La Liga 2017/18

[Daysleeper]

Unbeaten record is amazing but any Barca fan would surely trade that for the CL Final this month.

Speaking of unbeaten records, it's happened a lot more than many would think. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_season#Association_football

Juventus and Porto (twice) have been done it recently. The great Milan side did so in the early 90s. Arsenal were simply media darlings in those days and thus drew fare more hyperbole. The CL, FA Cup, and League Cup were there for the taking that season and they choked it away in typical Arsenal fashion.

And look at how many teams won the European cup back to back prior to 1992. Happened a bunch of times but people want to act like right now it’s never happened in history.

It’s funny to see people downplay Barca potentially going undefeated when I’d argue it’s harder to go undefeated for a season than it is to win the CL for a season.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Let's put the inevitable question : If Barca win the league undefeated + Cup, and Madrid won their 3rd CL in a row, which team would their fans be happier ?

In terms of legacy and satisfaction,

Winning CL always > winning league
But winning league undefeated maybe > winning CL
However 3-peating CL definitely > winning league undefeated

Just my opinion.

 

[MVBDX]

3-peat CL > b2b CL > CL > Winning the league by double digit points > undefeated but single digit points > single digit points

The ref helped them as much as he could though, in order of occurrence [incomplete]:

- Ronnie's great chance was wrongly called offside right at the beginning
- can't embed media, google "Messi blatantly punching Marcelo in the back" a clear yellow at the very least.
- 2nd Messi foul this time on Ramos, should've seen a straight red, and this was before every other red worthy incident, he had clear intent to hurt the opposition with both feet, and he should've gotten a yellow at least from before, if it was Ramos he'd have gotten a 3 match ban.
- Then Alba should've been red carded for the neck grab
- Then Bale for hitting Umtiti
[Then Roberto got red carded which was the right decision, even though Marcelo exaggerated, it's always a red for hitting the opp with hand like that]

- Then Suarez' goal which was a clear foul on Varane, and should've been his 2nd yellow (4th Barca player that should've seen red, dived countless other times as well with the sole intention of getting opp players sent off but still didn't get the 2nd yellow)
- Then the clear penalty on Marcelo which wasn't called
etc. etc.

That 2nd big decision alone (not sending Messi off) could've been the ending point of the match.

 

[Daysleeper]

3-peat CL > b2b CL > CL > Winning the league by double digit points > undefeated but single digit points > single digit points

The ref helped them as much as he could though, in order of occurrence [incomplete]:

- Ronnie's great chance was wrongly called offside right at the beginning
- Messi should've been red carded before everybody else, clear intent to hurt the opposition with both feet, if it was Ramos he'd have gotten a 3 match ban.
- Then Alba should've been red carded for the neck grab
- Then Bale for hitting Umtiti
[Then Roberto got red carded which was the right decision, even though Marcelo exaggerated, it's always a red for hitting the opp with hand like that]

- Then Suarez' goal which was a clear foul on Varane, and should've been his 2nd yellow (4th Barca player that should've seen red, dived countless other times as well with the sole intention of getting opp players sent off but still didn't get the 2nd yellow)
- Then the clear penalty on Marcelo which wasn't called
etc. etc.

That 2nd big decision alone (not sending Messi off) could've been the ending point of the match.

Jesus Christ

Ref was terrible to BOTH sides. Suarez had a goal wrongly called offside, bale should’ve seen red, his second goal shouldn’t have happened in that case.

Marcelo deserved a penalty, and Madrid dived too, a ton actually. Marcelo deserves an Oscar, Ramos was instigating a ton of crap and threw an elbow on Suarez to start that.

2-2 is a very fair result, Madrid should’ve done more being up a man and Barca also had some poor calls go against them as did Madrid. Far too much bias in your post to miss all the things that went against Barca

 

[MVBDX]

Jesus Christ

Red was terrible to BOTH sides. Suarez had a goal wrongly called offside, bale should’ve seen red, his second goal shouldn’t have happened in that case.

Marcelo deserved a penalty, and Madrid dived too, a ton actually. Marcelo deserves an Oscar, Ramos was instigating a ton of crap and threw an elbow on Suarez to start that.

2-2 is a very fair result, Madrid should’ve done more being up a man and Barca also had some poor calls go against them as did Madrid.

