As Williot Swedberg slowly and carefully approached the Real Betis penalty area, as if checking his toe for temperature, you might think it was going nowhere. The Swedish youngster dropped Sergi Altimira, cut with his right and then rolled out with his left – he might have waved to the former Getafe midfielder on the way past – but Swedberg was lucky to play for Celta Vigo. He could count on Anastasios Douvikas to be at the far post and score a goal that was almost too easy to celebrate.
For the Galicians it was the second game of the weekend in La Liga, where Betis were also lucky to have Vitor Roque in their ranks. The Brazilian, finally feeling like a footballer again before his anniversary on Spanish soil, is starting to awaken his thirst for goals. If he wasn't a natural striker, he might not have held his run that extra second so Carl Starfelt could get out of his way and free up a pass for Johnny Cardoso to score on the penalty spot.
This is not a common sight in Spain's top flight these days. You don't have to resort to Ray Davies to ask: Where have all the good nine gone? Former The “advisor” Luis Campos, current sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain, lacked commitment in a relationship where Os Celestes ultimately wanted more, but his big contribution was the signing of Douvikas and Jorgen Strand Larsen. They will more than double their money on the Norwegian and you wouldn't bet against them doing the same with their Greek, who is averaging a goal every 114 minutes this season.
La 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗔 de Williot 🪄
La 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗗 de Tasos 🥶🎯 𝑮𝑶-𝑳𝑨-𝒁𝑶 🎯
– RC Celta (@RCCelta)
Goal scorers have always been very popular. But while the world worries about their number six and morally mocks the lack of appreciation for midfielders compared to strikers (unless you vote for the Ballon d'Or, that's for another day), yours is classic number nine actually makes the number nine more valuable. Just ask Rayo Vallecano.
over the last three seasons, Rayo have spent a respectable €16 million on Raul de Tomas and Sergio Camello, and you can probably add a decent chunk to the salary for Radamel Falcao. Transfer fees alone account for 51% of their total expenses. The Colombian is gone, replaced in both stature and contribution by James Rodriguez. But while Vallecas roared, then shouted, then sighed at their attacks, Rayo never seemed to look to score in their 3-1 loss to Las Palmas. They have performed relatively well this season, but only 13 goals in 12 games explains their 12thTh Position. Only Las Palmas defender Scott McKenna, who vacillated between comedy and Kafka, was able to prevail in a nightmarish repetition of a scene that had been etched in the Vallecanos' minds in the first third of the season.
After just two minutes, Camello would hustle and create a chance that few strikers have, but which no attacker would have thought possible to miss. With a season-high 34 shots, not a single one of Rayo's goals went in. Diego Martinez secured a remarkable three wins from four and continued his resurgence in Las Palmas thanks to Alberto Moleiro and Fabio Silva's form in front of goal, but the concern will remain how long can this continue if their four central strikers combine for three goals scored in the league? Summer signing Oli McBurnie scored less often next season than fellow Scotland international McKenna, and last season the Canary Islanders almost didn't make it out alive because of this very problem.
🟡🔵 Ante Las Palmas
☄️ El Rayo Vallecano set the league's deficit record
3️⃣4️⃣ disparos a portería
– Union Rayo (@UnionRayo)
Search the bottom half of La Liga to find goals. Eight teams in Spain's top flight cannot score more than one goal per game. Excluding penalties, only Moleiro, Juan Cruz (Leganes), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla) and Borja Iglesias from the attractive and enterprising Celta side are on course to break the 10-goal mark this season.
Goals are very important, but it's never been harder to find someone to score them, has it? A decade ago, Spanish football allowed 2.71 goals per game to be scored between the 2012-2015 season, an increase of 0.21 on average for the 2022-25 season, including this one. over the last three seasons, players have scored more than 10 league goals 41 times, an average for 10.7 different teams. Let's go back to a decade ago: the same metrics show 65 players busting the net, and on 13 teams you could expect someone to score in more than double figures.
It is a shortcoming that has been blamed in various places on Pep Guardiola's change of style, even if in the last decade more Spanish teams in the middle and bottom of the table have drawn Diego Simeone's blueprints. The arrival of Samu Aghehowa to the Spanish national team raises nervous hopes that Spanish football, which has struggled to recruit number nines, can start producing them.
8 – Spanish players with the most goals scored in the top ten European leagues this season:
8 – SAMU OMORODION
7 – Ayoze Perez
5 – Dani Olmo
5 – Lamine YamalSelection. 🇪🇸
– OptaJose (@OptaJose)
Samu recently made his debut for the Spanish national team and the twelve-year gap between him and captain Alvaro Morata is certainly noticeable. Morata succeeded a generation that ended with Fernando Torres but was never pushed. coach Luis de la Fuente has tried Abel Ruiz, who averages a goal every five games throughout his career, but it is telling that Spain's alternatives Joselu Mato, a year older, and the red-hot Ayoze Perez, a year younger, in a team that is otherwise full of youth products that de la Fuente was able to establish in the youth teams. A parallel also emerged last season at Alaves when Luis Garcia Plaza swapped between Samu and 34-year-old Kike Garcia.
But even behind Samu, Leeds United's Mateo Joseph has impressed with the Under-21s but remains relatively shy in front of goal in the Championship. Look across Spain's age groups and the top talent continues to be midfielders and smooth centre-backs with even cleaner passes.
that nowadays the number six was more important than the dangerous number nine. He should know – the 36-year-old has seven fewer goals than he scored last season, but the biggest difference in his Barcelona team has been the emergence of Marc Casado and Pedri as a real base in midfield. Lewandowski's improvement is in line with what's going on behind him, but there's no denying that his goals are bringing in points from all his promising play.
Lewandowski on the type of striker he is
— ` (@MagicalLewy)
One of the key changes from La Liga's salary cap and post-pandemic spending has been the shift towards what Spain does well, which is producing young talent ready for the top level. Still, it's much more likely to go for gold and polish up a good six, at least in La Liga. When you're in Spain, it's much better to invest what you have in a number nine who has goals in mind and ice in his veins.
