There were tumultuous events for Spanish clubs this year, whether domestically in La Liga, or continentally in the Champions League and Europa League. On the international stage there was the World Cup in Brazil, which was heralded as one of the best in recent years, where holders Spain made headlines of a surprising note. 2014 has certainly been historic.
Best Team – Real Madrid
After 12 years of incessant spending, since Los Merengues won their ninth European Cup in 2002, Real Madrid had failed to win the coveted La Decima. However, this year Coach Carlo Ancelotti finally found the balance in attack, but importantly in defence. The attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale oozed pace along with lethal finishing. More importantly, Ancelotti made sure the back four was defensively solid but had a protective screen in midfield under the immense Xabi Alonso.
From it Madrid battled to victory in the Champions League final to win their 10th European Cup, which club President Florentino Perez so craved, but also promised when elected for his second presidential term in 2009. In addition, Real Madrid are currently 22 games undefeated, a club record. It has been a great year for Los Blancos.
Best Player – Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese flyer had an excellent season for his club. Ronaldo continued to break records by scoring his 200th goal Madrid goal in 178 games against Celta Vigo earlier in December. Moreover, in that same game he scored a hat-trick, which made it 23 in total – breaking yet another La Liga record. Winning La Decima, as well as the Ballon d’Or, made it a magnificent 12 months for the 29-year-old. It’s hard to see how much Ronaldo can improve in 2015.
Best Coach – Diego Simeone
At the turn of 2014 Atletico Madrid were the League leaders but Coach Diego Simeone continuously downplayed his team’s chances of winning the title. As the season wore on Los Colchoneros reinforced their position atop the table and belief grew within the Estadio Vincente Calderon. The passion, intensity and spirit Simeone instilled to his players made them believe they could challenge for the title.
Their final League game of the season away to Barcelona typified the team’s spirit, as they battled to hold La Blaugrana 1-1 and claim the title. Breaking the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona made Simeone a hero among fans of Los Indios.
Overachievers – Athletic Bilbao
Coach Ernesto Valverde’s achievement in finishing in fourth place last season was brilliant and completely unexpected. Their high tempo pressing game mixed with an attractive style of football won many fans. Though Los Leones suffered a bad start to this season, as they tried to juggle La Liga and Champions League football, they’ve managed to steady the ship and go on a decent run of form.
Underachievers – Spain’s national team
Many had felt Spain would defend their World Cup and try to become the first European team to win the trophy in South America. However, their Brazilian dreams soon turned into a nightmare, thrashed 5-1 by the Netherlands before Chile expertly defeated the holders to send them crashing out before their World Cup really began. Suddenly, La Roja’s cloak of invincibility had gone, becoming vulnerable again.
2014 has been an eventful year and there is no reason 2015 should be any different. The only question is who will have a good or bad year?
