La Liga - 2012/2013

Taken from the BBC so all times are UK.

Saturday, 1 December 2012
Getafe v Malaga, 15:00
Valencia v Real Sociedad, 17:00
Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao, 19:00
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid, 21:00

Sunday, 2 December 2012
Granada v Espanyol, 11:00
Deportivo La Coruna v Real Betis, 16:00
Celta de Vigo v Levante, 18:00
Mallorca v Real Zaragoza, 20:00

Monday, 3 December 2012
Sevilla v Valladolid, 20:30

The standout match is of course the Madrid derby. Atletico lead Real Madrid by 8 points at the moment (Barcelona have 3 more than Atletico). This could be Atletico's day - after 13 years of waiting.
 
Does anyone know the last time Atletico were ahead of Madrid at Christmas?
 
Can you see Betis holding on to Benat and Castro if they don't finish in the top 4 this season?
 
Brwned said:
God damn you Gio.

Just tuned in to see Iniesta's cracker on the replays.
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Yeah, second-half was decent in the Milan - Juve match, but first half was tumescent.

Fergus' son said:
Underachievers certainly.
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Wee bit yeah, mainly unbalanced and all a little past their best - had those five been assembled nearer 1999/00 then it would have been an unstoppable collection of talent.
 
Ah the Madrid derbi. The match I least look forward to on the calendar. Hopefully 13 years of hurt will finally turn to joy for Atletico tonight, then they can finally be classed as contenders. Barca have made the best start in history, if Atletico win tonight it will be the 2nd best start in history (and still be 2nd).

Ronaldo is due a goal or 3, and I expect him to deliver tonight as he always does against Atleti.
 
Orton said:
Ah the Madrid derbi. The match I least look forward to on the calendar. Hopefully 13 years of hurt will finally turn to joy for Atletico tonight, then they can finally be classed as contenders. Barca have made the best start in history, if Atletico win tonight it will be the 2nd best start in history (and still be 2nd).

Ronaldo is due a goal or 3, and I expect him to deliver tonight as he always does against Atleti.
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Actually, unless he gets a penalty he "only" has 4 goals and 2 assists in 7 apps against Atlético. With penalties it's 7 in 7.

But I agree that he'll probably get a goal, and my prediction for the game would be either a narrow Real win or a blowout.
 
Nice cover on Marca today, "like old times":

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News from the sports gossip columns today. Ronaldo, Pepe, Coentrao, Kaka and Arbeloa arrived late at the Bernabeu last night (due to traffic jams, they got there just as their teammates were getting on the bus) - Mourinho ordered the couch to the team hotel to leave without them. Will Mou drop all five? :devil:

Incidentally the Marca readers vote combined derby team had 3 Atletico and 8 Real Madrid players with Simeone as manager.
 
Atleti opened up the Calderon this morning for training so the players could "feed off the energy" from the fans before the derby. 21 thousand people turned up, pretty amazing really.
 
Orton said:
Atleti opened up the Calderon this morning for training so the players could "feed off the energy" from the fans before the derby. 21 thousand people turned up, pretty amazing really.
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Arda Turan will be the important factor. He's the one who finds the openings in play to set up chances for Falcao and we know that if he gets chances he'll take them. If Turan is effective Madrid will have a bad night, but Turan hasnt performed in every game
 
Ekeke said:
Arda Turan will be the important factor. He's the one who finds the openings in play to set up chances for Falcao and we know that if he gets chances he'll take them. If Turan is effective Madrid will have a bad night, but Turan hasnt performed in every game
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Yeah, he has been a bit hit or miss so far this season. Still along with the others much more productive than last year. Diego Costa should always start, he isn't blessed with much skill but he will cause any defence a bunch of problems with his hard work. Changed the game a couple of weeks ago when Atletico were struggling at Granada, and played set up Koke for a goal last week against Sevilla.
 
Most important factor will be Atlético's back 4 who have been enjoying a successful season. Particularly Juanfran (current international and former Real Madrid youth) who's capable of beating a man and cross the ball down the Coentrao only flank.
 
Valencia lost home 2-5 against Real Sociedad.
 
Yea just saw that. Shocking. Valencia getting too many red cards.

That's La Liga for you. Every team in the league is capable of winning teams like Valencia big. Could you imagine Liverpool losing 5-2 at Anfield to Norwich or even an attacking team like Swansea?
 
What happened to Llorente? Has he been injured? I see he only has one goal in la Liga and noticed he played for the Europa League in Israel this week along with other second-stringers.
 
He wanted to leave in the summer and didn't want to sign a contract, walked out of a training session. Bielsa wasn't too happy about that. Been out in the cold since.
 
2-0, own goal, Xavi-Messi's work.
 
Mander said:
Dunno... looked to be on its way in goal.
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Hard to tell. He could easily have cleared it but messed it up. Will be interesting to see if that goal will end up making the difference.
I want to see it again from a different angle before deciding for myself.
 
Snow said:
2-0. Messi won't get that goal I think.
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And he shouldnt.

If they didnt count a Ronaldo goal from a free kick that took a slight deflection from the Pepe's back as being Ronaldo's goal then they shouldnt count this as Messi's goal cause it was the defenseman that put the ball in the back of the net.
 
looked like it was going to hit the post. Whether it would have went in off the post we'll never know.

Probably an OG for me
 
ricardinho said:
And he shouldnt.

If they didnt count a Ronaldo goal from a free kick that took a slight deflection from the Pepe's back as being Ronaldo's goal then they shouldnt count this as Messi's goal cause it was the defenseman that put the ball in the back of the net.
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Not the same. Pepe's on the same team. Player with the last touch, deflection or not, always get's the goal. It's different when it's a member of the opposing team. Always been like that.
 
ricardinho said:
And he shouldnt.

If they didnt count a Ronaldo goal from a free kick that took a slight deflection from the Pepe's back as being Ronaldo's goal then they shouldnt count this as Messi's goal cause it was the defenseman that put the ball in the back of the net.
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That decision on Ronnies goal was a complete joke tbh, no way was that Pepes goal.
 
LTS10 said:
looked like it was going to hit the post. Whether it would have went in off the post we'll never know.

Probably an OG for me
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I missed the replays. Did you get to see an angle in line with the shot, front or back?
 
ricardinho said:
And he shouldnt.

If they didnt count a Ronaldo goal from a free kick that took a slight deflection from the Pepe's back as being Ronaldo's goal then they shouldnt count this as Messi's goal cause it was the defenseman that put the ball in the back of the net.
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Without being able to recall the free kick, wouldn't it be more of a case of "would have gone in anyway", and seeing as Messi's ball was a bit from crossing the line, it probably wouldn't have mattered... but I think they'll call it an own goal.
 
ricardinho said:
And he shouldnt.

If they didnt count a Ronaldo goal from a free kick that took a slight deflection from the Pepe's back as being Ronaldo's goal then they shouldnt count this as Messi's goal cause it was the defenseman that put the ball in the back of the net.
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You have it wrong; deflection by opponent is a goal if it was on target or an own-goal if it wasn't on target; deflection by team-mate is always the team-mates goal.

But I agree that it shouldn't be his goal, think it would have hit the post, so an OG for me.
 
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