-6 (38)
3Sevilla712921-8-9 (38)
4Valencia661520-6-12 (38)
5Villarreal62418-8-12 (38)
6Zaragoza601216-12-10 (38)
7Atletico Madrid60717-9-12 (38)
8Recreativo54215-9-14 (38)
9Getafe52614-10-14 (38)
10Racing50-612-14-12 (38)
11Espanyol49-712-13-13 (38)
12Mallorca49-614-7-17 (38)
13Deportivo47-1312-11-15 (38)
14Osasuna46213-7-18 (38)
15Levante42-1610-12-16 (38)
16Betis40-138-16-14 (38)
17Athletic B.40-1810-10-18 (38)
18Celta39-1910-9-19 (38)
19Real Sociedad35-158-11-19 (38)
20Gimnastic28-357-7-24 (38)

This table displays Spanish Primera league standings for season 2006/2007.

New coaches

Joaquin Caparros, 51, has been named as the new coach at Athletic Bilbao. Despite having a year left to run on his contract, Caparros left Deportivo La Coruna after his team finished 13th in the Primera Division last season. He repleaces Josi Manuel Esnal, who has decided to step down a day after steering Athletic to survival in the Spanish top flight. They finished a point above the relegation zone following a 2-0 home victory over Levante on the final day of the 2006/07 campaign. Caparros’ former club Deportivo have appointed Miguel Angel Lotina as their new coach. Lotina also stepped down as Real Sociedad boss after the Basque side were relegated from the top flight for the first time in 40 years.

Racing Santander have appointed former Recreativo Huelva coach Marcelino Garcia to take charge of the team for the 2007/08 season. The 41-year-old replaces Miguel Angel Portugal who quit having steered Racing to a comfortable tenth-placed finish in the Primera Division last term. Marcelino left Recreativo at the end of last campaign after two successful years with the club. Meanwhile, Victor Munoz has signed a one-year contract to coach Recreativo Huelva. The 50-year-old took charge of Greek team Panathinaikos in October 2006 but was dismissed after the club finished a distant third in the league and were defeated in the Greek Cup final by Larissa. Munoz has also coached Mallorca, Villarreal and Real Zaragoza.

teamoddsteamodds
Barcelona1.65Real Madrid2.75
Sevilla15Valencia15
Atletico Madrid35Zaragoza65
Villarreal65Betis200
Espanyol200Deportivo La Coruna200
Getafe250Recreativo Huelva400
Osasuna400Athletic Bilbao400
Racing Santander400Mallorca500
Levante1000Valladolid2000
Almeria3000Murcia3000
The preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2007/08 Spanish football league.

Spanish Cup finals in last five years

2003   Mallorca - Recreativo   3:0
2004   Real Zaragoza - Real Madrid   3:2
2005   Betis - Osasuna   2:1
2006   Espanyol - Real Zaragoza   4:1
2007   Sevilla - Getafe   1:0

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key players

Almeria

Goalkeeper Cobeno (€0.5m); Defense: Juanito (€1m), Pulido (€0.8m), Acasiete (€0.6m); Midfield: Corona (€3m), Kalu Uche (€1.3m), Ortiz (€1.3m), Soriano (€0.9m), Julio dos Santos (€0.8m); Forward: Francisco (€1.5m), Alvaro Negredo (€1m).

Athletic Bilbao

Goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia (€3m); Defense: Andoni Iraola (€7.3m), Aitor Ocio (€3.5m), Unai Exposito (€1m), Ander Murillo (€0.9m); Midfield: Francisco Yeste (€9.5m), David Lopez (€5.8m), Javier Martinez (€5m), Igor Gabilondo (€3m); Forward: Aritz Aduritz (€4.5m), Joseba Etxeberria (€3m).

Atletico Madrid

Goalkeeper Leo Franco (€8.5m); Defense: Luis Perea (€10.5m), Antonio Lopez (€10m); Midfield: Simao (€15m), Maxi Rodriguez (€12m), Luis Garcia (€11m), Maniche (€10.5m), Peter Luccin (€6.5m); Forward: Sergio Aguero (€20m), Diego Forlan (€15m), Jose Antonio Reyes (€12.5m).

Barcelona

Goalkeeper Victor Valdes (€13.5m); Defense: Carles Puyol (€30m), Gianluca Zambrotta (€24.5m), Gabriel Milito (€20m), Eric Abidal (€15m); Midfield: Ronaldinho (€60m), Lionel Messi (€40m), Xavi (€31m), Iniesta (€22m); Forward: Thierry Henry (€45m), Samuel Eto'o (€38m).

Betis

Goalkeeper Ricardo (€4m); Defense: Juanito (€7m), Melli (€6m); Midfield: Mark Gonzalez (€6m), Marcos Assuncao (€5m), Leandro Somoza (€4.2m), Jesus Capi (€3m); Forward: Rafael Sobis (€10m), Hugo Mariano Pavone (€6m), Robert (€4m), Edu (€3.5m).

Deportivo La Coruna

Goalkeeper Dudu Aouate (€3.3m); Defense: Fabricio Coloccini (€6.4m), Alberto Lopo (€3.5m), Manuel Pablo (€3.4m), Barragan (€3.2m); Midfield: Guardado (€7m), Sergio (€6m), Juan Carlos Valeron (€5.6m), Julian de Guzman (€3.5m), Juan Rodriguez (€2.2m); Forward: Ivan Riki (€3.8m).

Espanyol

Goalkeeper Carlos Kameni (€7.5m); Defense: Clemente Rodriguez (€6m), Marc Torrejon (€4.2m), Daniel Jarque (€3.5m), Francisco Chica (€1.1m); Midfield: Ivan De la Pena (€7.5m), Alberto Riera (€6.7m), Francisco Rufete (€5.2m), Moises Hurtado (€3.1m); Forward: Raul Tamudo (€11.5m), Luis Garcia (€8.5m).

