La Liga (Spain Soccer)

[ReclaimedJB]

Thought he'd be going to Juve to replace Pirlo. Expect he'll be carefully phased out as Illarramendi finds his feet at the club over the next eighteen months.

[ReclaimedJB]

Nil-nil between Atletico and Barca today. Suits Real to the ground; could go within three points off the top with a win against Espanyol tomorrow.

[ElBaronDelPorno]

Real smashed the last placed Betis 0-5

Real Betis vs Real Madrid 0-5 Todos Goles HD 18-1-2014 - YouTube

Real Betis vs Real Madrid 0-5 Todos Goles HD 18-1-2014 - YouTube

[ReclaimedJB]

Atletico lead La Liga after a four nil thrashing of Real Sociedad today. Miraculous achievement by Simeone, still seems a fantasy to hope they'll manage to maintain that position over the next couple of months.

[dhikdhiks]

Hala Madrid, wish Real Madrid will be the champ this season!

[ReclaimedJB]

Disgraceful refereeing robbed Atletico against Almeria at the weekend: 1. Suso's challenge in the first half should have been a penalty; 2. Barbosa's challenge on Tiago in the second half was a potential leg-breaker and blatant red; 3. Most egregiously of all, however, was the mystifying penalty decision and sending off for the Atleti goalkeeper Aranzubia in the 88th minute. I'm not saying Atleti played well enough to win the match, but the decisions stacked up.

Typical Spain in that most referees are attention-seeking cretins. To cap off the weekend, Barca equalized against Sevilla last night through a non-existent free-kick and a player who was, at least, a yard offside.

[!Jon Snow!]

Anyway forgetting about referees for a second, La Liga has become a lot more intriguing still with 3 teams on 57pts only separated by 5 or 6 goals on GD (and both others having a 1-goal head-to-head advantage over RM at the moment). Although I fear Atléti have gotten a fatal blow, two losses without managing to score a goal in a week (and not looking any better for the midweek Copa return leg), multiple inconvenient injuries and suspensions and all that with the CL knock-outs on the horizon... The momentum has been with RM since the turn of the year and looking at their upcoming fixtures (Feb-March) they will also have it easier than Barça and Atléti in my opinion.

Especially Atléti have a brutal fixture list in that period (AC Milan (A), Osasuna (A) where neither RM or Barça won this season, and Real Madrid (H) consecutively) and then even tougher ones near the end of the season: Athletic (A), Valencia (A) and Barça (A) on the final match day. Other tricky ones in between there somewhere, Levante (A) and Villarreal (H).

Realistically the only games apart from against the other two members of the top3 which could see Real Madrid drop points are perhaps Sevilla (A), R. Sociedad (A) and very maybe Celta (A). They also still have Valencia (H) which will mainly depend on which Valencia shows up. I don't think RM will have any trouble with Schalke at all. Even with Milan being significantly weaker than Schalke this season they'll still pose more of a problem to Atléti than Schalke to RM in my view.

Barça have City (A) followed by R. Sociedad (A)* in said period and they finish March with Real Madrid (A) and Espanyol (A). They then still have to face Villarreal (A), Athletic (H) and Atlético (H) in April and May.

*Barça haven't yet won a game at the Anoeta since La Real's return to the top flight in 2010-11 (I believe it's 2 defeats and 1 draw). Although they get to "rehearse" on Wednesday in the Copa return leg.

1. FC Barcelona, 57pts (63-17, +46 GD)
2. Real Madrid, 57pts (65-24, +41 GD)
3. Atlético, 57pts (56-16, +40 GD)

The battle for the 4th CL spot has Athletic firmly in the driving seat on 43pts. They're away to Celta tonight, tough venue and so even with the Basques in blistering form lately I'd predict a draw. If anyone other than Cholo Simeone deserves the Manager of the Year it should probably be Marcelino (and Valverde a close third). Villarreal could really use Cani back though. Valencia are resurgent under Pizzi with some intriguing January dealings (Edu Vargas on loan from Napoli and shipping out the likes of Banega, Guardado, Postiga and Pabón) and their promising forward Paco Alcácer has scored 4 times in his last 3 games (incl. the winner at Camp Nou). Sevilla drastically need to add some consistency to their repertoire because looking at their squad they have no business being that far away from even a EL spot. La Real have two of the most skillful and productive forwards in Spain in Vela and Griezmann and IMO that's the main reason they're still in with a shout for the CL places; midfield and especially their defense are playing nowhere near the level that Montanier had them playing last season!

