Who's bigging the PL up? Not me. I'm talking about relative achievements. Ronaldo winning the PL at the moment > Ronaldo winning La Liga at the moment. They are seriously underachieving in their league. What I'm saying is just so painstakingly obvious.
La Liga 2013-2014
- Thread starter jojojo
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Who's bigging the PL up? Not me. I'm talking about relative achievements. Ronaldo winning the PL at the moment > Ronaldo winning La Liga at the moment. They are seriously underachieving in their league. What I'm saying is just so painstakingly obvious.
To win the league Real still need to get the better of Barcelona and Atletico, both of whom were a classic above what the best in England could offer when they met in the Champions League. Getting to 85+ points is a given for Real in light of the vast inequalities of wealth in La Liga, but actually going that extra mile and overcoming Atletico and Barcelona is a greater task than getting the better of, for example, Liverpool and Chelsea.
I'd agree that the Premier League has been more competitive on the title race front (although not by as much as is often opined IMO). On the other hand, La Liga has been more competitive when it comes to European places and relegation.
For true competitiveness this season's Segunda is about as close as I've ever seen -- 23 points seperate top from bottom.
I think you are wrong, Ancelotti made a big mistake when played against Valencia when he decided to rest so many players then yesterday they couldn't kill the game and they paid for that. I was surprised myself when someone mention Ancelotti's record been so poor besides the 2 CL and I can see why, he had the chance to win the liga and he screwed up when this year Barcelona was the worse Barcelona in years.
Who's the first? For me Real, Bayern and Atletico (this year)
Nice take Raul. Yeah, I've been saying this for the better part of the year - it's probably the worst Barcelona side in more than 6-10 years and yet they're still in a position to win the league. A big reason why it took someone like Alexis most of 3 seasons to begin to 'fit in' as well. Even Thierry Henry looked out of place in his first season a lot of the time although he wasn't 100% fit either. Why I also think Neymar's impact has been all the more impressive since attacking players normally struggle more than he has in their first year - nevermind the distractions, new league, language, continent etc.
We'll see if Lucho is the right coach to lead this team but I'm beginning to think there are very few who can lead a squad like Barcelona. Like De Boer recently remarked, how is he going to help Iniesta or Messi get more out of their game?
We'll see if Lucho is the right coach to lead this team but I'm beginning to think there are very few who can lead a squad like Barcelona. Like De Boer recently remarked, how is he going to help Iniesta or Messi get more out of their game?
Yeah probably, he's a perfectionist. Think he'd be a lot happier if they win la Décima though.
Reyes apparently. Can't remember who Higuaín scored against though, maybe he just set one up but I remember he was decisive in a title win. Might have even been a different year, my memory is shocking
he scored a last minute goal the day pepe went nuts and got redcarded for hitting a getafe player that was on the ground
i also remember that gutti that night scored a great goal
here's a youtube vid of that game
another important goal was the one he scored against espanyol that won la liga for real madrid
Premier League doesn't hold a candle to Polish Ekstraklasa though where there are still 8 teams capable of finishing 2nd and usually there are 4-5 clubs capable of winning the league.
I've always felt that the PL is the most competitive because of the money floating around it. Every team has the capabilities to build a decent squad and spend way more than many clubs of their size should be able to. According to Wiki (could be wrong, of course) Cardiff spent 36m this season on transfers. Teams in other league's just don't have that luxury.
As far as competition goes the Bundesliga wins for me. Excluding Bayern games, that is!
As far as competition goes the Bundesliga wins for me. Excluding Bayern games, that is!
True. I guess fans and the media were getting tired of gushing over them so decided to start writing them off. Personally I think tata has done an admirable job and he has kept his dignity intact imo. A lot of other managers would have made excuses but he hasn't. With the amount of controversy surrounding barca this year with neymar, messi and his taxes, the president etc any team and manager would have struggled. I dont think tata is nearly as bad as people are suggesting. Im vey certain Barcelona will be challenging for all the big trophies next year and would not be surprised if they won the cl. People love to overreact to things. In the space of two weeks guardiola has gone from a caf favourite to boring and overrated. Same with mourinho and ancelloti has gone up in everybodys estimation.
Beating Barca to a title(add atl.m now) is more difficult than beating these current top teams in the premier league, so how can you say its a bigger achievement to win the prem? You must've been living under a rock to think they're underachieving. A barca side with messi, iniesta, and xavi is definitely tougher than city, pool, us and the rest of the rubbish we're fed here. in la liga they were up against one of the greatest teams of all times and you think they should be winning more la ligas?
@marcosdeto, cheers. Knew there were a few important goals over the years that Higuaín had scored just couldn't remember the exact moments. Found another, this one put them 2-1 up late on against Osasuna to seal the title in the 2007/08 season:
Man I miss higuain, he was and is one of my favourite players. Every year he was improving and improving until he had that back injury in 10/11 and missed most of the season. He then lost his place to benzema and had to keep competing with him to be the main striker but neither manager to nail it down. I don't really blame him for leaving as he wants to play and score as much as possible but it is sad to think what could have been and what kind of player he could have been for us had he not gotten injured at that time. Keeping benzema was probably the right decision however as he links better with others and can hold the ball up better and it would not be good to have bale, benzema and higuain all desperate to score. He is doing well at Napoli though and im delighted for him
Feels weird watching Espanyol these days without Tamudo and Luis Garcia up front.
