La Liga

Coliseum Alfonso Perez, Getafe – “If I’d been at home, I would have changed the channel,” remarked Eibar captain Dani Garcia after Getafe’s goalless draw against Eibar. It was certainly nothing to get overly excited about. It was a match between two inform sides that deploy a 4-4-2 formation in an organised and aggressive manner. […]

Last night, Cristiano Ronaldo won his fifth Ballon d’Or, drawing level with old rival, Lionel Messi, with a surreal five awards each. As is the case every year, instead of doing the logical thing and enjoying both individuals as the incredible players they are, statistics are scrutinised and arguments fly as to who really deserved […]

Last weekend certainly wasn’t the ideal displays from La Liga’s top guns, with Atletico Madrid being the only side in the top-four to taste victory last time out. Barcelona dropped points against Celta Vigo and Valencia then missed the chance to pull closer to the La Liga leaders, as their unbeaten start to the season […]

Real Betis’ season so far in La Liga has been very much stop-start. An inconsistent run of games has hampered a Betis side that, personnel wise, looks like one of its best teams in years. The high of victory over Real Madrid was sobered by defeats such as the embarrassing five-nil loss at Eibar. Although […]

San Mames, Bilbao – On a cold and wet Basque evening, Real Madrid failed to score for a second consecutive La Liga away match. Zinedine Zidane fielded the same starting eleven as the one that started the Champions League final in Cardiff against Juventus – on that occasion Madrid got four goals, on Saturday they […]

Michael Laudrup belongs to a small group of players, where history has forgotten just how good they were. Few would name him first when remembering Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ at Barcelona. Fewer still would guess it is in fact the Danish midfielder who is the favourite player of people such as Andres Iniesta, Luis Figo, […]

Often criticised by the simple-minded as being a league that’s dominated by the established elite, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Spain’s La Liga has provided evidence this season as to why that’s simply not the case. The battle for the title may be one-sided towards Barcelona but Valencia are their closest competitors, having finished […]

Mestalla, Valencia – ‘The view is good from here,’ said the Valencia manager. ‘You see things that you wouldn’t normally.’ Sitting not far from the reporters who were either commentating, commenting, or providing analysis on his side, nor far from the owner of the club of whose ambitions he must fulfil; Marcelino found himself halfway […]

There’s a gap beginning to emerge in La Liga, with the leading duo Barcelona and Valencia pulling away from Atletico and Real Madrid. That could change this weekend though, as the top-two go head-to-head in the stand-out clash of the week. The two sides stand unbeaten so far, the only two remaining alongside Atletico, and […]

This time last year, if someone said that Simone Zaza would be pushing Lionel Messi for La Liga’s top scorer, while helping his team push for a title, they would probably laugh. In fact, they would definitely laugh. After hitting the headlines for ‘that’ penalty miss in Euro 2016, being cast out by Juventus, and […]

El Metropolitano, Madrid – The first ever Madrid derby at El Metropolitano finished goalless; the result left both of the competitors ten points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona and the match itself helped illustrate why. Diego Simeone said post-match that “there was football all over the place,” and for the opening five minutes that was […]

Now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a big one. When defining types of players, it can more or less be broken down into two types. The first player is the type of player who believes they have to train and hone their skill every day, and with work and dedication they can reach the […]

After an international break that actually meant something, which saw the final slots for the World Cup next summer secured, we’re back into the domestic football and, thankfully, we won’t be hijacked by international friendlies until 2018. It’s a big few months ahead as the title races across Europe start to heat up, the European […]

It is sometimes said that the craziest footballers play as a goalkeeper. Oliver Kahn and Rene Higuita immediately spring to mind as the best examples of players who are willing to take shots hammered at them and flying boots and elbows, as well as imprinting their own little bit of mental on the game. There […]

Camp Nou, Barcelona – There was a lot to take in before the evening entertainment began on Saturday. Messi’s 600th appearance was greeted with an immense storm an hour before kick-off. Fortunately, the thunder and lightning had relented by the time the ball began moving, but waterproof ponchos were still needed by those who decided […]

This is a tasty one. Often overlooked in the list of best players of his generation, this Spanish forward was one of the coolest finishers ever to step foot on the Bernabeu pitch. Equally as gentlemanly as he was ruthless in front of goal, he went on to become the top goalscorer in his club’s […]

Spain’s La Liga has proven to be an extremely unpredictable league this season, with big sides underperforming, relatively smaller sides exceeding expectations and teams struggling at the bottom of the table that you wouldn’t expect to. Real Madrid’s 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Girona last weekend showed the growing competitiveness of Spain’s top-flight, helping to wash […]

An enthralling weekend of action in La Liga has provided plenty of impact at both ends of the table, with things looking extremely tight in certain places- except the top, where Barcelona have established an eight-point lead over Real Madrid. At the bottom, Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo run the risk of being sucked into […]

Possibly one of the most instantly recognisable players ever to play the game, Carles Puyol was also a rarity in that he was a one-club man, and a rather successful one at that. The shaggy-haired warrior spent 19 years at Barcelona from La Masia to club captain. Making exactly a century of appearances for Spain, […]

Spanish football has certainly gotten very interesting over the course of the past few weeks, with a very fine line separating those at the top, extremely close margins at the bottom and sides performing unlike some would expect. Amidst it all, three sides remain unbeaten in the league; Barcelona, Valencia and Atletico Madrid. Each side […]