Fantastic game to watch though, hope Diakhaby injury isn't too serious. Looked awful.
La Liga 2023/24
- Thread starter carvajal
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Whistle went 3-4 seconds before the goal. Good to see Bellingham get sent off as that guy is such a obnoxious and entitled guy.
Real Madrid deserve it for that other game this season they benefited from ridiculous reffing.
TBF the weather in Valencia is generally spectacularly nice. I lived there for several years and it has a borderline perfect climate.
La Mestalla is such a beat down stadium though. Steepest grades ever and beat to shit, and that was 20 years ago. What’s ridiculous is that they have the whole concrete bowl of a new stadium already built. 75,000 seater, and it’s been sitting empty waiting to be completed for 15 years. Literally the whole bowl is there, but has none of the roof, skin, seats or fittings.
They are lacking something like 250m to finish it. They were going to fund it by selling the existing stadium for property redevelopment, but their major bank loan is tied to the stadium, so if they sell it, the funds just go to the bank. They have no capacity to borrow more. So they’d been homeless. Hence they are stuck in this purgatory of an old run down stadium, and a half built new one. Bizarre, and such a shame for one of Spain’s biggest teams and one of its best cities.
I absolutely loved living there. I’d go back and retire there for sure.
Thanks for that , didn’t realise they had planned on moving
The referees in Spain love being the centre of attention. You don't blow the whistle midplay like that in an a game in Europe. Ridiculous decision, but I suppose they need to throw Barcelona a bone.
It’s not though
It is. Hide your bias.
It wasn’t midplay though , the Valencia player that spoke after said the ref said the corner was the last play . The ball went loose granted he should have blown then. Real won it and it went wide for the winter to cross and he blew as he was just Shaping to cross .
Okay watching the replay; he literally did blow once Brahim already put in the cross 
It is what it is. Hope Carlo can get them performing in the coming weeks. Gifting two goals is not the way to go.
It is what it is. Hope Carlo can get them performing in the coming weeks. Gifting two goals is not the way to go.
I’ve no bias . Couldn’t care less who wins La Liga.
He should have finished it after the corner, immediately after, but not when the ball is in the air in a cross.
I think that was the ref's way of trying to keep the peace but it's done anything but!
The spirit of Clive Thomas lives on.
Modric is still the best midfielder Madrid has in term of creativity, vision and passing. He's fantastic against low blocks. I find it strange that they haven't brought in a midfielder of that profile to replace him and Kroos.
Absolute legend, stood up to those entitled Brazilians
It’s just incompetence really. People love harping about PL refs but Spain has the worst ones. Without a doubt.
Incorrect. It seem he wanted to blow the whistle, hesitated and then blew it while the cross was in the air.
Would’ve won £200 if the ref had kept quiet there…
Baraja done a top job at Valencia. Did very well keeping them up but I really thought they'd be down there again this season given their squad but he has 3-4 excellent young players, Mosquera reminds me of Branthwaite with the impact he makes at the back, he'll be playing for a CL side soon.
So do I, unless they intend for Guler to be able to fill that role in the future. In a match with a team fighting hard, tight at the back and resisting physically, midfielders who are able to pass well forward are appreciated, and there are few of them.
So before the goal was scored then.
Yes captain obvious, otherwise the goal would have counted. My response was to someone claiming the whistle was blown 5 seconds before the „goal“.
Incorrect. The first whistle blow came before the cross. He had to finish it off. He hesitate after the first whistle blow but it would look dumb if he just left it at one whistle blow.
He didn't just "want" to. He already blew the first before the cross.
Just imagine someone did that to us in a high stakes game. You'd be bleeding from your eyes and ears in righteous rage.
Exactly, he blows as the ball has been played in to the box... As seen last in 1978.
That’s a crazy decision
The ball is midair after being crossed into the box. I’ve never seen this before. It’s bad enough when you blow the whistle in the middle of a really promising counter, this is just flat out taking the piss.
The ball is midair after being crossed into the box. I’ve never seen this before. It’s bad enough when you blow the whistle in the middle of a really promising counter, this is just flat out taking the piss.
Guler maybe, but only in the second half with twenty minutes or so remaining; he can't start in this position. Even for press resistance, no one on Modric/Kroos level. Camavinga is the closest.You guys should do a swap deal with Barcelona: Pedri against Camavinga or Tchouaméni.
So he played longer than he should have (should have blown straight after the corner as he allegedly said it was the last play) but played a few seconds more and the issue is he didn’t play several seconds longer so Real Madrid could win? 
Bellinghams face after the red is hilarious “you mean I can’t be part of several players who surround the ref, shout abuse at him and get let off?“.
