Inside Spain: Mikel Arteta behind Real Madrid heroics and the literal fallout after Barcelona exit
Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
It felt as if last weekend’s La Liga action was just a warm-up for the second legs, and the cooling down process from Spain’s three ties might take some time. Only there’s a Clasico this weekend.
Real Madrid’s penalty shootout victory over Manchester City felt either sickeningly or gloriously inevitable depending on where your allegiances lie, having more or less held Manchester City at bay for 120 minutes.
Carlo and Davide Ancelotti went back to their Italian roots, but it was in fact Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta who gave them a hand through to the semi-finals, where they would have met if the Gunners could have beaten Bayern Munich.
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona might have met in the semi-finals had they been able to see out their leads in the second legs, but both collapsed in dramatic fashion. Atletico continued their disastrous away form, Antoine Griezmann was a shadow of himself and Diego Simeone proved that they are no longer a defensive side, only in the wrong way. It has sparked talk of revolution in the summer, but that talk has come and gone in previous summers too.
Jude Bellingham on last night's triumph?? #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/VKFgn8V1sV
— Football España (@footballespana_) April 18, 2024
Meanwhile at Barcelona, revolution is the status quo. Their exit to Paris Saint-Germain was catalysed by Ronald Araujo’s sending off, and then made worse by a silly penalty given away by Joao Cancelo.
Ilkay Gundogan was not amused, and unleashed a steaming hot rant about the mistakes of his teammates, that left the ears of the pair above stinging. Araujo then responded on Thursday, adding fuel to the rumours of a rift in the dressing room.
It does mean the tough decisions are starting to be made at Barcelona though. That exit seems to be the final nail in the Xavi Hernandez coffin, and they appear to have lined up his replacement – B team manager Rafael Marquez, another former Joan Laporta player. Meanwhile the board at Barcelona are reportedly split on whether to cash in on Araujo, with interest from Bayern and a Premier League side, with their financial situation making the €80-100m they could get for him look very appealing.
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