News
FRI 25.09.2015
There is one watershed moment in transfer history that forced thousands of Premier League fans in India to stay up past midnight and tune in to watch the LaLiga: the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid from Manchester United.
Firstly, it meant that United fans, dispossessed of watching one of their truly world class stars during prime time, satiated their thirst to see the Portuguese by watching Real Madrid matches. Secondly, the move triggered one of the most enthralling individual battles in sport — Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. Brute force vs sublime skill; muscles vs movement; power vs precision. It was simply too much to ignore.
This is not new. It happened when David Beckham and Michael Owen moved to the LaLiga, but not at the level we witness now. Leeching off the social media explosion, this battle between the world's two best players caught fire all over the world — including India. Indian fans salivated, and La Liga provided the buffet.
Still, LaLiga was seen very much as a two-horse race in India. Interest piqued during the El Clasico, and waned on other weekends. But then Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid happened — and fans united behind David against the two Goliaths of Spanish football.
Atletico didn't just break the Real-Barca duopoly in 2014, they broke the LaLiga's impression of being monotonous. It was incredible to watch as they combined Barcelona's pressing and Real Madrid's counter-attacking prowess to finally make the league 'interesting'.
That the two Madrid clubs ended up facing each other in the Champions League that season made previously unknown players household names in India. Atletico was not just a feeder to the Premier League now — with Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero and David de Gea moving to England — it had become a force to be reckoned with. Today, Antoine Griezmann, Koke and Arda Turan (now with Barca) are as well known as Juan Mata, David Silva and Eden Hazard.
The clincher though, was the advent of the Indian Super League and Atletico's tie-up with the Kolkata franchise. Atletico de Kolkata opened the doors for Spanish players to make an in-road to India. This was no joke: Luis Garcia, Borja Fernandez and Jofre were going to play in India, riding on a wave of untapped interest that never materialised into fans filling up stadiums — until the ISL came.
Atletico de Kolkata duly delivered, winning the inaugural championship. If there was any evidence needed to prove the La Liga's rising stock in the Indian football community, one just had to witness Atletico de Kolkata parading their ISL trophy at the Vicente Calderon before the Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona match earlier in the La Liga this season.
Three years ago, one would be forgiven to laugh at this idea. Today, it is reality thanks to LaLiga
© LALIGA - 2015