Yeah was just thinking the same! While looking for that vid, I also found this (pretty old) one of Tamudo's best goals in La Liga. Some real beauties in there.
I loved that 06/07 team. It had more team spirit than any other Madrid team I have seen. Without van nistlerooy and casillas we wouldn't have won the league that year as we really lacked quality in so many areas. I think if we kept capello like any sane club would have done we could have improved and might have had a good crack at the cl with that team, but instead we got Schuster who didn't really improve us and the curse continued. Perhaps we wouldn't have so desperately needed Ronaldo and mourinho if we kept capello as I think he could have built a great team if given time.
Maybe not more but at a certain better than their current level possibly (specially Messi)
Does Sergi Roberto have any kind of future at Barca or is he going to be moved on this summer?
Not sure whether he'll be moved on or not but I don't think he'll ever be more than a squad player there.
Lot of cantera players had good moments with Lucho and the B team, there is speculation that if he is confirmed as coach that several players will stay with the 1st team and that includes Roberto. He really hasn't been given a whole lot of playing time under Martino to ascertain what his future at the club could be. On the one hand, he strikes me as a squad player compared to say Rafinha or Cuenca yet all of them are in very different situations wrt the club. Cuenca, in particular, looks set to leave along with a few others
So I go away for the week and La Liga's leaders fall apart. 
Some (I'm looking at you Real Madrid) more fatally than others.
The end's in sight and either Atletico or Barcelona can win it, by their own efforts.
Basically, if Barca win today, then it will be decided at the Camp Nou next week in the match between these two.
Today - All times UK
Villarreal v Rayo Vallecano 19:00
Levante v Valencia CF 21:00
Sun 11 May 2014 - Spanish La Liga
Atlético Madrid v Málaga 18:00
Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid 18:00
Elche v Barcelona 18:00
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad 16:00
Espanyol v Osasuna 18:00
Getafe v Sevilla 18:00
Granada CF v Almería 18:00
Real Betis v Real Valladolid 18:00
With a Liga title for Real Madrid only a mathematical possibility, they've switched their thoughts to the CL final. Ronaldo won't play tomorrow. Pepe, Varane, Carvajal, Di Maria are doubts. Khedira may get some minutes.
It's thought that Tata will have his full squad (except for Valdes) to choose from.
There are still doubts about whether Diego Costa is fit. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start on the bench.
Some (I'm looking at you Real Madrid) more fatally than others.
The end's in sight and either Atletico or Barcelona can win it, by their own efforts.
Basically, if Barca win today, then it will be decided at the Camp Nou next week in the match between these two.
Today - All times UK
Villarreal v Rayo Vallecano 19:00
Levante v Valencia CF 21:00
Sun 11 May 2014 - Spanish La Liga
Atlético Madrid v Málaga 18:00
Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid 18:00
Elche v Barcelona 18:00
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad 16:00
Espanyol v Osasuna 18:00
Getafe v Sevilla 18:00
Granada CF v Almería 18:00
Real Betis v Real Valladolid 18:00
With a Liga title for Real Madrid only a mathematical possibility, they've switched their thoughts to the CL final. Ronaldo won't play tomorrow. Pepe, Varane, Carvajal, Di Maria are doubts. Khedira may get some minutes.
It's thought that Tata will have his full squad (except for Valdes) to choose from.
There are still doubts about whether Diego Costa is fit. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start on the bench.
I dreamt Diego Costa was hoisting the La Liga trophy. So it's a foregone conclusion now.
So I go away for the week and La Liga's leaders fall apart.
Some (I'm looking at you Real Madrid) more fatally than others.
The end's in sight and either Atletico or Barcelona can win it, by their own efforts.
Basically, if Barca win today, then it will be decided at the Camp Nou next week in the match between these two.
Today - All times UK
Villarreal v Rayo Vallecano 19:00
Levante v Valencia CF 21:00
Sun 11 May 2014 - Spanish La Liga
Atlético Madrid v Málaga 18:00
Celta de Vigo v Real Madrid 18:00
Elche v Barcelona 18:00
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad 16:00
Espanyol v Osasuna 18:00
Getafe v Sevilla 18:00
Granada CF v Almería 18:00
Real Betis v Real Valladolid 18:00
With a Liga title for Real Madrid only a mathematical possibility, they've switched their thoughts to the CL final. Ronaldo won't play tomorrow. Pepe, Varane, Carvajal, Di Maria are doubts. Khedira may get some minutes.
It's thought that Tata will have his full squad (except for Valdes) to choose from.
There are still doubts about whether Diego Costa is fit. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start on the bench.
Surprised Diego Costa made the squad after the Atlético statement yesterday about him having a hamstring strain (but no tear), so yeah like you I'd expect him to be on the bench tomorrow.
Alba, Neymar and Piqué (...and Puyol I guess) back for Barça already?
