Another weekend gone in Spain and everything remains the same in the football universe. Real Madrid beat Racing de Santander for their seventh consecutive league victory only to see FC Barcelona maintain a depressing 12 point gap at the top of the table. The point difference has not been altered since the meeting of the two biggest sides in the country 2 months ago, although the quality of the attacking style that Barça display makes numbers look ridiculous. Under the tenure of Juande Ramos, Real Madrid may have improved their defensive record, but there is nothing to look for on them other than Robben’s wild runs with the ball. The Dutch winger seems to have found his best form and finally resembles the sort of player that Real Madrid bought two summers ago. In any case, the title race is so one-sided that even Barcelona’s artistic performances are now starting to be taken as a dull work day at the office.

Given the lack of topics for controversy they are so fond of and until the Champions League comes back to add some spice to the columns, the media have decided to search for headlines off the pitch. A sacked coach is a compulsory item every now and then, but it is the global economic crisis what now feeds the news, not even laid-back sports journalism has been able to keep away from it. In a time when football could help people relax from the threat of reality, clubs are also suffering the strain of the current economic situation. The likes of Messi and Raúl don’t have to worry about their bank accounts, but players from the lower categories are now having difficulties getting paid.

Tony Polster and Oleg Salenko played in the 1990s for CD Logroñés. The club was relegated from 3^rd Division to “Regional” in January, as their players refused to keep on playing until their wages due were settled. Unfortunately, the money never came. CD Logroñés has been the biggest casualty so far, however, the list of squads making public demonstrations on match day is increasing every weekend. Clubs owned by construction magnates are being exposed now that the sector has collapsed in Spain. Others relied on aid from the local authorities, which have been forced to place those funds somewhere else. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon.

For many people, football is not about the big stars. Many people love their small local teams and want to enjoy that eerie atmosphere of games played in small grounds attended by just 2 or 3 thousand supporters. Hopefully, most low division teams, somehow, will be able to resist the hard times upon us. Top flight clubs will surely pay close attention and act accordingly.

On the picture above, Granada FC players wear t-shirts with the lema: “we need to get paid now”