Getafe

Goalkeeper Ustari (€6m); Defense: Cata Diaz (€6m), Mario (€4m), David Belenguer (€1.8m); Midfield: Javi Casquero (€1.5m), Fabio Celestini (€1.5m), Nacho (€1.4m), Mario Cotelo (€1.2m); Forward: Kepa (€3.5m), Ikechukwu Uche (€3.5m), Manu del Moral (€1m).

Levante

Goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero (€1.4m); Defense: Felix Ettien (€3.1m), Alvaro Luiz (€2.2m), Alexis (€1.1m), Luis Rubiales (€1m); Midfield: Mathieu Berson (€2.9m), Mustapha Riga (€2.8m), Emilio Viqueira (€2.2m), Laurent Courtois (€1.2m); Forward: Shota Arveladze (€4.2m), Christian Rigano (€4m).

Mallorca

Goalkeeper Miguel Moya (€2.5m); Defense: Hector (€4.5m), Fernando Navarro (€2.5m), Sergio Ballesteros (€1.5m), Fernando Varela (€0.5m); Midfield: Ariel Ibagaza (€7.5m), Guillermo Pereyra (€3.5m), Juan Arango (€1.5m), Jonas Gutierrez (€1m); Forward: Webo (€3m), Guiza (€2m).

Murcia

Goalkeeper Notario (€0.9m); Defense: Mejia (€1.8m), Cesar Arzo (€1.5m), Curro Torres (€1.5m), Ochoa (€0.5m); Midfield: Pablo Garcia (€4.5m), Regueiro (€3m), Gallardo (€0.8m); Forward: Fernando Baiano (€6m), Henok Goitom (€3m), Enrique de Lucas (€3m).

Osasuna

Goalkeeper Ricardo (€2.8m); Defense: Javier Flano (€7m), Miguel Flano (€4m), Enrique Corrales (€4m), Josetxo (€0.5m); Midfield: Hugo Viana (€6m), Juanfran (€6m), Javad Nekounam (€4m), Francisco Punal (€2m); Forward: Walter Pandiani (€7.5m), Javier Portillo (€3.5m).

Racing Santander

Goalkeeper Antonio Tono (€1.8m); Defense: Ezequiel Garay (€3.5m), Pablo Pinillos (€1.8m), Oriol (€1m), Chtistian Alvarez (€0.8m); Midfield: Aldo Duscher (€4.2m), Gonzalo Colsa (€2.5m), Jorge Lopez (€1.5m), Vitolo (€0.8m); Forward: Pedro Munitis (€5.5m), Oscar Rodriguez (€0.8m).

Real Madrid

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas (€25m); Defense: Pepe (€30m), Sergio Ramos (€24.8m), Fabio Cannavaro (€14m); Midfield: Mahamadou Diarra (€27.8m), Wesley Sneijder (€27m), Guti (€17.8m), Royston Drenthe (€13m); Forward: Ruud Van Nistelrooy (€40.5m), Robinho (€30.5m), Raul (€18m).

Recreativo Huelva

Goalkeeper Mariano Barbosa (€2.2m); Defense: Beto (€2.8m), Dani Bautista (€2.2m), Edu Moya (€1.7m), Quique Alvarez (€0.9m); Midfield: Carlos Martins (€5.5m), Jesus Vazquez (€2.2m), Aitor (€1.5m), Rafael Barber (€0.6m); Forward: Florent Sinama-Pongolle (€4.5m), Dumitru Rosu (€0.7m).

Sevilla

Goalkeeper Andres Palop (€4.5m); Defense: Dani Alves (€21.5m), Khalid Boulahrouz (€9.8m), Antonio Puerta (€6m), Julien Escude (€5.5m); Midfield: Adriano Correia (€15m), Christian Poulsen (€8.6m), Jesus Navas (€7m), Renato (€7m); Forward: Frederic Kanoute (€17.4m), Luis Fabiano (€8.9m).

Valencia

Goalkeeper Santiago Canizares (€3.5m); Defense: Luis Miguel (€13m), Raul Albiol (€10m), Marchena (€10m), Alexis (€10m); Midfield: Joaquin (€25m), Vicente (€20m), David Silva (€15m), David Albelda (€14m); Forward: David Villa (€35m), Fernando Morientes (€12m).

Valladolid

Goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle (€1m); Defense: Garcia Calvo (€4.5m), Pedro Lopez (€0.3m), Marcos (€0.1m); Midfield: Fabian Estoyanoff (€3m), Borja (€1.5m), Camacho (€1.2m), Daniel Ngom Kome (€1m), Vivar Dorado (€0.5m); Forward: Bartholomew Ogbeche (€1.5m), Llorente (€0.1m).

Villarreal

Goalkeeper Sebastian Viera (€2.4m); Defense: Capdevila (€9.2m), Gonzalo Rodriguez (€6.3m), Fabricio Fuentes (€0.5m); Midfield: Ruben Cani (€11m), Robert Pires (€9m), Marcos Senna (€1.8m), Josico Moreno (€0.8m); Forward: Giuseppe Rossi (€10m), Kahveci Nihat (€8m), Jon Dahl Tomasson (€4.5m).

Zaragoza

Goalkeeper Cesar (€2.5m); Defense: Roberto Ayala (€8.8m), Carlos Diogo (€6m), Juanfran (€5m), Sergio (€4m); Midfield: Pablo Aimar (€16.5m), Matuzalem (€14m), Andres D'Alessandro (€7.5m), Alberto Zapater (€6m); Forward: Diego Milito (€16.5m), Ricardo Oliveira (€7m).

 
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