I covered most of the big decisions in order of occurrence, while you're just all over the place... he favored them heavily, and when it was all done and dusted, called one of their goals offside, at that point even 3 goals couldn't have make up for what he did. i.e. who needs Bale to score a goal when Barca should be playing with 9 men (or 7 at the time he scored) already?

 

[Daysleeper]

I covered most of the big decisions in order of occurrence, while you're just all over the place... he favored them heavily, and when it was all done and dusted, called one of their goals offside, at that point even 3 goals couldn't have make up for what he did. i.e. who needs Bale to score a goal when Barca should be playing with 9 men already?

And no mention of the Suarez goal wrongly called offside? If Madrid couldn’t score more than once when it was 11 vs 10 why would they score then once ten vs nine?

Barca should not have been down to nine men, if that’s the case several Madrid players should’ve seen additional for divings and theatrics as much as Barca.

You make it sound like Madrid were robbed blindly when both teams got a terrible referee performance and were denied goals or goal scoring opportunities. 2-2 is a very fair result, Madrid should’ve done more being up a man

 

[Pocho]

The ref was horrible, but in my opinión it was for both sides

 

[MVBDX]

If Madrid couldn’t score more than once when it was 11 vs 10 why would they score then once ten vs nine?

Barca should not have been down to nine men, if that’s the case several Madrid players should’ve seen additional for divings and theatrics as much as Barca.

You make it sound like Madrid were robbed blindly when both teams got a terrible referee performance and were denied goals or goal scoring opportunities. 2-2 is a very fair result, Madrid should’ve done more being up a man

Had Messi been red carded (way before everybody else) who'd have scored Barca's 2nd goal? Or if the ref had called Suarez' foul? Where would Suarez be to score a goal to be called offside or not? Order of occurrence is key mate.

Even before Roberto's red Madrid were by far the better side, but the ref favoring Barca heavily got into their heads, that and Ronnie's injury coupled with tired legs from CL match.

 

[Daysleeper]

Had Messi been red carded (way before everybody else) who'd have scored Barca's 2nd goal? Or if the ref had called Suarez' foul? Where would Suarez be to score a goal to be called offside or not? Order of occurrence is key mate.

Even before Roberto's red Madrid were by far the better side, but the ref favoring Barca heavily got into their heads, that and Ronnie's injury coupled with tired legs from CL match.

LOL what, Bale’s blatant red card tackle (which he got NO card for) was happening long before the refs balatant favouritism for Barca as you call it. Ramos was elbowing Suarez, he should’ve been sent off, Marcelo was diving all over the place, the ref had SEVERAL calls against Barca. The refs weren’t the reason Madrid only got a draw, Barca actually looked better once they won’t down to ten men and should’ve scored more themselves. 2-2 is a fair result and the ref was bad to both sides. I know you want to keep making excuses but Madrid should’ve won the match up a man, simple as that. They were quite toothless in the second half. It happens.

 

[Prometheus]

LOL what, Bale’s blatant red card tackle (which he got NO card for) was happening long before the refs balatant favouritism for Barca as you call it. Ramos was elbowing Suarez, he should’ve been sent off, Marcelo was diving all over the place, the ref had SEVERAL calls against Barca. The refs weren’t the reason Madrid only got a draw, Barca actually looked better once they won’t down to ten men and should’ve scored more themselves. 2-2 is a fair result and the ref was bad to both sides. I know you want to keep making excuses but Madrid should’ve won the match up a man, simple as that. They were quite toothless in the second half. It happens.

That's nonsense. Suarez was diving as he always does. It's his trademark. He actually pretended to have had his career ended at the end of the game to have time wasted, as usual. Bale should have been carded for the challenge near the linesman, but the ref couldn't see it, and the lines man was so close on the wrong side that he didn't see it - they were basically in his face. The ref saw the Marcelo challenge. It was obvious that he didn't want to give it because Barca's unbeaten run ending would mean the decisions in the game would be too scrutinised. That Ramos should have been sent off for the Suarez dive is so reaching that it's funny!

 

[Zehner]

I think there were two potentially game deciding referee mistakes for/against both sides. Bale (who later scored the equalizer) should have been sent off and Real was also lucky that Suarez' second goal was incorrectly denied. On the other hand, Messi's goal should not have been counted due to Suarez' foul on Varane and Marcelo should've gotten a penalty. You could also argue that Ramos could've been sent off for his tactical foul when he already was on a yellow card. I think in the end, neither Real nor Barca have reason to complain. The referee has been really, really bad but effectively no team profited from it.

