La Liga - 2012/2013

Yep, he was unbelievable in the Racing - Atletico game which ended 0-0. Probably one of the best goalkeeping performances I've ever seen, then he done it again at Barcelona this season and was unlucky to be beaten by Xavi's unstoppable shot.
 
From the BBC so all times are UK:

Saturday, 24 November 2012
Rayo Vallecano v Mallorca, 15:00
Valladolid v Granada, 17:00
Malaga v Valencia, 19:00
Real Betis v Real Madrid, 21:00

Sunday, 25 November 2012
Espanyol v Getafe, 11:00
Athletic Bilbao v Deportivo La Coruna, 16:00
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla, 18:00
Levante v Barcelona, 20:00

Monday, 26 November 2012
Real Zaragoza v Celta de Vigo, 20:00

Several good games possible in there. Malaga Vs Valencia would normally be the battle for third place but with Atletico's form and Valencia's lack of form (outside the CL) things are a lot more confused at the top.

Betis have made a decent start to the season and they have a good crowd so that might make a game of it. Particularly with Madrid having played on Wednesday.

Atletico V Sevilla should be a good match.

Levante are capable of putting up a fight against Barcelona, though I doubt the rain will be as impressive as when they played against Madrid and I doubt Navarro would get away with an "accidental" elbow in the face of Messi or even Villa. If Barca win they'll equal Madrid's best ever league start, they've already beaten their own club record.
 
jojojo said:
Several good games possible in there. Malaga Vs Valencia would normally be the battle for third place but with Atletico's form and Valencia's lack of form (outside the CL) things are a lot more confused at the top.

Betis have made a decent start to the season and they have a good crowd so that might make a game of it. Particularly with Madrid having played on Wednesday.

Atletico V Sevilla should be a good match.

Levante are capable of putting up a fight against Barcelona, though I doubt the rain will be as impressive as when they played against Madrid and I doubt Navarro would get away with an "accidental" elbow in the face of Messi or even Villa. If Barca win they'll equal Madrid's best ever league start, they've already beaten their own club record.
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:nono: David Navarro's dark arts skill level is not to be underestimated...

 
Malaga already 1-0 up Valencia..

How have they been this good (especially in the CL) after all their problems leading up to this season with 2 of their best players leaving at the same time. Anyone watch them frequently enough to shed some light?
 
Red Pavan said:
Malaga already 1-0 up Valencia..

How have they been this good (especially in the CL) after all their problems leading up to this season with 2 of their best players leaving at the same time. Anyone watch them frequently enough to shed some light?
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Their manager. He organized them, made them a tight clique. One of the best managers in the league.

Caballero I hadn't heard of before this season and he's surprised me. Eliseu has been in good form and really deserves a call-up. Joaquín is better now than he was mostly at Valencia. That's dangerous wing play sorted out with players like Buonanotte coming off the bench.
Then they have the promisingIsco who's coming into his own.

But the bottom line is their tight defense. Demichelis is a a good defender. Gamez and Monreal are as solid defensively as full backs can be these days. Weligton, who's their other CB, is new to me.
It's good for their defense that Toulalan has returned from injury as well. Him and Camacho give them immense help.

They are a limited team though as they rely on few attacking players to get their goals but the tactic works well enough because the defense is solid, the whole team is quick to track back and they've been quite clinical so far. It would be some achievement for the team to get out of alive of the 1st round in the CL and/or reach a CL spot in the league again.

Just goes to show how well a team can do if they work hard and minimize their mistakes and stay focused.

Valencia however have been horrible away from home. Not a single win in the league. They did beat BATE comfortably in the CL but they've been lackluster away from their city, as Ekeke can probably tell you more about.
 
Manucho scored for Real Valladolid today. Legend.
 
Valencia have been on their back heels all second half. Málaga have completely dominated them. Could easily have been more with a little better finishing and the fact that Valencia have brought them down in exchange for cards of both colors to stop that from happening.

edit: Not sure I'm wording this correctly. A bit of wrongful translation on my part again. Is the first sentence grammatically correct?
 
Snow said:
Their manager. He organized them, made them a tight clique. One of the best managers in the league.

Caballero I hadn't heard of before this season and he's surprised me. Eliseu has been in good form and really deserves a call-up. Joaquín is better now than he was mostly at Valencia. That's dangerous wing play sorted out with players like Buonanotte coming off the bench.
Then they have the promisingIsco who's coming into his own.

But the bottom line is their tight defense. Demichelis is a a good defender. Gamez and Monreal are as solid defensively as full backs can be these days. Weligton, who's their other CB, is new to me.
It's good for their defense that Toulalan has returned from injury as well. Him and Camacho give them immense help.

They are a limited team though as they rely on few attacking players to get their goals but the tactic works well enough because the defense is solid, the whole team is quick to track back and they've been quite clinical so far. It would be some achievement for the team to get out of alive of the 1st round in the CL and/or reach a CL spot in the league again.

Just goes to show how well a team can do if they work hard and minimize their mistakes and stay focused.

Valencia however have been horrible away from home. Not a single win in the league. They did beat BATE comfortably in the CL but they've been lackluster away from their city, as Ekeke can probably tell you more about.
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Good summary. Picking up on the manager point, Pellegrini is very astute in playing to his team's strengths. Namely down the flanks (where the likes of Joaquin, Monreal, Isco have caused a lot of damage), rather than through the middle (Saviola looks a better player because he's not expected to fulfill the target man role).
 
Madrid 66% of the possession, but Betis look like scoring every counter attack.
 
Great chance for Betis again, could have been 3-0 up had they been more clinical
 
That was awful from Casillas. Incredibly displicent. Is that who they are trying to sell as the best in the world?
 
Arruda said:
That was awful from Casillas. Incredibly displicent. Is that who they are trying to sell as the best in the world?
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To be fair, it was a shit pass to him. Pepe has been guilty of overplaying it at the back tonight.
 
barros said:
Then Madrid will win La Liga this year and Ronaldo wins the golden boot since Barcelona would be a team without a league :lol::lol:
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Not strangely enough the other day he (Sandro Rosell) was suggesting the creation of an "Iberian States League" or something like that, with Porto, Benfica and Sporting joining La Liga. I guess we know why he wants that.
 
Can't believe how poor Valencia were earlier, had no idea they were under-performing in the league so it came as a real shock. Had been hearing great things about Feghouli but he barely had an impact.

Would it be harsh to say Ozil's struggled somewhat over the last 12-18 months? He just looks lacking in confidence almost every time I see him compared to a couple of years ago.

Jimy_Hills_Chin said:
City have the best defensive record in the Premier League.
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Do you think they've looked like a top team defensively this year?
 
Wouldn't say he's struggled. He's still influential. Just think the teams are prepared for him more. He usually performs at the Bernabeau.
 
Incredible clearance from Nadal there, how'd they get away with that!

It's been a long time since I thought Ronaldo looks more likely to create a goal rather than score one but he's looked really threatening from wide positions. Looks a tiny bit short on confidence and sharpness in front of goal.
 
Typical Di Maria day this season - not bad, just nothing like as good as he has been for them over the past couple of years.

Nice from Kaka there, good save.
 
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