Barca retain title as race goes to final day

After losing out to Barcelona in such emphatic fashion the previous season, Real Madrid had a new deadly weapon in their arsenal for 2009-10.

Hopes of recovering domestic supremacy were rested on the most expensive player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, who would kick off his eternal rivalry with Lionel Messi in the 2009-10 campaign after moving from Manchester United.

Unfortunately for Real Madrid, however, Messi and Barcelona had no intention of losing their grip on the Spanish Primera Division crown. Perhaps spurred on by the new kid on the block, the Argentine hit back with a campaign to remember as an enthralling title race ended with records being shattered.

CHANGES

The main managerial change during the summer of 2009 saw Manuel Pellegrini leave Villarreal for Real Madrid, where he and chairman Florentino Perez would undertake one of the biggest spending sprees in the history of European football. Los Blancos spent in excess of 250 million euros on new faces, including Kaka, Raul Albiol, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Esteban Granero, and of course, one CR7. The older guard of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, and Fabio Cannavaro would make room for the acquisitions. Barcelona conducted some incredible business of their own, too, and purchased Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter, with Samuel Eto’o going in the other direction. Some transfers would work out significantly better than others. La Liga welcomed Xerez, Real Zaragoza, and Tenerife from the Segunda.

SUMMARY

Madrid’s pitiful end to the 2008-9 season had accounted for Juande Ramos, who was removed from his charge shortly after Pep Guardiola got his hands on the league trophy. Stepping in was Pellegrini, the Chilean whose brilliant five-year spell at Villarreal convinced the Merengue to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Pellegrini and Ronaldo, moreover, were far from the only new faces at the club. Kaka, Benzema, Alonso and Albiol were just some of the players who arrived in the unprecedented €265m spending…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/barca-retain-title-as-race-goes-to-final-day-la-liga-in-2009-10/75

Author : [email protected] (Dan Edwards)

Publish date : 2024-07-29 15:00:51

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