what this means for la liga.
Congratulations, Sevilla (and Sevilla supporters, whom I hope are very very drunk right now). They've been an incredible team to watch this season, and although I would have fancied an Espanyol victory today, it's clear that Sevilla had both the spirit and the manpower to carry them through. Poor, valiant Espanyol, though. What a fightback.
Whatever the excitement of the actual game (Palop for the Spanish national team? Presidency?), I'm more interested in how this result will affect La Liga. Sevilla, currently in third place, is the clear sentimental favorite to win the league, unless you're a Barcelona or Real Madrid supporter, of course. (Even I want Sevilla to win it at this point, even though Valencia are still within fighting distance.) This shot of confidence could be the turning point.
Real Madrid has a few tough opponents coming up in Recreativo, Real Zaragoza, and even Deportivo. Barcelona must defeat their bestia negra, Atlético, and prevail in the city derby. While Valencia has the clearest path to the end, this victory for Sevilla should propel them past Zaragoza and Deportivo, and should Madrid and Barcelona falter at some point, they are in prime position to take control going into the final turn.
And that, in my opinion, is the best thing that could happen to the league. While it has certainly been an entertaining season (and there are quite a few leagues that can boast such exciting finishes: the Bundesliga and the Portuguese Liga, for example), the lack of a clear leader speaks not to the competitiveness of this particular league, but instead represents a lack of focus for the top four teams.
Looking at the situation completely objectively, no team has shown the consistency that one would expect from a club with title aspirations. Barcelona have been sloppy and unfocused, Real Madrid only mounted a serious charge toward the end, when they figured out they were still mathematically alive, Sevilla were focused on too many competitions, and Valencia had their usual melange of injury problems. And that's why Sevilla should be the favorites -- their success in the three competitions available to them (UEFA Cup Champions, finalists in the Copa Del Rey, and still gunning for the league) trumps the mediocre efforts of both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Champions League. Barcelona are perhaps the most disappointing in that respect, falling to Liverpool in the Round of 16 and getting an unceremonious spanking from Getafe just last week. Yet, they are still in the title race, and for that we can only blame the other nineteen teams in the league.
This is where Sevilla can still prevail this season. They've retained their precious UEFA Cup, and should make a splash in the Champions League next season. If they are serious about maximizing the potential they've shown these past two years, they should take their eyes off the Copa Del Rey (a Mickey Mouse cup by their current standards) and focus on the league. And maybe La Liga can still reach a satisfactory conclusion.
Of course, if Valencia goes on to win the league, I'll eat every single word I've written tonight and celebrate by getting shitfaced drunk, so maybe this edition of tl;dr was unnecessary.
As a closing comment, my love of all things Argentinian carries over to everything ever, and thus I can only say that ~*~~Manu!~~*~ makes me go pitter-patter. And that caps off my weekly quota of airhead behavior.