Pepe will be out, there is even talk of him missing the final. Big loss as he has been our best defender this year.
Will Bale be fit for Real tomorrow does anyone know?
So, an important jornada today.
Mainstays for around a decade, Osasuna and Getafe, are in big trouble. At the beginning of the season I marked Osasuna for the drop as I couldn't see where they'd be getting their goals from, at first they appeared to be coping well enough (and in the process making me look foolish), but they've been terrible since March (winning just 1 out of 11!), et voilà two jornadas to go and they have the (joint) worst offense in the league with a miserable 29 goals scored in 36 games (ironically they took points off all Top-3 teams, scoring 3 v Atléti and 2 v RM). If they were to go down I'm sure fans of the top teams would cheer and rejoice at the omission of that tough Pamplona venue for at least next season.
Getafe have performed miracles staying in La Liga this long, not to mention reaching those cup finals and that one campaign in the UEFA Cup, but that's been a good while now and in recent seasons they've just been a nondescript mid-/lower-table makeweight. They face Sevilla (H), who might be more preoccupied with their upcoming EL Final, and Rayo (A), who are pretty unpredictable. Their negative head-to-head record with relegation rivals Almería and Valladolid could be decisive.
Almería and Osasuna could save themselves on the final day, as they're at home against teams who have nothing to play for anymore. Granada, 2pts clear from the relegation zone, will have a big say as they're confronting Almería and Valladolid. Elche are still also in danger, but 1 point will probably see them through -- I expect them to make life hard for Barça either way.
--
On to that then. Elche-Barça, Atlético-Málaga, Celta-RM.
Don't think Atléti will falter twice in two weeks, esp. not at home against a Málaga side who are as good as safe (mathematically they could still get relegated but very unlikely really). Barça, however, are hard to pin down at the moment. Could get tense and if they concede first again, I don't see them getting the 3pts at the moment. Celta should provide stern opposition for a demoralized Madrid side missing a lot of key players. Given the unpredictable nature of the past two months in La Liga, I wouldn't rule anything out, but it's definitely looking unlikely that RM would get back in it.
@Redo91 as far as I can tell Bale is included in the matchday squad... latest is that Benzema is unfit as well, joining Cristiano, Di María, Pepe, Varane and Carvajal.
Mainstays for around a decade, Osasuna and Getafe, are in big trouble. At the beginning of the season I marked Osasuna for the drop as I couldn't see where they'd be getting their goals from, at first they appeared to be coping well enough (and in the process making me look foolish
), but they've been terrible since March (winning just 1 out of 11!), et voilà two jornadas to go and they have the (joint) worst offense in the league with a miserable 29 goals scored in 36 games (ironically they took points off all Top-3 teams, scoring 3 v Atléti and 2 v RM). If they were to go down I'm sure fans of the top teams would cheer and rejoice at the omission of that tough Pamplona venue for at least next season.Getafe have performed miracles staying in La Liga this long, not to mention reaching those cup finals and that one campaign in the UEFA Cup, but that's been a good while now and in recent seasons they've just been a nondescript mid-/lower-table makeweight. They face Sevilla (H), who might be more preoccupied with their upcoming EL Final, and Rayo (A), who are pretty unpredictable. Their negative head-to-head record with relegation rivals Almería and Valladolid could be decisive.
Almería and Osasuna could save themselves on the final day, as they're at home against teams who have nothing to play for anymore. Granada, 2pts clear from the relegation zone, will have a big say as they're confronting Almería and Valladolid. Elche are still also in danger, but 1 point will probably see them through -- I expect them to make life hard for Barça either way.
--
On to that then. Elche-Barça, Atlético-Málaga, Celta-RM.
Don't think Atléti will falter twice in two weeks, esp. not at home against a Málaga side who are as good as safe (mathematically they could still get relegated but very unlikely really). Barça, however, are hard to pin down at the moment. Could get tense and if they concede first again, I don't see them getting the 3pts at the moment. Celta should provide stern opposition for a demoralized Madrid side missing a lot of key players. Given the unpredictable nature of the past two months in La Liga, I wouldn't rule anything out, but it's definitely looking unlikely that RM would get back in it.
@Redo91 as far as I can tell Bale is included in the matchday squad... latest is that Benzema is unfit as well, joining Cristiano, Di María, Pepe, Varane and Carvajal.
Messi trolling Gerrard too?
"We have to make the most of this and not let the chance slip," Messi said.
"We have to make the most of this and not let the chance slip," Messi said.
Messi trolling Gerrard too?
"We have to make the most of this and not let the chance slip," Messi said.
Messi trolling Gerrard too?
"We have to make the most of this and not let the chance slip," Messi said.
Messi trolling Gerrard too?
"We have to make the most of this and not let the chance slip," Messi said.
How can you hate Stevie G so much?
No Costa for Atletico today. Hopefully they can do it without him.
Ugh, all 3 of Atleti, Real and Barca playing at the same time. What a pain. Don't they know it's hard for people to watch 3 games simultaneously?
Unlucky Iniesta...
that volley, wow.
How can you not?
He's scouse and plays for Liverpool. What's not to hate?
Try as I might I just can't give a shit about Spanish football.