Coaches and players in the Spanish League have always had their own expressions. Here we review 10 famous quotes from the history of Spanish football that still bring a smile... or a headache!
"A game without goals is like a Sunday without sun" (Alfredo Di Stefano)
This is how the legend of Real Madrid and one of the greatest of all time summed up what he wanted to see during the 90 minutes of the game: "A game without goals is like a Sunday without sun". Poetic.
"Quality without results is useless. Results without quality are boring" (Johan Cruyff)
Wise words and a very clear football philosophy for the great Johan Cruyff, who has since passed away. Few could claim to have revolutionized the world of football as much as the unpredictable Dutchman, who shone with FC Barcelona in the 70s and coached the iconic 'Dream Team' in the 90s.
- Matchday, the documentary series that tells all the secrets of FC Barcelona
"Win, win, and win again" (Luis Aragonés)
This is what the coach and winner of the 2008 Eurocup and cult hero of Atlético de Madrid, Luis Aragonés, said about the basic goal of football: "To win and win and win and win and win again. And win and win and win and win. That's football". Something impossible to refute.
"I asked for a sofa and they brought me a lamp" (Rafa Benítez)
What did the former Valencia coach, Rafa Benítez, say when he wanted his club to renew a full-back and ended up with the signing of Uruguayan Fabián Canobbio? "It's like if I had asked for a sofa and they bought me a lamp".
"If you don't have a dog for hunting and you have a cat, you go with it" (José Mourinho)
The then coach of Real Madrid, Mourinho, when having to make do "only" with Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema as central forwards during his time as coach of Real Madrid, said: "If you don't have a dog for hunting and you only have a cat, well, you take the cat".
"I see myself in the trading cards dressed as Real Madrid and I don't recognize myself" (Luis Enrique)
The current coach of Spain faced controversy in 1996 when he crossed the dividing line of El Clásico, from Real Madrid to FC Barcelona. He became an icon in Camp Nou and has never hidden that he felt more comfortable with the Blaugrana than in the capital. He is famous for his comment: "When I see myself dressed in white in the trading cards, I don't recognize myself".
- The origins of FC Barcelona's red and blue shirts
"Game by game" (Diego Simeone)
The response of Cholo whenever asked if his team, Atlético de Madrid, can win the LaLiga title, which he often gives with a smile, especially when they came close to the title in 2013/14: "We go game by game". The phrase has become a LaLiga mantra nowadays.
"On Saturday, I already think that the same eleven bastards have to play again" (John Toshack)
The Welsh coach of Real Madrid, John Toshack, explained his way of thinking in the following week after a calamitous away game against Rayo Vallecano: "On Mondays, I always think about changing ten players, on Tuesdays seven or eight, on Thursdays four, on Fridays two, and on Saturday, I already think that the same eleven bastards have to play".
"Always negative, never positive" (Louis van Gaal)
The legendary and furious response of the former coach of Barça, Van Gaal, to a journalist who asked a (slightly) critical question during a press conference in his first stage as coach of Barcelona in 1999: "You are very bad! Always negative interpretation, never positive". With his strong accent, which made "positive" and "negative" sound more like "positifo" and "negatifo", that press conference marked Van Gaal with the label of "always negative" for the rest of his stay in Catalonia.
"Playing against Barcelona so much is like going to the dentist three times" (Joaquín Caparrós)
The coach of Levante didn't beat around the bush when the fixtures crossed in a way that his team had to face Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona three times in a row, both in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey, in January 2014: "Playing against Barcelona so much is like going to the dentist three times". (D)