Far from being concerned by the alarming and tedious ease with which Real Madrid and Barcelona waltzed into the top two spots of the league table after just one round of matches - Madrid didnâÂÂt clamber to these lofty heights until the fourth match-day last season - the cheerleading media in both cities are evidently delighted by the prospect of every single game this year resulting in five or six nil strolls for their clubs, with absolutely no pretense of competition at all.
LuÃÂs Mascaró, writing in Catalan daily Sport, sums up this head-in-the-sand attitude with his lip-smackingly enthused response to MadridâÂÂs 6-0 win over Zaragoza and BarçaâÂÂs five goal stomping of Villarreal - a Champions League side, letâÂÂs not forget - with a prediction that âÂÂthe duel between the Whites and Blaugranas will be spectacular, exciting and closeâ - three adjectives that probably wonâÂÂt describe the other 72 league games the two teams play over the coming months.
Marca are equally as thrilled about the next nine months and have picked through the evidence of Real MadridâÂÂs Spanish Super Cup matches and demolition of the mighty Zaragoza to find seven exciting improvements from last yearâÂÂs version of the paperâÂÂs masters from Mordor.
The insightful article reveals that Madrid are âÂÂan almost perfect machineâ - aside from losing both Super Cup games - and gush over the fact that the new Real Madrid is faster, more precise, more intense and âÂÂmore teamâÂÂ. LLL suspects the change is entirely down to Karim Benzema stepping away from the BBQ over the summer and occasionally turning his French frown upside down.
AS, meanwhile, are rather irked by the notion that Friday's European Super Cup win gives Barcelona more titles than Real Madrid, with the Catalan press claiming the score as 74 to 73 in the Camp Nou side's favour. TuesdayâÂÂs edition claims BarcelonaâÂÂs Inter Cities European Fairs Cup trophies of 1958, 1960 and 1966 donâÂÂt count and gives a tedious history of the competition to explain why - an explanation that can probably be boiled down to the fact that Real Madrid didnâÂÂt win them. At the end of all this, the paper makes to the tally so far 73 to 71 in MadridâÂÂs favour.
Meanwhile, it is the usual rabble-rousing duo of Sevilla president, José MarÃÂa del Nido and his counterpart at Villarreal, Fernando Roig, who are very much seeing the bigger picture in la Liga. The pair have been constantly vocal about the dangers of a two-tier league and the need for a more equal share in the TV revenues but are getting nowhere in the process.
Seeing his side get thrashed at the Camp Nou left Roig claiming that issues needed to be resolved in la Liga sometime soon or âÂÂweâÂÂll kill Spanish football.â âÂÂIf they want just two games, then have two games but itâÂÂs not good for football,â said the Villarreal owner.
Del Nido was even more forceful arguing that the Spanish league is âÂÂnot the biggest mess in Europe, but in the world,â and wondered âÂÂhow many fans there were tuned in after 30 minutes in the second half of Zaragoza against Real Madrid?
"Is there a fan out there who doesnâÂÂt say that the league is prostituted, altered and corrupted?â added the fuming Sevilla president.
If the Andalusian was reading the love shown towards this yearâÂÂs version of la Liga by some of the papers this week, del Nido would discover that there are at least two...
