La Liga - 2014/15

Barragan earns a penalty and Parejo converts. Valencia look set to retain the 4th place.
 
Skorenzy said:
No, I didn't. I saw a team that was defensively unsound, but extremely disciplined going forward, creating chance after chance and dominating for the majority of the game. Their defensive instability was a direct consequence of their gameplan that was based around pressing high up the field and looking for vertical passing combinations between the lines, which is inherently incredibly risky (and even more against a side like RM that thrives in transitions with loads of space) and requires them to push a lot of bodies up the pitch to support their attacks. Do you think they would have fared better had they just stuck every man, woman and child behind the ball around their own box for 90 minutes? They'd have probably only conceded 1 or 2 goals, but wouldn't have scored any themselves, in my opinion (they don't have the players to "park the bus" anyway). It's also important to note that RM only really continually got loads of space on the break in the 2nd half when Celta were chasing an equaliser.

It's the same old bs, perpetuated by conservative pundits that paint offensive tactics as "indisciplined" regardless of whether they're calculated risks (just like how attacking full-backs are rubbish defensively)... Celta didn't just improvise all of that wonderful attacking play, it's the result of positional training and tactical choices (as described above). They were defensively unsound because of it, sure, but I don't see how you can call it tactically indisciplined when it's an expected product of their strategy in the first place to leave that space (mostly because they were man-marking in MF). They took risks, it almost paid off (who knows if the ref calls one of those two penalty incidents). You may question Berrizzo's tactics, but they largely worked in their games against Atléti and Barça, and again tonight for the most part.
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What does parking the bus have to do with being tactically disciplined? Even great offensive team have a degree of tactical discipline in them, that Celta Vigo performance did not. That's typical wigan(under martinez) football where a team commits almost the whole team forward, dominating the ball but also being wide open at the back.

The concept is simple. Teams have to defend when the attack, if they don't, they are going to be liable to conceding goals and that's why they were. No organized unit is conceding that cheech goal, just tragic stuff really.

You can't play football with the notion that we are just going to attack and attack even more without really devising a plan of stopping the opposition. If there's that much space between the lines of a team that's always attacking then defending is going to be an impossible task, as it proved.
 
I don't understand what your point is. Celta is a relegation candidate normally. They got promoted 2 seasons ago and just about escaped relegation by 1 point after coming up. Now they are comfortable midtable while playing great offensive football. They've beaten Real Madrid last season and Barca this season. With 38 goals conceded they are also far from a defensive desaster. As a comparison, that's only 8 goals more than Real Madrid have conceded so far this season (30) and only 1 more than Sevilla (37) who are fighting for top 4 and are EL semi-finalists. Real Madrid just happen to be one of the few teams who can punish them for their high defensive line. I doubt any of their fans have much to complain about though over the course of the season. So, again, I don't understand what your criticism is exactly. What Celta are doing should be praised and not criticised.

The Wigan comparison is also completely off. Wigan conceded 73 goals when they went down and 79 in 09/10 when they escaped relegation. Celta's defending is nowhere near Wigan level.
 
Sean_RedDevil said:
Another impressive win for Valencia tonight....4-0 against Granada.

I really hope Valencia are getting the 4th place, keeping their best player over the summer and then qualifying for the CL group stage.
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Me too. Quite a likeable team IMO.

With Sevilla still in EL, there could be 5 Spanish teams in the CL. It'd be an impressive feat.
 
DesiBD said:
Me too. Quite a likeable team IMO.

With Sevilla still in EL, there could be 5 Spanish teams in the CL. It'd be an impressive feat.
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Yeah i really hope FC Sevilla are winning the EL and are getting an place in the CL next season too.
They are losing their best players every season but still they're doing so well. They would win the 4th EL trophy in the last 10 years (Outstanding!!!).
 
Sean_RedDevil said:
Another impressive win for Valencia tonight....4-0 against Granada.

I really hope Valencia are getting the 4th place, keeping their best player over the summer and then qualifying for the CL group stage.
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I think they'll keep most of their players. The two biggest at risk are Otamendi(loosely linked to us) and Gaya(strongly linked with Real Madrid). Gaya especially is proving difficult as latest contract negotiations have broken down (apparently wants 30m release clause) bit similar to DDG situation i guess and Madrid are sniffing about. A top striker is need although Negredo is showing glimpses of his old form recently. Regardless i think they'll be equally as strong or most likely better next season. This is a young squad and will go far if they hold on to the core group of players.

DesiBD said:
Me too. Quite a likeable team IMO.

With Sevilla still in EL, there could be 5 Spanish teams in the CL. It'd be an impressive feat.
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Sevilla lost Pareja though, he's out for the season and he's their main rock in defense. Also their captain. Without him it will prove difficult but not impossible.
 
Also latest rumor but highly improbable is they want to brink David Silva back to Valencia. He is still well loved by the fans and i think his departure hurt the most because he is a youth product. Silva also said last month - 'I am not thinking about (returning to La Liga) at the moment. If I had to return to Valencia, I would not rule that out'.:devil:
 
prarek said:
Also latest rumor but highly improbable is they want to brink David Silva back to Valencia. He is still well loved by the fans and i think his departure hurt the most because he is a youth product. Silva also said last month - 'I am not thinking about (returning to La Liga) at the moment. If I had to return to Valencia, I would not rule that out'.:devil:
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:drool:

Increased competition in La Liga as well as weakening City. Win-win.
 
