This season, all eyes are on La Liga. A league historically dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona got a fresh contender in Atletico Madrid a few years ago. Even though the Diego Simeone project had yielded just one La Liga title, the fact that there was another positive for the league.
This season however, with four rounds to go, there are four teams in the running for the championship. The last time the league was this competitive was over four decades ago.
"It's sort of a dream finish for La Liga. It has been very competitive throughout. Atletico was a bit ahead a few months ago, but Madrid and Barca came back strong. Sevilla also had an excellent season. Hard to say who has the easiest or the hardest fixtures left, so it will be very interesting to see," said Frederic Kanoute during a media interaction on Tuesday.
While the Mali international didn't name the favourites, his heart clearly yearns to see Sevilla, where he spent seven years, win the title.
Sevilla is the outlier this season. Yes, their loss against Athletic Bilbao on Monday has made the task harder. But the fact that they travel to Madrid on Sunday, with Atletico taking on Barcelona the day prior, means that the opportunity still remains.
In years before their chances would have been written off considering the spending prowess and performance level of the other three, but this season laid bare the best and worst of the top three.
At one point, it looked like Atletico - buoyed by the form of Luis Suarez - would win at a canter. But their 10 point lead has been shredded down to two due to their recent inconsistency. Real and Barcelona started slow but have slowly gained momentum. Barcelona were a mess with their finances, elections and Lionel Messi’s potential exit for much of the season before they hit a groove under Ronald Koeman. Even then, with the fate of their season in their own hands, they lost to Granada to throw open the race once again.
Real too struggled in the early part of the season and has been dragged back into contention by Karim Benzema. Zinedine Zidane’s men have always switched on when push comes to shove. But their plans will have to be subtle as they play their Champions League semifinal second leg against Chelsea on Thursday and Zidane, more than any other, is aware that Real's legacy is built on the back of their European conquest.
Sevilla, with Julen Lopetegui at the helm, have just been largely consistent.
"Since Sevilla lost yesterday, they will be hurt and will want to win against Madrid for sure. It's a big credit to them (for their performance) for the season," said Kanoute.
"You can't even imagine what it would mean for the city and fans. I would love to even go there if they become champions. We have had a lot of success in the past but no La Liga title for a long time. In 2007-08 we were very close but in the end we couldn't hold down the rhythm. It looks a bit more complicated now but we still have hope so we will see. I think this weekend's fixtures will give an indication. It is crazy to see these two fixtures in one weekend, for sure it will give a proper mental and psychological advantage to the ones who win this weekend."
The former Tottenham Hotspur striker also weighed in on the recent protest against racism by players, clubs and stakeholders in football, who opted to quit social media for the weekend, to show their displeasure against racism and how little is being done to stop it on the social media platforms.
"I support it because we have to find a way and come back to decency with social media. It can harm a lot of people so we have to use it with more control," he said. "We never do enough. Now we realise the effect racism can have on society, football is like a magnifying glass. So this is just a microcosm of what is happening in society. We have to do more and act in a stronger fashion," he said.