Phil Ball: Sociedad's record shouldn't be consigned to history

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  • Real Madrid cruised past Real Sociedad on Sunday night.

    Setting the record straight

    There are lies, damned lies and statistics – of course. And in the age of misinformation, we’re even more aware of the truth of Disraeli’s pre-digital observation. The trouble is, for football fans particularly, there are records too. Records are a tributary of the river of statistics, but their main function is to exist in order to be broken. If you’re going to break them, however, they first need to be accurate.

    The English Premier League, to take an example, is a troubling arena for records. Founded in 1992, it represented a ‘break-away’ from the then Football League, itself founded in 1888. The sport which the EPL went on to practise, and the teams who participated in this so-called breakaway were, however, the teams who had been competing in the previous competition, for over a century. Nevertheless, EPL journalists now routinely quote statistics and records as if the universe had been created in 1992, making no reference to anything prior to football’s Sky-led big bang. This is both inaccurate and charmless, and it shames the entire set-up.

    Which brings us to Spain’s La Liga. Supporters are very aware of historic records here, probably because the league’s foundation in 1928 is relatively recent, two sides have more or less dominated since the arrival of Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1953 (in a sense La Liga’s year zero), and there has been no similar breakaway to confuse matters and allow the mis-informers to re-write history so easily. Nevertheless, the Spanish media’s increasingly hysterical insistence on focusing exclusively on the triumphs and tribulations of the big two, perhaps more than was ever the case (there are now solid financial reasons for doing this too), has seen some data-massaging creep in.

    This may be due to either ignorance or conspiracy, but this weekend’s encounter between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad – the ‘partidazo’ (big match) of the weekend and thus accorded prime spot on late Sunday night – was an interesting case in point. Real Madrid’s recent run of 40 games undefeated was described in various prominent media as a record for the Spanish league, but that depends on what we’re talking about. Real Madrid’s admittedly excellent run took in league matches, King’s Cup ties (two against a Segunda ‘B’ team), Champions League, the European Supercup and the Club World Cup. What the data therefore fails to acknowledge is that the record for consecutive league games undefeated still stands – and it belongs to Real Sociedad. How interesting it would have been, and how more historically significant, if Madrid had preserved their record up to Sunday’s game. Alas, Sevilla robbed us of the analysis that would surely have been forthcoming – that Real Sociedad hold the record, 38 games undefeated straddling two seasons (April 1979 to May 11, 1980). The run came to an end on the final day of the 1979-80 season when Sociedad lost 2-1 in Sevilla, curiously enough. The Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, it would seem, was destined to be the terminus, the grim reaper of record-breakers, the party-pooper.

    Neither during nor after Real Madrid’s recent run was this feat once mentioned. It’s kind of strange, but then again Real Sociedad don’t sell as many shirts as Real Madrid, and their record has thus been confined to the backroom cupboard of La Liga’s history. It’s a controversial one, of course, but you could argue that Sociedad’s run back then was more virtuous than Real Madrid’s present one, for a variety of reasons. The Basque side actually blew the league that season (Real Madrid pipped them at the post) but nevertheless went on to win the next two league campaigns, reaching their historical high-point. The run of 38 games was achieved by a team composed almost entirely of local players, only two years after the official political transition was signed and delivered (1978), ending the Franco-run era of almost 40 years. It may be one of the great myths of Spanish football history that Franco fixed things in favour of Real Madrid – but the referees and league authorities obviously knew which side their bread was buttered. If Spanish referees seem under unspoken pressure now to ‘favour’ Madrid and Barcelona for commercially-driven reasons, then under Franco there was no doubt as to their duties. They just had to make things look vaguely competitive. The fact that Sociedad pulled off 38 games undefeated, in the long shadows cast by the Franco regime (whose nostalgic supporters were busy attempting to restore the good old days) is quite extraordinary. It was a tough league. The 38 games did not include tranquil run-outs against Cultural Leonesa (with all due respect) nor the strange opposition encountered in the Club World Cup. Sociedad’s record should not be forgotten and buried.

    No other team has come near it. Barcelona lie in 2nd position, with 31 league games undefeated under Pep Guardiola – the same number as previously achieved by Real Madrid under Leo Beenhakker back in 1988-89. To be fair to Madrid, you could argue that their run involved such a variety of competitions that its virtue is greater, and that the Basques did not have to face the rigours and travel of a Champions League campaign. But it’s not a case of compare and contrast – the two records are of a different nature. The crime lies with the conflation of these two different paradigms, mingling them into one. The record of the Spanish league belongs to Real Sociedad, not Madrid.

    Sunday was potentially a good day for both of them. Barcelona were held to a draw at Betis, albeit in controversial circumstances that would seem to lend the lie to the ‘favours’ theory. Still, the ‘goal’ cleared from behind the line by Betis’ Aissa Mandi, after having blatantly fouled Neymar, goes down as another chapter in referee Hernandez Hernandez’ recent Doctorate in Incompetence. That said, Barcelona were fairly awful, and were lucky to escape with a draw.  Sevilla stumbled too, surprisingly losing 3-1 at Espanyol although in fairness they had Nico Pareja sent off in the second minute, somewhat rigorously. They consequently missed the chance of going top, at least temporarily, and saw their run of five consecutive wins firmly terminated. They shouldn’t despair. Atlético could only draw 0-0 at Alavés, the latter having finished off a great week by reaching the King’s Cup semis and being drawn against Celta – a pairing that leaves them with the distinct possibility of reaching the final for the first time in their history. And since this week’s theme is of data and records, Alavés have actually been in the semis before on four previous occasions, the last time being in 2004. Interestingly enough, they reached the same stage in 1928, in the first cup competition of the officially professional era.

    Which all meant that Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Sociedad, achieved through some ruthlessly efficient counter-attacking, puts them back in the league’s driving seat. They’re four points clear now, with a game in hand, whilst Barcelona have the added distraction of two tough semi-finals against Atlético.  After their mini-crisis, things are looking up again, although they’ll be relieved to see some of their injured troops back again soon. To further motivate them, that’s two league games undefeated now. Only 37 more and they can lay rightful claim to the Spanish league record.

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