My only issue is refs around the world don’t card LOTS more players for abuse and dissent.. every time. Including ours.
Bellinghams face after the red is hilarious “you mean I can’t be part of several players who surround the ref, shout abuse at him and get let off?
“.My only issue is refs around the world don’t card LOTS more players for abuse and dissent.. every time. Including ours.
So he played longer than he should have (should have blown straight after the corner as he allegedly said it was the last play) but played a few seconds more and the issue is he didn’t play several seconds longer so Real Madrid could win?
Bellinghams face after the red is hilarious “you mean I can’t be part of several players who surround the ref, shout abuse at him and get let off?
My only issue is refs around the world don’t card LOTS more players for abuse and dissent.. every time. Including ours.
To be fair: technically he didn’t play as long as it should have given the VAR review that also took 2 minutes. But that is a moot point, as the game always kinda ends at an arbitrary point as we don’t use a stop clock.
Owh come on. I get this being hilarious for anyone but Madrid, I really do
But there is that and making things up to strengthen your own point.With that being said: win some, lose some. Hoping the team can now start getting serious and stop dropping points. Who knows what could happen if we keep this up.
The ref’s mistake is his relaxed manner in taking his time to blow the whistle. If time was up he had a 3-second window there to blow it. He’s pushed it right towards the limit before it’s too late again. In terms of the ‘robbery’ angle, a couple of the Valencia defenders seem to slow up once they hear the first whistle. Bellingham isn’t really challenged so it’s not clear what would have happened without the whistle going.
Owh come on. I get this being hilarious for anyone but Madrid, I really do
I haven't seen these details. I thought he blew that first one but yeah he didn't and hesitated putting it in his mouth and not blowing. Fair enough looks like he actually blew just as the ball was kicked or right after. I don't care though, yes I enjoy laughing at Real Madrid.
The way he turns his back on the scene behind him so nonchalantly, dare I say with the hint of a smile? Peak Spanish dramatic refereeing.
Weird take. What’s your problem with Bellingham?
I hope you realise that’s just not true though. I have no horse in this race. If anything I have an affinity for Valencia because I lived there for so long, but the whistle was clearly blown as the cross was in midair, which is pretty outrageous. Technically it’s not against any rule, but I’ve quite literally never seen a match officiated like that. The referee has to know that it’s going to be absolutely scandalous. And of course, so it’s proved. I’d be furious if this happened to United. Fuming.
That’s some seriously incompetent officiating and I am perplexed at some of the responses in here. “He clearly blew 5 seconds before the cross went in” etc etc. You don’t need hyperbole people. The replay speaks for itself. The whistle went as he crossed the ball and it was in midair. He’d finished blowing by the time he headed it, so technically no goal, but everyone was contesting the ball, which tells you everything you need to know.
It's not a weird take, going around calling people rapists and screaming in referees faces makes them a prick.
Great player, massive bellend.
Have you listened to the Greenwood audio? That dude is fecked up. I’d hate having to share a field with him, and would have no problem slinging a rapist insult his way. Just because he legally got away with it, doesn’t mean shit to me. So that’s the last thing I’m going to call Bellingham a “cnut” for.
And screaming at the referee today is quite literally one of the most justified berating of an official I have ever seen. And usually I would never go on for all that, but in this case what the referee has done is so outrageous, that it’s completely unreasonable to think Bellingham should just walk away.
Pedri is technically very good but he gets injured too much. I would bet, I don't know off the top of my head, that he has been injured or ended up with discomfort in more than one elite medium-high intensity game.
Also when he was young he tried out for Madrid and they didn't take him. He has repeated this in several interviews and there seems to be a bit of resentment in his words.
Camavinga is not ready yet. Sometimes he is compared to Seedorf but both in shooting, passing and even defensively I think he is quite far away.
It's often a question of ambition and having a good head, which I think he has, so he has a lot of room for improvement.
In the case of Tchouameni (I take this opportunity to regurgitate my criticisms) I don't know how to explain it very well, but I think he wants to be a different player than what he is. As if he wants to be a Vieira.
There is a certain air of smugness in his game that is annoying.
Alvaro Benito(super promise in Raúl's era who retired young due to injury and reconverted into a fairly recognized pundit) said recently:
" He deserves more bench than Modric.
He's been here for two seasons and I still don't dare to say what his virtues are or what he excels at. I still don't dare to say, he is a great distributor, he is a great defender, he is a very good player in driving, in transitions.... I still do not dare to make a prediction of what this kid is going to be and I have to demand more. Everyone must demand more, first Real Madrid"
In any case I don't think that a sale is what the club is looking for, that they will find something similar for that price, because after all he is not a bad player and could become, if he accepts it, a good center back.
You're wrong, he needs to conduct himself better.
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