4. Athletic, 43pts (42-28, +14 GD)
5. Villarreal, 40pts (44-27, +17 GD)
6. Real Sociedad, 37pts (42-34, +8 GD)
7. Sevilla, 31pts (42-41, + 1 GD)
8. Valencia, 31pts (36-35, + 1 GD)

By the way, with that shock Valencia win at the Camp Nou there are now only two teams left with an unbeaten home record: Atlético (10W 2D 0L) and Athletic (9W 3D 0L).

At the bottom Betis look doomed and to make matters worse they're in the Europa League knock-outs facing Rubin Kazan if I'm not mistaken. Rayo is too unpredictable, but still #2 candidate for the drop at this point... other than that there's about 8 teams separated by a single point just above the relegation zone, so anyone's guess really.

[!Jon Snow!]

Pichichi

1. Cristiano, 22 goals (5 pen.)
2. Diego Costa, 20 goals (4 pen.)
3. Alexis, 14 goals (0 pen.)
4. Griezmann, 14 goals (0 pen.)
5. Benzema, 13 goals (0 pen.)
6. Pedro, 12 goals (0 pen.)
7. Uche, 12 goals (0 pen.)
8. Messi, 11 goals (2 pen.)
9. Villa, 11 goals (1 pen.)
10. Guerra, 11 goals (0 pen.)



Assists

1. Fàbregas, 10 assists
2. Koke, 9 assists
3. Bale, 8 assists
4. Neymar, 8 assists
5. Vela, 8 assists
6. Messi, 7 assists
7. Giovani, 7 assists
8. Suso, 7 assists
9. Aduriz, 7 assists
10. Rakitic, 7 assists

[ReclaimedJB]

Originally Posted by !Jon Snow!

Anyway forgetting about referees for a second, La Liga has become a lot more intriguing still with 3 teams on 57pts only separated by 5 or 6 goals on GD (and both others having a 1-goal head-to-head advantage over RM at the moment). Although I fear Atléti have gotten a fatal blow, two losses without managing to score a goal in a week (and not looking any better for the midweek Copa return leg), multiple inconvenient injuries and suspensions and all that with the CL knock-outs on the horizon... The momentum has been with RM since the turn of the year and looking at their upcoming fixtures (Feb-March) they will also have it easier than Barça and Atléti in my opinion.

Especially Atléti have a brutal fixture list in that period (AC Milan (A), Osasuna (A) where neither RM or Barça won this season, and Real Madrid (H) consecutively) and then even tougher ones near the end of the season: Athletic (A), Valencia (A) and Barça (A) on the final match day. Other tricky ones in between there somewhere, Levante (A) and Villarreal (H).

Realistically the only games apart from against the other two members of the top3 which could see Real Madrid drop points are perhaps Sevilla (A), R. Sociedad (A) and very maybe Celta (A). They also still have Valencia (H) which will mainly depend on which Valencia shows up. I don't think RM will have any trouble with Schalke at all. Even with Milan being significantly weaker than Schalke this season they'll still pose more of a problem to Atléti than Schalke to RM in my view.

Barça have City (A) followed by R. Sociedad (A)* in said period and they finish March with Real Madrid (A) and Espanyol (A). They then still have to face Villarreal (A), Athletic (H) and Atlético (H) in April and May.

*Barça haven't yet won a game at the Anoeta since La Real's return to the top flight in 2010-11 (I believe it's 2 defeats and 1 draw). Although they get to "rehearse" on Wednesday in the Copa return leg.

1. FC Barcelona, 57pts (63-17, +46 GD)
2. Real Madrid, 57pts (65-24, +41 GD)
3. Atlético, 57pts (56-16, +40 GD)

Real have certainly looked the form team since the winter break, however, I can't shake off a sense of flakiness about their defence. It was apparent at the weekend against Villarreal too, who let themselves down with some shoddy finishing and a horrendous failure to recognize the threat of Gareth Bale down the right wing. You always sensed Villarreal could thwart them even though Real were in front. Jesé has been an utter revelation, however, and if he continues to progress at the same rate, Real won't need to sign a big money striker in the summer. Perez being Perez will probably not look at it that way, but it would be interesting how Ancelotti works with him over the coming year.

