Euroscene: If you are a Getafe supporter, then the last weekend was one to enjoy. Getafe is a nondescript modern suburb of the Spanish capital Madrid which boasts a football team, founded in 1976, that finally made it to the top of the Spanish football two seasons ago when winning promotion to the Primera Liga.
Right now, after three days of the new Spanish season and a 4-3 win against Alavés, little Getafe are standing proud on top of the league. What is more, they can even thumb their noses at their downtown, swanky neighbours, the mighty Real Madrid, four points below them.
This is, of course, a totally temporary situation. Getafe, coached by German Bernd Schuster, are unlikely to remain top of the Primera Liga for long. After just three games, too, league tables mean almost nothing.
Yet, whilst Getafe are likely to return to the familiar bottom end of the table, however, what of their cross-town "galactico" rivals? Will they rise again from the ashes of yet another miserable seasonal start? Will the complex theories of Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, a man who eschews wingers in favour of midfielders playing off "magic angles" in a "magic square", bite the dust in the face of Real fan dissent? Incidentally, if there is one man who can talk an even more complex tactical game than Luxemburgo, it is his right-hand man at Real Madrid, the former AC Milan and Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi. Being a fly on the wall when these two are talking "tactics" must be akin to attending a Neurology Congress in the People's Republic of China.
After a summer in which Real spent approximately €80 million euro on the transfer market buying players like Brazilian Robhino from Santos, defender Sergio Ramos and Brazilian midfielder Julio Baptista, both from Seville as well as another Brazilian Cicinho, due to join in January from Sao Paulo, Real fans could be excused if they felt just a little peeved at the poor seasonal start. A 1-0 defeat by Espanol in Barcelona on Sunday made it three losses in three, following hard on the heels of an embarrassing 3-0 Champions League drubbing by Olympique Lyon in midweek and an unlucky 3-2 defeat by Celta Vigo 10 days ago.
It does not require an elephantine memory to recall the last time Real started so badly. In fact, you only have to go back 12 months when they opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 away drubbing by Bayer Leverkusen, prior to losing to Espanol. Just to complete the historical symmetry, last year Real not only lost to Espanol but they also suffered the indignity of having two men sent off. Real pulled off the double on Sunday, losing 1-0 to a controversial goal from Espanol defender Daniel Jarque (the Real players later claimed the referee had already blown for a penalty before Jarques' header hit the net) and then having two of their new signings, Ramos and Baptista, both sent off.
To understate it, one could suggest that things are not going Real's way. After all, the Celta Vigo winner against them 10 days ago was a shot which bounced on the line but did not cross it.
Luck, though, can only be part of the disastrous picture. Defensive frailty, tactical confusion, injuries to players like Frenchman Zinedine Zidane and the fact that not all of Luxemburgo's squad are convinced by the Brazilian's theories must also be part of the conundrum.
The musical chairs of the last three seasons may, ironically, save Luxemburgo with club President Florentino Perez reluctant to send out panic signals by sacking a coach in whom, and for whom, he has invested much Real money. In the meantime, Luxemburgo has been receiving some badly needed help along the way from such as the exciting new boy, Robinho, who said last week that people should be patient, pointing out that Luxemburgo's tactics and ideas had won plenty for him in Brazil.
Luxemburgo himself was fighting the good fight yesterday, saying: "I have lived through worse situations than this and overcome them.these things happen in football but.we need to put things right quickly".
He said it.