Sean_RedDevil said:
Another impressive win for Valencia tonight....4-0 against Granada.

I really hope Valencia are getting the 4th place, keeping their best player over the summer and then qualifying for the CL group stage.
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I hope too,everybody is excited about the future and Lin,the new owner,however I think that there is some fear.The previous foreign owners(Racing and Málaga) were not what they promised.We will see if he invests properly this summer
 
Cait Sith said:
I don't understand what your point is. Celta is a relegation candidate normally. They got promoted 2 seasons ago and just about escaped relegation by 1 point after coming up. Now they are comfortable midtable while playing great offensive football. They've beaten Real Madrid last season and Barca this season. With 38 goals conceded they are also far from a defensive desaster. As a comparison, that's only 8 goals more than Real Madrid have conceded so far this season (30) and only 1 more than Sevilla (37) who are fighting for top 4 and are EL semi-finalists. Real Madrid just happen to be one of the few teams who can punish them for their high defensive line. I doubt any of their fans have much to complain about though over the course of the season. So, again, I don't understand what your criticism is exactly. What Celta are doing should be praised and not criticised.

The Wigan comparison is also completely off. Wigan conceded 73 goals when they went down and 79 in 09/10 when they escaped relegation. Celta's defending is nowhere near Wigan level.
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My point is that celta's defending vs madrid was filled with tactically indiscipline. Jesus christ, is it that hard to understand the game of football?
 
DesiBD said:
:drool:

Increased competition in La Liga as well as weakening City. Win-win.
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exactly. ;)


carvajal said:
I hope too,everybody is excited about the future and Lin,the new owner,however I think that there is some fear.The previous foreign owners(Racing and Málaga) were not what they promised.We will see if he invests properly this summer
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Those are genuine concerns but i can already see a world of difference between Lim and Al Thani not only in their approach but also their profile. Lim has been involved in football for a long time, also owns a portion of Mclaren. Its clear Al Thani always had one eye on Marbella port. Also Valencia only need a couple of signings here and there. Most important thing is to hold the team together and they will be fine. Most of his signings have made a big impact already.
 
Matchday 34 -28/30 Apr: The league where no one can drop points
A full mid-week program in La Liga this week.

Tuesday
Barcelona-Getafe (20:00 - all times Spain, so this is 7pm UK)
Athletic-Real Sociedad (22:00)
Levante-Córdoba (22:00)

Wednesday
Celta-Málaga (20:00)
Eibar-Sevilla (20:00)
Real Madrid-Almería (20:00)
Elche-Deportivo (22:00)
Villarreal-Atlético (22:00)

Thursday
Rayo-Valencia (20:00)
Granada-Espanyol (22:00)


If Barcelona were playing at Getafe, this game could be a banana skin - it's happened before. Barca are away to bottom place Cordoba at the weekend and then home to Bayern after that. However, provided they aren't counting too many chickens before they hatch, tonight's match should be straightforward. Pique is rested. Alba is suspended. Vermaelen, though back in training, isn't in the squad.

Real Madrid's eyes are on Sevilla and Juventus. Injuries have taken Modric, Bale, Benzema, Khedira out of the squad. Ramos and Carvajal are suspended. Jese and Navas are expected to start and Odegaard may be on the bench. They should still be too strong for Almeria, but it's a lot of changes to absorb and you always wonder about the players' concentration in this kind of situation.

Villareal have poor in recent weeks (their last 5 matches, W0, D4, L1) and really need to do something to protect their Europa place. I'd expect Atletico to have to work for a result, but they are good at that. The sub-plot here is that a defeat for Atletico potentially leaves them in danger of missing third place - in other words they may have something to fight for in their match with Barca. Flipside is of course that Real Madrid have to beat Sevilla and Valencia for it to matter in the title chase, in which case the chasing pack won't be so close. The joys of maths.
 
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I'm not entirely sure how the seeding works but is it possible for Valencia (if they finish 4th) to be drawn against the 4th placed English team for the CL qualifier? That'd be a tricky tie.
 
Mogget said:
I'm not entirely sure how the seeding works but is it possible for Valencia (if they finish 4th) to be drawn against the 4th placed English team for the CL qualifier? That'd be a tricky tie.
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I think so, yes.
 
Mogget said:
I'm not entirely sure how the seeding works but is it possible for Valencia (if they finish 4th) to be drawn against the 4th placed English team for the CL qualifier? That'd be a tricky tie.
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Cait Sith said:
I think so, yes.
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No!!!
The seeding order will be decided as per the club coefficient rankings and one of the english clubs & Valencia (FC Sevilla too) will be in the seeded section.
 
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XI Barça vs Getafe: Bravo; Alves, Bartra, Mathieu, Adriano; Busquets, Xavi, Rafinha; Messi, Neymar y Luis Suárez.

Nice starting lineup for us. Should do the job, fingers crossed!
 
Last two results against Getafe,

Barça 2-2 Getafe (last season)
Getafe 0-0 Barça

Suárez in great form lately, could be huge.
 
Messi with a panenka, 1-0

Won by Suárez, might've been just outside the area?
 
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