The League of the End of the World

The 2024-25 La Liga season ended with Barcelona's 28th title. Only four teams have won the competition in the 21st century: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético de Madrid, and Valencia. Another fact: Real Madrid and Barcelona have enjoyed the favor of the beautiful old lady in 34 of the last 40 meetings with her suitors. In politics, this is called a two-party system or alternation in power. In business, it's called abuse of a dominant position.

Twenty-five years ago, Deportivo de la Coruña won the last La Liga title of the 20th century, in 1999-2000. That triumph still seems miraculous. Only nine teams have won La Liga. Some (Depor, Betis, and Sevilla) only once. Real Sociedad, twice. Atleti, 11. Athletic Club, eight. Real Madrid, 36. Barça, as we've said, 28.

All of those teams now reside in the First Division. And all of them, except for Real Madrid, Barça, and Athletic Club, have been relegated to the Second Division at some point, but only temporarily. But Deportivo, a "lift team," according to the terminology of the time, has been there for too long on too many occasions. They have even plummeted even deeper, into the dense darkness of the abyssal categories. Now they suffer in the middle depths of the Second Division, a purgatory with views, but no access, to heaven.

Deportivo's title is probably the most surprising, extraordinary, and meritorious in the history of La Liga. La Coruña is 600 km from Madrid and 1,100 km from Barcelona. It is located at the "end of the world," particularly far from the centers of power. Even with an exceptional generation of footballers, their triumph was somewhat of a fluke, faced with the growing tyranny of budgets, which establish little more than rigid castes. In a way, we already have a Super League around here.

The Madrid-Barça duopoly has largely coincided recently with the dual reign of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo . Now it could be extended with the reign of Mbappé and Lamine , franchise players since their first season with the team. Madrid is going to surround its star with so many new names that the 2024-25 picture will become a distant memory.

Modric will not appear in the new photo, a decision by Florentino , not Xabi , which is incomprehensible from every point of view, including a strictly footballing one. For history. For the image of the club's best and most vaunted values. For having repeatedly given up a fortune inside and outside Madrid. For, in this world of excessive egos, humbly accepting a secondary role and another pay cut in order to remain at the Bernabéu. For, still, high performance. For all that, and not to do him a favor, but to do him justice, Luka should have stayed on for another year, until he reached a round, perfect 40. He would never have been a hindrance or a burden. His dismissal, accepted with boundless chivalry, is a technical error and an ethical blunder.

At Barcelona, ​​the same photo from the 2024-25 season may be valid. The biggest change will be the color of the Chinese jewelry Lamine chooses to dye her hair. Something more subtle than the current garish gold. Perhaps a topaz pink or an emerald green.