La Liga 2022/23 All Out of Palancas

[rguilmar]

Last weekend was chaotic on the pitch with upsets galore, and this weekend is shaping up to have chaos off the pitch. Valencia fans once again plan to protest club ownership. Things have been spiraling for a long time, with Yunus Musah at one point having to drive on the sidewalk to avoid angry fans who were blocking him in. Fans’ anger is really with the ownership of Peter Lim, and they currently sit in the relegation zone after Cadiz had a nice win to start the weekend. I expect a quiet Mestalla, which is normally pretty loud with drums and megaphones, as the fan groups and ultras will probably stay outside.

Meanwhile, down in the third tier things are looking grim. The Spanish federation took control of the old Segunda B with the idea of fully professionalizing it, but it hasn’t gone well and a large group of clubs are in full rebellion. Two clubs have essentially been barred from competing while a third is only allowed to do so after a court order. The television deal fell apart. While unlikely, the league might be forced to suspend the season. This is probably of interest only to me, but there are some notable clubs in the Primera Federación (the official name of the league):

Real Murcia- they were in La Liga not long ago
Numancia- ditto, and I’m pretty sure they beat Barcelona in Pep’s first game in charge in that magical 2008-2009 treble winning season (I think it was at the Camp Nou as well)
Real Unión- a Spanish soccer OG, this basque team is now owned by Unai Emery
Alcorcón- they had a famous 4-0 Copa victory over Real Madrid. Nbd
Gimnastic- the team from Tarragona was founded in 1886, so it’s one of the oldest clubs in Spain*. It’s also the closest to my family’s hometown since the shutting down of Reus.
Deportivo La Coruña- Super Depor! For f#cks sake they were Champions League semifinalists. They gotta get up to La Segunda. This club belongs in La Liga.

*The oldest club in Spain is Recreativo de Huelva, founded in 1889. Gimnastic were founded as an athletic club prior to that year but didn’t add soccer until later. For fun, I looked up Recreativo to find out where they are now, and it’s down in the fourth tier. This third tier is basically soccer purgatory, so you can imagine what the fourth tier is.

 

[rguilmar]

Girona putting a hurting on Almería in Friday Night Football, up 4-0. Old friend to MLS fans, Taty Castellanos has been electric, as have loanee Rodrigo Riquelme (Atlético really have something with this kid) and new signee Viktor Tsygankov.

I like Girona a lot and they play attractive soccer, but did not see this coming.

 

[rguilmar]

https://images.app.goo.gl/yvXzffehnty8GYDk8

#AlwaysWatchBetis indeed. Their last five La Liga games:

1-2 vs Barca
3-4 vs Celta
3-2 at Almería
2-1 vs Valladolid
3-2 at Elche

That’s nearly 5 total goals scored per game. The games are fun to watch. In today’s edition, Elche jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first ten minutes, had two players red carded, had three PKs called against them and stopped one PK near the end of the game to keep it 2-2. William Jose missed from inside the 6 yard box near the death too but redeemed himself just a few minutes later by burying the winner in stoppage time.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Copied from the Barca thread since I don't know the best place for this discussion:

The mini-slide continued as Barca lost 1-0 away @ Almeria. The team looked hungover from the bummer defeat @United, but I happen to think they were more guilty of looking ahead to the Copa match with Real midweek. Either way, the loss to lowly Almeria leaves Barca with a nice cushion (7 points) instead of a commanding lead in the Liga race.

Xavi did OK with the tactics against United--he "won" the first half, but Ten Hag outclassed him with adjustments in the second. Xavi's a young manager and the club need to be patient with him as he grows and gains experience. But I think the question is whether there's enough patience in Catalunya to let him see it out. He also ripped the players yesterday--I'm not sure whether that's the right man-management attitude. Time will tell. But it certainly feels like the outcome to the season hangs in the balance of the next month.

Lewa is also reported out for the next 2-3 weeks, including the Clasico, and league matches vs. Valencia (relegation candidate) and Bilbao (8th). After that, it's the Copa return leg against Real--EGADS! Lots of injuries (Pedri, Dembele) are piling up, and FDJ and Gavi are suspended for the Liga match against Valencia at week-end.