 

[Daysleeper]

That's nonsense. Suarez was diving as he always does. It's his trademark. He actually pretended to have had his career ended at the end of the game to have time wasted, as usual. Bale should have been carded for the challenge near the linesman, but the ref couldn't see it, and the lines man was so close on the wrong side that he didn't see it - they were basically in his face. The ref saw the Marcelo challenge. It was obvious that he didn't want to give it because Barca's unbeaten run ending would mean the decisions in the game would be too scrutinised. That Ramos should have been sent off for the Suarez dive is so reaching that it's funny!

BS, Bale deserved a red, Ramos absolutely deserved a second yellow at some point, Madrid players were making dirty tackles FAR more often than Barca players were.

It's hilarious to say the ref wanted to keep Barca's unbeaten streak alive when Suarez had his goal wrongly called offside, gave a straight red to Roberto (which was deserved). Marcelo was diving like a mad man, throwing elbows and deserving of a yellow himself at various points of the match.

And absolutely hilarious to criticize Suarez for time wasting and Asnesio does the same crap against Bayern but you don't bat an eye.


The ref was crap to both sides, and you can even say a little worse to Madrid, but at the end of the day 2-2 is a fair result. Madrid should have done more being up a man.

 

[Raru9]

How Bale can be so bad in Madrid? You compare with the Bale in Spurs and you think is 2 diferent players.

 

[docgunner]

Bale had a free-wheeling, ronaldo like role at spurs, didn't he? I think that brought out the best of his attacking style. Whereas at madrid he has to limit himself. The whole club has to play around ronaldo. I'm not sure he has been so bad either at RM. Just been unfit for stretches.

 

[docgunner]

Pretty sure the ref missed it momentarily on account of players being in his line of sight. The lino should've caught it. I can't blame the refs in games like these when it's one guy having to manage 22 grown cnuts acting like underage pussies.

EDIT: this was a reply to the blackwidow post at the top of the page. Can't embed videos apparently yet.

 

[Cal?]

When you see all the Barca fans and Messi brigade claiming the ref did neither side any favors, it's pretty clear that the ref saved Barca's unbeaten record.

 

[kouroux]

How Bale can be so bad in Madrid? You compare with the Bale in Spurs and you think is 2 diferent players.

He has lost his pace and most importantly his confidence. At Spurs, he was their star and also the pressure to perform was a lot lower. Real Madrid have the harshest fans in the world.

 

[giorno]

Let's put the inevitable question : If Barca win the league undefeated + Cup, and Madrid won their 3rd CL in a row, which team would their fans be happier ?

Who do you think?

I'll let you in on this: if a god offered barcelona to lose the clasico in exchange for liverpool winning the CL, they would have lost the clasico 6-0

 

[giorno]

If Marcelo penalty was given and they were defeated, quite obviously they will be rated lower than now(assuming they will go undefeated in the remaning games). I dont think they care about having better league campaigns earlier, all they cared today was to protect their undefeated camapaign, and Madrid came to win to prevent that. But they could not.

The label 'invincibles' is too rare and obviously they are happy about it. Ask 100 of their supporters, what do they want - Undefeated campaign or a better campaign( if that is even possible) and I am certain all 100 will ask for invincible campaign.

I guarantee you 90% of them would trade seasons in a heartbeat if we win in Kiev

 

[giorno]

How Bale can be so bad in Madrid? You compare with the Bale in Spurs and you think is 2 diferent players.

Club wants him gone and he knows it is my guess.

He was great his first season and absolutely amazing all of 2016. Injuries were the real problem, along with the team seemingly performing better without him

 

[Di Maria's angel]

That was exactly my point

Apologies. I thought you were being sarcastic.

 

[FootballHQ]

How Bale can be so bad in Madrid? You compare with the Bale in Spurs and you think is 2 diferent players.

This the same Bale who scored a class equaliser and did a great amount of defensive donkey work?

Yes I know he should've been red carded but regardless was his best performance of the season which is important considering he dosen't start the big games anymore so will stake a claim for place in the final.

He's had many injuries so can't fly down the wing at 100mph anymore. Think Giggs before and after 30 and how his role changed at Man. United.

