La Liga restart gives Barcelona's Spain stars chance to put World Cup woes in the past

Busquets, Gavi and Pedri can now focus on maintaining lead over Real Madrid at top of table

Spain's Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets, centre, who missed a penalty in the last-16 shoot-out loss to Morocco at the World Cup. Getty

A country’s early exit from a World Cup carries blessings for the league employing most of its footballers.

Fatigue should be reduced, recovery more gently scheduled. As Spain’s La Liga resumes on Thursday, the 18 locally-based Spaniards who slunk home from Qatar at the last-16 stage ought to feel fresh. They have had a full 23 days to recover from losing on penalties to Morocco.

That’s good news for top-of-the-table Barcelona, or at least the trio of midfielders central to Spain’s pass-and-move game plan, although the precocious Pedri and Gavi and the experienced Sergio Busquets may still be downcast.

They have spent the past three weeks hearing noisy criticism of the possession-based style so fundamental to the national team and so associated with Barca. In Qatar, Spain looked stagnant. For a second successive World Cup, they exited after all their precise passing failed to break down a stubborn opponent.

For a football culture that prides itself on technical superiority that is uncomfortable. Add to it a sensation that more and more of Spain’s top technicians are drifting abroad. A number of clubs returning to league action over the next three days are coping with the disruption not only of a mid-term World Cup but recent changes of personnel. Villarreal lost their excellent head coach, Unai Emery, lured to Aston Villa. The manager who began the season at Sevilla, Julen Lopetegui, has joined Wolverhampton Wanderers.

That’s two Spanish managers who, in winning the Europa Leagues of 2021 and 2020, helped enhance La Liga’s all-conquering reputation but are now in the super-wealthy Premier League. Lopetegui will, as of January 1, have Matheus Cunha, the Brazilian striker signed from Atletico Madrid in his Wolves squad.

Cunha is the 13th player since June to move from Spain to England’s top flight, an exodus worth €300 million to Spanish clubs in fees but depriving it of stars like Casemiro (Real Madrid to Manchester United) and emerging talent like Alexander Isak, who joined Newcastle United from Real Sociedad.

Gavi and Pedri return to Barcelona duty after a disappointing World Cup for Spain. EPA

At Madrid, the reigning champions, colleagues have been offering heartening words to Casemiro’s gifted successor, Aurelien Tchouameni, who fluffed a penalty for France in the losing World Cup final shoot-out.

They hope the frustrations of another Frenchman who controversially missed the tournament are channelled to their benefit. Karim Benzema, who suffered what he says was a minor injury, shaken off quickly last month, was excluded by France coach Didier Deschamps for fitness reasons.

The holder of the Ballon D’Or was unhappy not to be retained in Qatar, where he insists he could have played in later games.

The upside? A rested, fired-up Benzema, eager to make up the two points in the table that separate Madrid from Barca and take on a congested fixture list. Starting at Valladolid tomorrow, Madrid face a possible 17 games within 60 days across La Liga, cup, Super Cup, Club World Cup and Champions League. Even the tireless Luka Modric, who was still galvanising Croatia in Qatar 12 days ago, must find that a daunting schedule.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema should be rested and fired up for La Liga's restart after missing France's World Cup campaign with injury. Reuters

Barcelona, out of the Champions League but in the Europa, have a busy diary too but are urged by their president Joan Laporta to “make the league our priority. The dressing-room knows that,” he said. “We need to win the title to show our process of recovery is on track.”

Barca, whose last Liga triumph was in 2019, must do without their leading scorer, Robert Lewandowski, for the next three outings starting with a derby against Espanyol, the Poland captain suspended for a gesture towards a referee in his last club match.

One striker who could cover, Memphis Depay, is being pushed to leave the club, to relieve the Barca wage bill. Another, Ansu Fati, is reported fit after an autumn of injury setbacks.

Morocco v Spain ratings

MOROCCO RATINGS: Bono, 9 – The eccentric keeper performed like his namesake with some fantastic saves, but most importantly, he was the saviour in the shootout. AFP

Achraf Hakimi, 9 – The audacious PSG sensation rounded off a great defensive display with a panenka to knock out the Spanish. AFP

Nayef Aguerd, 8 – The West Ham star was disappointed to hobble off with an injury after showcasing great focus throughout to go alongside some key clearances. AFP

Romain Saiss, 8 – Captain supreme was a vocal leader from start to finish and barely missed a step outside of a needless yellow card. AFP

Noussair Mazraoui, 7 – After losing a few early battles, Mazraoui went box to box with great challenges and a nice effort that tested the keeper in the first half. EPA

Azzedine Ounahi, 8 – Cleared everything up just in front of the defence and always looked like an important presence on the counter. AFP

Sofyan Amrabat, 9 – Looked strong whenever he was challenged, never stopped running and prevented several key through balls from reaching the box. EPA

Selim Amallah, 8 – The midfielder provided some smart cover when Morocco needed it and had a few nicely-timed interceptions. AFP

Hakim Ziyech, 8 – Chelsea’s finest came up big with a strong performance at both ends of the pitch, capping it off with a successful penalty. Getty