 

[rguilmar]

Copied from the Barca thread since I don't know the best place for this discussion:

This was the biggest surprise in a “Wtf was that” kind of weekend. It was Almería’s first win ever against Barca, who could have put ten points between themselves and Madrid. I honestly didn’t bother catching the game because I didn’t think Almería had a shot.

In other wildness:
The Madrid Derby ended 1-1 at the Bernabéu. The shocking things were Atletico taking the lead down a man and 18 year old Alvaro scoring the tying goal for Real Madrid (I need to point out that Alvaro is a born and raised Catalan).
Girona won for the first time ever at San Mamés (old or new) and currently have the third highest goals scored and third highest goals against in La Liga.
In the Betis comeback win, Elche finished the game with eight players.
Osasuna won 3-2 at Sevilla, which at the start of the season wouldn’t be surprising, but seeing as though Sevilla have righted the ship and won 5 straight at home while the team from Pamplona were resting 8 starters, it was a surprise.
Valencia beat Real Sociedad with club hero Ruben Baraja as manager and actually looked like a competent team.
Somebody* not named Iago Aspas scored two goals for Celta Vigo.

*That somebody is Gabri Veiga who undoubtedly will be getting interest from soulless PL teams this summer. He’s one of the real breakout players this season, along with Oihan Sancet from Bilbao and Aimar Oroz from Osasuna. All three are kids who came up through their respective academies (though Sancet did begin his youth career at Osasuna).

 

[Zososoxfan]

This was the biggest surprise in a “Wtf was that” kind of weekend. It was Almería’s first win ever against Barca, who could have put ten points between themselves and Madrid. I honestly didn’t bother catching the game because I didn’t think Almería had a shot.

In other wildness:
The Madrid Derby ended 1-1 at the Bernabéu. The shocking things were Atletico taking the lead down a man and 18 year old Alvaro scoring the tying goal for Real Madrid (I need to point out that Alvaro is a born and raised Catalan).
Girona won for the first time ever at San Mamés (old or new) and currently have the third highest goals scored and third highest goals against in La Liga.
In the Betis comeback win, Elche finished the game with eight players.
Osasuna won 3-2 at Sevilla, which at the start of the season wouldn’t be surprising, but seeing as though Sevilla have righted the ship and won 5 straight at home while the team from Pamplona were resting 8 starters, it was a surprise.
Valencia beat Real Sociedad with club hero Ruben Baraja as manager and actually looked like a competent team.
Somebody* not named Iago Aspas scored two goals for Celta Vigo.

*That somebody is Gabri Veiga who undoubtedly will be getting interest from soulless PL teams this summer. He’s one of the real breakout players this season, along with Oihan Sancet from Bilbao and Aimar Oroz from Osasuna. All three are kids who came up through their respective academies (though Sancet did begin his youth career at Osasuna).

Great summary, thanks for writing up. Lots to unpack here. In order of your post:

• Your comment about Alvaro being Catalan and playing for Madrid got me panicked and I looked up other Catalans that have played at Madrid. Fortunately, no huge names stood out, with the best modern player likely being Celades or Dani Garcia. Not quite Figo's level.
• Ruben Baraja! What a name!!
• Vigo comment lol
• Soulless PL teams lol

 

[rguilmar]

Regarding Alvaro, he was born on the Costa Brava and brought up in the Girona academy before Madrid snatched him away. He’s chosen to represent Uruguay, where his father was born. He’s one of those rare Catalans, or Spaniards for that matter, either above the fray or just not interested in Spanish and Catalan identity. Don’t expect any Pique or Ceballos type political statements from Alvaro.

 

[rguilmar]

I know most people are likely paying attention to today’s Clásico, but the other semifinal of the Copa kicked off last night. Osasuna topped Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at El Sadar last night. What the game lacked in quality was made up for in speed, aggression, and physicality. There no real dirty plays, but several players left the field bloodied. With so many players on both teams from Pamplona, it’s not surprising. Osasuna just had more difference makers on the wings who could eliminate one or more defenders on the dribble. Case in point- Abde’s very nice winner.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Copied from Barca thread:

Just caught highlights and what a match!

