La Liga - Week 12 Fixtures - 9th-11th November 2018

[SirBalon]

[SirBalon]

Almost every game is a big game for this set of fixtures considering how the La Liga table is looking right now.

Sevilla v Espanyol looks a tremendous clash with leap-frog possibilities and I wouldn't be surprised if the way Real Betis plays makes Barça sweat at the Camp Nou.

RC Celta Vigo v Real Madrid also has the element of swapping places and then we have the physical clash of the weekend which sees Atlético Madrid try to get a vital 3 points away to Athletic Club at San Mamés which isn't exactly easy.

[Stan]

Sevilla vs Espanyol is the game of the week, there. Two sides in great form in the league - only 3 losses each in their last 10.

However, having looked at their form, Sevilla at home have won their last 5. Espanyol though have only won one of their last 7 away games. 

[SirBalon]

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO 2-3 ATLÉTICO MADRID (FT)

GIRONA FC 0-0 CD LEGANÉS (FT)

LEVANTE UD 1-3 REAL SOCIEDAD (FT)

REAL VALLADOLID 0-0 SD EIBAR (FT)

GETAFE CF 0-1 VALENCIA CF (FT)

 

[Carnivore Chris]

Games like the one we witnessed between Atletico and Athletic last night are a reason why I've always loved La Liga.

One thing I will say though is that I can't believe how low down Athletic are in the table when you consider how competitive they looked against Barcelona, Real and Atletico this season. You'd think they would be able to dismantle most teams and this season really is one where they had a big opportunity to push the big guns, with the way things are going. They need to kick on either way or they could end up sucked into a relegation battle. The same can also be said for Valencia, Villarreal and Real Betis. How these sides are so low down in the table is remarkable as they all have solid teams who should be up there in the top 10, rather than flirting with relegation.

The funny thing in Betis' case is that they have recently beaten AC Milan in the Europa league and looked a different side in that.

 

[SirBalon]

2 hours ago, The Rebel CRS said:

Games like the one we witnessed between Atletico and Athletic last night are a reason why I've always loved La Liga.

One thing I will say though is that I can't believe how low down Athletic are in the table when you consider how competitive they looked against Barcelona, Real and Atletico this season. You'd think they would be able to dismantle most teams and this season really is one where they had a big opportunity to push the big guns, with the way things are going. They need to kick on either way or they could end up sucked into a relegation battle. The same can also be said for Valencia, Villarreal and Real Betis. How these sides are so low down in the table is remarkable as they all have solid teams who should be up there in the top 10, rather than flirting with relegation.

The funny thing in Betis' case is that they have recently beaten AC Milan in the Europa league and looked a different side in that.

 

Real Sociedad’s record so far this season in La Liga is odd too. They have the current best away record and only three clubs are worse than them at home. 

[Storts]

Hahahahaha best keeper in the world Ter Stegen

[RandoEFC+]

Espanyol are the next Leicester City.

[Storts]

Excellent result for Betis and for La Liga. Barca were all over the place, could have been more

[SirBalon]

Didn’t watch this one but my reaction  is down to the alerts coming through on my phone. I thought, what! Where’s it gonna go! 

Sounds like Valverde is finding it difficult to sort out the defensive issues the team has which is strange considering how good this facet was with him last season. 

[Storts]

21 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Didn’t watch this one but my reaction  is down to the alerts coming through on my phone. I thought, what! Where’s it gonna go! 

Sounds like Valverde is finding it difficult to sort out the defensive issues the team has which is strange considering how good this facet was with him last season. 

You'll be pleased you didn't watch this one - you'd have been pulling your hair out. Defensively were all over the place, kept giving the ball away, and it felt like Betis would swarm and Barca kept getting caught short at the back.

Ter Stegen's error for the third is a shocker as well.

On the plus side, Messi is back, Vidal actually contributed and you're still top 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Storts said:

You'll be pleased you didn't watch this one - you'd have been pulling your hair out. Defensively were all over the place, kept giving the ball away, and it felt like Betis would swarm and Barca kept getting caught short at the back.

Ter Stegen's error for the third is a shocker as well.