Youssef En-Nesyri, 7 – Outside of a few nice plays on the defensive side of things, the big centre forward barely had a meaningful touch. EPA

Sofiane Boufal, 7 – While he was forced to drop quite deep to get into the action, Boufal showed solid footwork and did a good job of hunting down the ball. EPA

SUBS: Abde Ezzalzouli, 7 – Worked hard to make things happen down the flank despite not having many big opportunities. EPA

Walid Cheddira, 5 – The substitute forward had three golden opportunities to put Spain away, but unfortunately, he didn’t take any of them. AP

Abdelhamid Sabiri, 8 – After some amazing moments at the back, Sabiri buried his penalty to send Morocco on their way to victory. PA

Jawad El Yamiq, 7 – Did well to shield the ball every time he was called upon and saved Morocco from late heartbreak at the end of extra time. AP

Yahya Attiyat Allah, 7 – The no-nonsense defender held off his man, kept his composure when needed and did his job perfectly. Getty

Badr Benoun, N/A – Didn’t have much time to make an impact in what served as a brief cameo prior to the shootout, in which he missed a penalty. Getty

SPAIN RATINGS: Unai Simon, 7 - Couldn’t quite hold a 32nd minute powerful shot from Mazraoui but then grabbed hold of it. Saved a 104th minute shot from Cheddira. Saved Morocco’s third penalty. Getty

Jordi Alba, 7 - Gave the ball away which led to Morocco’s best chance of the first half. Up against tactically disciplined opponents who limited his advances. EPA

Aymeric Laporte, 8 - Defended well. Key header away in a spell of Moroccan pressure on 43. Booked on 76. Had a free header on 95 minutes and got a touch to stop a Moroccan chance on goal. AFP

Rodri, 8 - The Manchester City defender and his club teammate Laporte completed more passes than the entire Morocco team. Little got past them, but when they were beaten Morocco had three solid chances. AFP

Marcos Llorente, 6 - Not usually a right back, it showed too often in front of the predominantly Moroccan contingent of the 44,667 present. AFP

Sergio Busquets, 6 - Spain had 81% of possession but while Busquets normally has one of the highest involvement rates, Morocco squeezed him and his 57 touches (after 90 minutes) compared badly to 168 for Rodri and 149 for Laporte immediately behind him. 120th minute shot blocked as he pushed forward. Had his penalty, Spain’s third, saved. AFP

Pedri, 6 - Difficult to advance against the tenacious Amrabat as Spain went to extra time for the fifth successive time in a major tournament. EPA

Gavi, 6 - The youngest player to start a knock-out game at the World Cup since Pele, his 25th minute shot was pushed on to the bar – though it was offside. AFP

Dani Olmo, 5 - Played in an attack which only had one shot on target in the first half, the lowest ever for Spain in a World Cup match. He made it two on 54 with a strike on target from a tight angle. His 94th minute free-kick was goal-bound and well saved. Reuters

Marco Asensio, 5 - Smashed a shot into the side netting after a brilliant run to beat the offside trap. And that was about it against a highly competent defence. AFP

Ferran Torres, 5 - Nutmegged the excellent Mazraoui after 47 and won a free-kick when pulled back. No shots, let alone on target and no key balls as Spain were stifled by their neighbours. AP

SUBS: Carlos Soler, 6 - On for Gavi on 63. Whipped a 90th minute free-kick in. Took Spain’s second penalty - poor and saved. AFP

Alvaro Morata, 5 - On for Asensio after 63. Ran into the Morocco box on 69. Struck a shot across goal on 81. Poor header in 90th minute from a Soler cross. Couldn’t find a final pass in a 116th minute attack. AP

Nico William, 5 - On for Torres after 75. Lively. Set up Morata with a shot. Then brought off himself. AP

Alejandro Balde, 6 - On for Alba after 97. Shot blocked two minutes later. EPA

Ansu Fati, 6 - On for Olmo on 97. Brought energy to Spain’s attack. AFP

Pablo Sarabia, 6 - On for Williams after 118 and hit a very good ball in – then hit the post with his own shot after 123 minutes, the last play of the game. Missed Spain’s first penalty. Getty

Spain’s other Real, Sociedad, were only lightly affected by World Cup call-ups, and lead a strong push for Champions League qualification by the big Basque clubs, with la Real third and Athletic Bilbao fourth. “We can go far,” says David Silva, the veteran la Real midfielder and, at nearly 37, a vital cog in a team thriving even without Isak and injury-hit Mikel Oyarzabal, who should soon return to lead the attack.

If the title race looks confined to a Barcelona-Real Madrid duel, the tussle for the top four is tight. Sitting fifth are the 2020-21 champions Atletico Madrid, who had four players involved in the World Cup final. Diego Simeone’s men need to move on from a poor autumn.

Atletico can be thankful their struggles are not on the scale of Sevilla’s, fourth last season but currently in the relegation zone – a stark reminder to their several World Cup heroes, the gold-medallist Argentinians Gonzalo Montiel, Marcos Acuna and Papu Gomez and the Moroccan semi-finalists Yassine Bounou and Youssef En-Nesyri that club football can be a very different beast from a joyous World Cup adventure.