 

[Swift Football]

I guarantee you 90% of them would trade seasons in a heartbeat if we win in Kiev

If you win, then they will, if not then they wont. And i was just comparing how much they would want to be undefeated in the league given at this point they are already out of CL.

 

[RoyH1]

I guarantee you 90% of them would trade seasons in a heartbeat if we win in Kiev

As crazy as it sounds I believe to be true. I have a mate that's a Barsa supporter who says that its unbelieably unfair that Madrid wins all these CL's in the era of Messi. Like it it was cosmically preordained that Messi should win them.

 

[Ishdalar]

3-peat CL > b2b CL > CL > Winning the league by double digit points > undefeated but single digit points > single digit points

The ref helped them as much as he could though, in order of occurrence [incomplete]:

- Ronnie's great chance was wrongly called offside right at the beginning
- can't embed media, google "Messi blatantly punching Marcelo in the back" a clear yellow at the very least.
- 2nd Messi foul this time on Ramos, should've seen a straight red, and this was before every other red worthy incident, he had clear intent to hurt the opposition with both feet, and he should've gotten a yellow at least from before, if it was Ramos he'd have gotten a 3 match ban.
- Then Alba should've been red carded for the neck grab
- Then Bale for hitting Umtiti
[Then Roberto got red carded which was the right decision, even though Marcelo exaggerated, it's always a red for hitting the opp with hand like that]

- Then Suarez' goal which was a clear foul on Varane, and should've been his 2nd yellow (4th Barca player that should've seen red, dived countless other times as well with the sole intention of getting opp players sent off but still didn't get the 2nd yellow)
- Then the clear penalty on Marcelo which wasn't called
etc. etc.

That 2nd big decision alone (not sending Messi off) could've been the ending point of the match.

Time to get down on the dirt.

Ronaldo was offside for 16cm, so not wrongly called offside, done both in the halftime report and Spanish tv show El Chiringuito, who are anything but Barça-biased

Spoiler

Then Alba should've been red carded for the neck grab

So, we're all ignoring that Modric starts the whole thing shoving Alba so he can't start with a quick foul, or, what triggers me most, that at the same time that Alba shoves Modric at the height of the neck (call it choking, call it pushing) he throws a slap at Alba's face?.

Surely, if you want to send off Alba for that, you'd have to agree that Modric has to get a red too, because you can't aim to land a blow/slap/whatever at another player's face, that's a red card any day of the week, we're not looking at a 10vs11 in this action, if we judge it as fair as you want, this is 10vs10

 

[VBI]

I wouldn't exchange a league and cup double for the CL. I wouldn't have in 2016 and I wouldn't now. 2 major trophies > 1 major trophy, and a head to head aggregate win over the opponent in question. Cup teams are inherently inferior teams to teams that dominate leagues, this is common logic. If we only won the league OR the Copa, sure, I'd swap that for the CL. But not both. It's easy to look like a good team when you only turn up 10-12 times a season. Try putting in that effort 40 or more times a season. Madrid can't, which is why they have been quite a bit behind Barca in trophies won in the past 10-12 years.

The ref was shite, because they are always shite in Spain. "Favouring Barca" FFS If that rat Ramos played in another league, he'd be in fecking jail by now. If Messi should be sent off for some imaginary red card offence, why is Marcelo not getting 2 yellows, or Bale not getting a straight red for an assault? The linesman was right there FFS. I think the decisions in this one largely worked out about the same, and thus a draw was a fair result.

 

[carvajal]

Wass can be near Valencia

Caparrós likes Roque Mesa and wants to buy him.Layún too

 

[carvajal]

Chongqinq's president says they won't sign Iniesta

 

[rm4eva]

The last Clasico has convinced me even more that this Madrid team's cycle has come to an end. The entire team was so lethargic despite being one man up. Varane has had an awful season and I'm not sure if he will improve. Should sell him for a decent price. Modric's legs have gone. Bale is a two-season wonder. Benzema has lost his acceleration, movement and creativity. And this is the last time we will get big money for Ronaldo (2nd consecutive season where he has had a terrible first third of the season) and James (good player but not a right fit). Its time to get fresh players across the team.
OUT: Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Varane, James, Modric
IN (ideally): Eriksen, Dybala, Skriniar, Hazard, Alaba

 

[Daysleeper]

I guarantee you 90% of them would trade seasons in a heartbeat if we win in Kiev

I would take a CL win over undefeated season for sure.

