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Nothing lasts forever. Just when it appeared that Barcelona’s domestic domination was set to become depressingly repetitive for rivals Real Madrid, the Blancos responded in 2006-07 with an agonising title victory clinched on the very last day.
There was absolutely nothing to choose between the two Clasico giants: in fact, the pair tied on points, and Madrid triumphed by virtue of their superior head-to-head record.
The Liga crown vindicated Merengue president Florentino Perez, who once again spent huge in order to bring glory back to Santiago Bernabeu after two barren years. In Barcelona, meanwhile, a failure to sustain an impressive start to the season cost Frank Rijkaard dear, as did their poor record in their two Clasico outings which ultimately decided the fate of the title.
CHANGES
In 2006 Italian football was rocked by a corruption scandal which saw Juventus relegated and Milan among others deducted points for allegedly pressuring into the selection of certain referees for certain matches. As a result, several high-profile figures left Italy, with Barcelona and Real Madrid as the destinations. Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram arrived at Camp Nou, while Los Blancos brought in Fabio Cannavaro, the World Cup-winning captain of Italy in the summer of 2006, and Fabio Capello as manager. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mahamadou Diarra, and Emerson also arrived. Across the capital city at the Vicente Calderon, Atletico Madrid splashed out over 21 million euros on one Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero. Recreativo, Gimnastic, and Levante gained promotion from the previous campaign. One major omission from the league was Zinedine Zidane, who retired in the summer after the World Cup.
SUMMARY
Having spent close to €100 million the previous term, Madrid smashed that barrier in 2006 to bring in a host of new faces. Manchester United sharpshooter Van Nistelrooy became the latest Galactico to join the attack, while Italy’s World Cup hero Cannavaro arrived to bolster the defence and Lyon…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/real-madrid-break-barca-hearts-in-thrilling-last-day-battle-la-liga-in-2006-07/78
Author : [email protected] (Dan Edwards)
Publish date : 2024-07-27 11:00:00
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