Barca have been a strange beast under Martino. They've still dominated matches, hard not to with their talent, but the intensity is nowhere close to what it was under Villanova during the first half of 2012/13, let alone at any period under Guardiola. They were utterly negligent allowing Tiago's release clause to be activated last summer, as Xavi's regression continues unabated. Tide and time waiting for no man, and all that. Martino's moved away from a pure possession game to one that relies on transitions and exploiting space. Not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but I doubt he has the players for it. Neymar and Messi's respective injury problems this year have not helped. Messi's goalscoring return at the weekend bodes well, but there's still an air of apathy about his play. Maybe, he's pacing himself for the business end of the season with the World Cup in his sights. There are problems in midfield though, and I can't see them going away.

Simeone deserves the manager of the year award even if Atletico don't win the league, and sans a dramatic collapse from now till the end of the season. Atleti have always been prone to shooting themselves in the foot, but I doubt Cholo would stand for any of that. He's been the most impressive manager in Europe over the previous year, and the biggest change I've seen at the Calderon has been one of mentality. The problems at Real and Barca suggest that the time is ripe for Atléti to wrest the crown away from them. I wasn't hopeful going into the winter break, but their performances since January, notwithstanding the aberration at Almeria, have given me confidence that they won't fade away in the race at the very least.

If I was a betting man, and I am not, I think Barca are still slight favourites for the title. I'm banking on Messi maintaining his scoring form and Neymar to return from injury in a blaze of glory going into the final stretch. The romantic in me hopes Atléti pull it off though.

In the Champions League, I reckon all three would progress into the quarter-finals. Barca obviously have the toughest test in this round, but they tend to triumph against a facsimile built in their image. Martino needs to sort out that midfield if he expects to progress against the likes of Bayern or Chelsea though. I don't think they're strong enough for those two, assuming all of them progress. Real, as you state, shouldn't have any problems against Schalke, and neither should Atléti against Milan.

Originally Posted by !Jon Snow!

The battle for the 4th CL spot has Athletic firmly in the driving seat on 43pts. They're away to Celta tonight, tough venue and so even with the Basques in blistering form lately I'd predict a draw. If anyone other than Cholo Simeone deserves the Manager of the Year it should probably be Marcelino (and Valverde a close third). Villarreal could really use Cani back though. Valencia are resurgent under Pizzi with some intriguing January dealings (Edu Vargas on loan from Napoli and shipping out the likes of Banega, Guardado, Postiga and Pabón) and their promising forward Paco Alcácer has scored 4 times in his last 3 games (incl. the winner at Camp Nou). Sevilla drastically need to add some consistency to their repertoire because looking at their squad they have no business being that far away from even a EL spot. La Real have two of the most skillful and productive forwards in Spain in Vela and Griezmann and IMO that's the main reason they're still in with a shout for the CL places; midfield and especially their defense are playing nowhere near the level that Montanier had them playing last season!

4. Athletic, 43pts (42-28, +14 GD)
5. Villarreal, 40pts (44-27, +17 GD)
6. Real Sociedad, 37pts (42-34, +8 GD)
7. Sevilla, 31pts (42-41, + 1 GD)
8. Valencia, 31pts (36-35, + 1 GD)

By the way, with that shock Valencia win at the Camp Nou there are now only two teams left with an unbeaten home record: Atlético (10W 2D 0L) and Athletic (9W 3D 0L).

Think it's between Villarreal and Athletic for the fourth spot, leaving La Real and the others fighting it out for the Europa League. Athletic have been impenetrable at the new San Mamés, and I expect that to be decisive in clinching fourth. Villarreal definitely need a bit of depth in the absence of Cani, but ultimately, it would be their defence which might let them down in their pursuit.

Originally Posted by !Jon Snow!

At the bottom Betis look doomed and to make matters worse they're in the Europa League knock-outs facing Rubin Kazan if I'm not mistaken. Rayo is too unpredictable, but still #2 candidate for the drop at this point... other than that there's about 8 teams separated by a single point just above the relegation zone, so anyone's guess really.

Betis have been resigned to relegation since December. If Pepe Mel couldn't lift them, no one else would. The fight for survival is no less intriguing than the top. Any one down from Celta in 11th spot can be dragged into the relegation dogfight. I am not brave enough to predict this race. You never can tell in La Liga.

[!Jon Snow!]

Ouch!!!
WTF happened there.


Did anyone see that lighter hit Ronaldo in the head?

Freaking animals. They should go for two more goals.