The only thing is, considering that this was supposed to be the worst Barca team of the decade after Neymar left, potentially going undefeated is one hell of an accomplishment, and would rightfully be remembered in the history books.

 

[Daysleeper]

The last Clasico has convinced me even more that this Madrid team's cycle has come to an end. The entire team was so lethargic despite being one man up. Varane has had an awful season and I'm not sure if he will improve. Should sell him for a decent price. Modric's legs have gone. Bale is a two-season wonder. Benzema has lost his acceleration, movement and creativity. And this is the last time we will get big money for Ronaldo (2nd consecutive season where he has had a terrible first third of the season) and James (good player but not a right fit). Its time to get fresh players across the team.
OUT: Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Varane, James, Modric
IN (ideally): Eriksen, Dybala, Skriniar, Hazard, Alaba

You guys will have like 500 million in spending money this summer. What's scary for the rest of the world is that you're ending an era but still the favorites tot win the CL. Madrid will only be better next season.

 

[rm4eva]

You guys will have like 500 million in spending money this summer. What's scary for the rest of the world is that you're ending an era but still the favorites tot win the CL. Madrid will only be better next season.

Not sure about the 500 million as we need to make stadium upgrades. However, we need to make changes before next season becomes a write-off.

 

[SfcNervion]

Wass can be near Valencia

Caparrós likes Roque Mesa and wants to buy him.Layún too

Among Montella's biggest crimes as manager in Sevilla was to never use Roque Mesa, and to use Sandro as a winger. Any ordinary football interested person would put N'Zonzi and Mesa as holding midfielders, with Banega in #10 role in front of them. But noo, that made too much sense, hence why Montella chose the clownish route by picking el Mudo Vazquez as undesputed #10, Sandro as a winger, and the useless Muriel as striker. And then looking at Montella's coaching during the games, it looked like he delibaretly wanted to sabotage our season.

With Caparros, the team and the club is back on track right away. I truly hope we buy Mesa, he will be great for us. And I was so happy to see a normal starting eleven last weekend, with Sandro as striker, and how we fought for those 3p. Last time we played with passion and pride was in autumn of 2016 and January 2017.

Edit: Caparros is coaching the team for free during these last games of the season and he does not want to continue after the season, he believes Sevilla should have fresh start. hope Sevilla board convinces Caparros to stay, or at least keep him in the club.

 

[PedroMendez]

I hope the management decides to buy Sandro and trusts him as starter (while shipping out both Ben Yedder and Muriel) and Roque Mesa. Almost half the squad should/can leave. I dont mind selling any of: Carrico, Pareja, Carole, (Geis), Ganso, Nolito, Sergio Rico, Corchia, (Layun), Vazquez, Ben Yedder and Muriel

 

[giorno]

If you win, then they will, if not then they wont. And i was just comparing how much they would want to be undefeated in the league given at this point they are already out of CL.

Sure, obviously. But they'd much much rather win the CL than the league undefeated

Even looking at the league alone, if they go unbeaten, this would be their second best league season in the last 6 years, at best

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Sure, obviously. But they'd much much rather win the CL than the league undefeated

Even looking at the league alone, if they go unbeaten, this would be their second best league season in the last 6 years, at best

An unbeaten, league winning 38 game season, never done before In Spain and done very rarely in the history of the sport, immediately becomes the best league season in the history of the club.

 

[giorno]

An unbeaten, league winning 38 game season, never done before In Spain and done very rarely in the history of the sport, immediately becomes the best league season in the history of the club.

Nope. 100 points season trumps that

 

[Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87]

The last La liga games are gonna be so meh...everything is all but decided, just the 7th place is still on.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Nope. 100 points season trumps that

In your mind. Same as in my mind the unbeaten one trumps it. But what would you be more confident in at the start of the season if the players could be offered the chance to win the league with 100 points but 4 losses and 2 draws, or 80 odd points but remain unbeaten?

 

[De Portago]

In your mind. Same as in my mind the unbeaten one trumps it. But what would you be more confident in at the start of the season if the players could be offered the chance to win the league with 100 points but 4 losses and 2 draws, or 80 odd points but remain unbeaten?

I'd guess there is a valid reason why most people can still recall Arsenal unbeaten league win in 2003/04, as opposed to Chelsea winning 95 points next season.