On the plus side, Messi is back, Vidal actually contributed and you're still top 

How was Lo Celso?

[Storts]

15 minutes ago, Blue said:

How was Lo Celso?

Looked really good I thought until he was taken off. Some lovely touches, got a bit lucky with his goal - but it was deserved. It was an impressive Betis performance in general though 

[SirBalon]

2 hours ago, Storts said:

You'll be pleased you didn't watch this one - you'd have been pulling your hair out. Defensively were all over the place, kept giving the ball away, and it felt like Betis would swarm and Barca kept getting caught short at the back.

Ter Stegen's error for the third is a shocker as well.

On the plus side, Messi is back, Vidal actually contributed and you're still top 

By the sounds of it there were serious problems defensively and in midfield from what I’m reading elsewhere. I really like Quique Setién as everyone here knows. He’s not 100% reasy yet but I love his outlook on football.

As for Ter Stegen. Keepers make mistakes. All of them!

[Stan]

This could be one of the most open La Liga seasons in a long time. 

[CaaC (John)+]

Bloody hell, just picked up the La Liga fixtures and saw Barca 3-4 Real Betis final score, Messi makes a comeback and scores 2, good on the wee man but Barca losing at home in a league match for the first time in 2 years!! must have been a cracker of a match to watch.  

[CaaC (John)+]

5 minutes ago, Stan said:

This could be one of the most open La Liga seasons in a long time. 

It's got to be, the way Real are playing at the moment in 'catch up' anything goes. 

[Cicero]

24 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

 

They will continue to spend but eventually realize it's the puppet Valverde! I'll be surprised if he makes it to the end of the season , the pressure is piling on 

Whats Mourinho's excuse? 

[CaaC (John)+]

8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Whats Mourinho's excuse? 

 

[Cicero]

27 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

Really ? Valverde took over a team with Messi, Busquets, Suarez and many more quality players .. mourinho: Ashley young, Jones, smalling, Valencia etc... Night and day difference in the squads mate. 

But the argument is that they should be doing more with their squad? 

Do United really have a 9th place squad? Or is it the puppet Mourinho? 

[Dan+]

1 hour ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

Really ? Valverde took over a team with Messi, Busquets, Suarez and many more quality players .. mourinho: Ashley young, Jones, smalling, Valencia etc... Night and day difference in the squads mate. 

And still plays them all.

[SirBalon]

Barcelona won the double last season and had an error laden night against Roma on the way to genuinely challenging for the Champions League last season... Let's just leave it at that I'm pretty confident that they would've beaten Real Madrid in that tournament last year but that part we'll never know for sure, I'll just believe that myself.

But they won the double and are top of La Liga and are sailing in the Champions League, a group which on paper wasn't the easiest of the ones available to look at.

This is football!  You lose games!

[SirBalon]

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[Carnivore Chris]

I don't get this team this season. The performances against the likes of Real Madrid(5-1), Spurs(4-2, but was like an 8-0 game), Inter(2-0, but could have been more) are top notch, then against the bottom half teams it's a completely different side. Is it a case of underestimating these teams? As they are currently much stronger than they were  and even though I personally believe the quality is down when it comes to the bigger sides in the division, the mid-table type teams have been improving dramatically over recent seasons and this is showing this season. If you underestimate them, it'll be costly, whether that's against a side like Rayo, who are battling relegation or Real Betis, a side with a lot of quality who are progressing all the time.

The defence is a joke and Umtiti couldn't come back any sooner, he is a serious loss. It would also help if key players didn't sustain injuries whenever one comes back, such as the case with Messi returning recently, with Coutinho now being sidelined.

One positive to look at is that Messi is back.

 

 

 

[Dave]

It's quite telling when a brilliant isnvidiaul performance from Lionel Messi isn't enough for Barcelona to win games any more. With Alaves and Sevilla winning too there's no doubt that this is the most entertaining league to watch at the moment.

Unfortunately I can't see it lasting for more than one season. An Alteti title win will see Madrid and Barca pull their finger out in a similar fashion to what the top six did after Leicester pulled off their miracle. I hope I'm wrong though.