Primera Liga in focus: John Guidetti finally fulfilling potential he showed at Man City with Celta Vigo

The Sweden striker, once dubbed "the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic", has settled at Celta Vigo and is scoring the goals that are propelling them up the table, into the Copa del Rey semi-finals, and into the knockout stages of the Europa League.

John Guidetti of Celta Vigo celebrates after scoring against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarter-final second-leg match at Municipal de Balaidos stadium on January 25, 2017 in Vigo, Spain. Octavio Passos / Getty ImagesShow less

It is January 2012 and Feyenoord striker John Guidetti is the talk of the freezing Dutch port. On loan from Manchester City, the Swede had become a hero with 18 goals in 16 starts, including a hat-trick against despised rivals Ajax.

His manager Ronald Koeman described him as “phenomenal” – in part because he had scored hat-tricks in each of his previous three home games and Europe’s biggest clubs were looking at him. But a streak of impudence was still present in the young forward’s game. Despite being on a yellow card in a game against mid-table RKC Waalwijk he celebrated one goal by taking his shirt off, thus accruing a second yellow card and a subsequent dismissal. Waalwijk took advantage of the extra man and equalised 10 minutes later. Guidetti would apologise and learn, yet he was already making his mark. Despite being 19, he was the main man in the dressing room, he chose the music and cracked the jokes.

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Manchester City recalled him but like almost all of their youth protegees, he failed to break into a first team that already contained Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez.

Guidetti had been a star for City’s Under 18 team, scoring 13 in 13 games. Succumbing to a bad virus at a crucial time in his City development did not help the young Swede’s cause. Included in City’s 2010 pre-season tour of North America tour, he played one game in the League Cup in October 2010 before being loaned to Brommapojkarna and Burnley in 2011 and then to Feyenoord before a loan to Stoke City in 2014. Instead of becoming Sweden’s next Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Guidetti’s progress stalled.

He was publicly critical of Stoke manager Mark Hughes in the Swedish media and spent 2014/15 on loan at Celtic, scoring 15 goals in 35 games. Good, but not a great return for the Scottish Premiership’s dominant force.

Guidetti eventually moved to Spain on a free transfer in 2015 and things began to fall properly into place. As at Feyenoord, he quickly became a hero with the fans. Some Feyenoord supporters had tattoos done of him, even though he was only on loan for a season.

In Galicia where foreign strikers such as Benni McCarthy had previously flourished, Guidetti settled.

“Vigo doesn’t always get a great press, but it’s a great place to live with a wonderful lifestyle,” McCarthy told this reporter. “The food, the people and the weather all make it attractive for a footballer and while Celta have had their problems, they’re now back among the big boys and upsetting them with my old teammate Eduardo Berizzo as boss. I like that.”

Guidetti only started 12 league games in 2015/16, but managed 12 goals across in all competitions. His cult status was assured when a 25-yard effort helped knock Atletico Madrid out of the Copa del Rey.

This season is going even better. He has started only six league games, and plays second fiddle to Iago Aspas, but he has featured in 22 matches in all and scored six goals. Last week, against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg, his goal-bound effort was going in until defender Danilo helped it on its way. Celta eliminated the European and world club champions and are now through to the semi-finals, where they will meet Alaves next week. Barcelona meet Atletico in the other semi-final.

On Sunday, he scored a penalty as Celta beat Leganes 2-0 away, a team who had defeated them in the half-redeveloped Balaidos stadium on the first day of the season.

After starting the season with three straight defeats, Celta have risen to eighth. They are someway off the side which finished fourth to reach the Uefa Champions League in 2003, but they are cup semi-finalists and still in the Europa League where Guidetti scored in three of five group games.

The team from Europe’s largest fishing port on the Atlantic coast will next play Shakhtar Donetsk in Europe’s second-tier competition. Their football is attractive, although their defence concedes far too many goals. These are exciting times for Celta and their big Swedish striker. Their next game? Real Madrid at home on Sunday.

Primera Liga needs to think of the fans who attend matches too

The Primera Liga can lay serious claim to being the best league in the world. Would any footballers get ahead of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Andre Iniesta, Sergio Ramos or Gareth Bale in their respective positions?

No other European team has come close to being as successful as Barcelona or Real Madrid in the past decade; no game comes close to el clasico for glamour and consistent excellence. La Liga, with new international offices and public statements that England’s Premier League comes second to it, are on the front foot as they try to capture global hearts and minds. It is a push to attract more television money and viewers, yet they are not the best when it comes to looking after the fans who actually attend games in Spain.

An armchair viewer watching Las Palmas defeat Valencia on Monday evening might have been surprised that the pitch side seats were full in a stadium where for league games at the weekend 40 per cent of the seats usually lie empty. New league rules fine clubs who allow banks of empty seats to be seen on television. The seats are not full because of Las Palmas’ benevolence.

Television dictates to worrying degrees. Games are shunted around at too short notice without consideration for the travelling fans. Friday night and Monday night fixtures have been introduced, despite both being unpopular with supporters. This is partly why travelling support in Spain remains pitiful. English fourth-tier side Carlisle United will take more fans to Leyton Orient, a six-hour trip south, than Real Madrid will take to Celta Vigo, also six hours away by road, this weekend. Madrid’s game is on Sunday evening and will finish at 10.45pm. There is no public transport back to the capital then.

Nobody expects that every league fixture will kick off at 5pm on a Sunday like before, given that the league has shaken hands with television companies. But there’s not a single game at that time this weekend because La Liga wants to have live games broadcast on Friday evening, throughout almost all of Saturday and Sunday and again on Monday evening. The league wants live football to be on tap as much as possible around the globe.

Match-going fans are not exactly spoilt, facing sanctions for songs that are not even remotely provocative. In the main, however, they pay fair prices for their season tickets which are among the cheapest in western Europe. One can watch Barcelona for as little as €20 per game (Dh79) in the nosebleed seats at the top of Camp Nou – yet fans who don’t go to every game don’t have access to such tickets. For this Saturday’s game against Athletic Bilbao, fans will pay an average of €83 (Dh329).

A little more joined up thinking may help La Liga accentuate its positives and shed the needless negatives.

■ Game of the week

Celta Vigo v Real Madrid and Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao. All four teams are now very used to each other after recent cup encounters; all four have beaten each other. Sevilla v Villarreal is an enticing game, more so after Sevilla lost at an improving Espanyol at the weekend.

■ Player of the week

Mateo Kovacic is not one of Real Madrid’s star names, but every successful team needs an engine and the 22-year-old Croatian is performing very well. Injuries to Toni Kroos and Luca Modric have helped him start 12 of Madrid’s 20 league games. Being technically excellent, aggressive and capable of playing in any midfield role helps too. The best player in the 3-0 win over Real Sociedad.

■ What else?

Alexandre Pato has moved to China. Villarreal took a gamble with the talented but inconsistent Brazilian. He is still a big name and being Brazilian never did any footballer any harm. Ripe, then, for that big money move to China.

■ Barcelona had a goal disallowed in their 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Sunday. Predictable cries of video technology for goal-line decisions ensued. And with good reason. It is time the Primera Liga followed the best league – England’s Premier League – if they want to take its crown.

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