Busi got the highlights started with a beautifully lofted ball for Raphinha to run onto and "chip" the keeper with a header. Raph has done this a couple of times this season, and it's one of his best skills. It should be used as often as possible.

Ansu got the start at CF and didn't do so hot, as his finishing was lacking. Later in the match he was arguing with Ferran for the opportunity to take a pen, with Ferran taking the shot but missing wide. It was nice to see Ansu give him a pat on the back immediately after, showing some real maturity that even I would likely lack. Ansu did hit the post later on.

Araujo had an unusual flub leading to a well-deserved DOGSO roja directa.

MATS almost gave away a cheap goal trying to be a little too cute with his ball playing skills.
--
With Real drawing with Betis, Barca have opened up a 9-point lead in La Liga again. After crashing out of UEL, Barca have the week off before facing pesky Athletic at the weekend. Real also have the week off, but play Liverpool next Wednesday in the UCL return leg before playing Barca in a fortnight for a key Liga clash.

 

[rguilmar]

Barca won a game that maybe they shouldn’t have while Real Madrid couldn’t do the same (in a much more attractive game to watch at Betis). That’s the difference between winning La Liga and not winning La Liga.

Sevilla, who looked like they had turned a corner, got smashed at Atleti 6-1.Old friend Casey Keller went so far as to say Sevilla quit on Sampaoli. I think that results earlier this season were overly kind to Atlético Madrid in La Liga, and unkind in the tournaments, but since the new year the performances have been great. It does coincide with the loan move of one talented youngster to London and the finalizing of the deal for Griezmann who might be the best player in La Liga. His goal this weekend. Oh my.

But Sevilla and Valencia are both in real trouble. There are a ton of team in the relegation fight. Elche are as good as relegated but only five points separate 19th and 12th. Only two of those teams look like they lack the fight, and it’s the two big boys.

There is a slow movement at The Spanish Football Podcast for the new hashtag to be #AlwaysWatchGirona as the small Catalán team are fun to watch. Third most goals for, fourth most goals against. And they generally play attractive soccer.

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Sorry to post an ESPN article, but I thought it captured some of the anti-Barca sentiment I currently share:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/barcelona-espbarcelona/story/4899599/barcelona-boss-xavi-saddened-by-relegation-chants-at-san-mames
It's hard not to root for the Bilbaos and Sociedads of the league, compared to the big two. It really felt like Barca rigged the system this summer, all because it's simply unthinkable to have a club their size be ordinary. I don't know much about the ref charges but the (upper) class system present in European football is one of it's worst features.

 

[rguilmar]

Sorry to post an ESPN article, but I thought it captured some of the anti-Barca sentiment I currently share:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/barcelona-espbarcelona/story/4899599/barcelona-boss-xavi-saddened-by-relegation-chants-at-san-mames
It's hard not to root for the Bilbaos and Sociedads of the league, compared to the big two. It really felt like Barca rigged the system this summer, all because it's simply unthinkable to have a club their size be ordinary. I don't know much about the ref charges but the (upper) class system present in European football is one of it's worst features.

I agree with you regarding the ease of rooting for Bilbao, Sociedad and others over the big two. The majority of Spanish teams are comprised of local kids brought up through the youth system. Their just more interesting and fun to root for, at least in my opinion.

When it comes Barca, I personally have more of an issue with this current scandal than with the “levers” pulled over the summer. They sold real monetary assets that will compromise their ability to maximize on revenue down the road. There was real cost and there is real risk for Barca if this gamble does not work out- the gamble being that they were willing to give away future earnings to improve the team now based on the idea that increased advertising from this improved squad would offset those future losses.

I say this as a former diehard Barca fan who gave up on that fandom years ago when I found myself more interested in clubs like Betis, Celta, Depor, Osasuna, and yes, those two Basque teams. I have family members who are socios at Barca (as well as members at Espanyol). This ref scandal is a big deal. There is just no way for Barcelona to come up for a reasonable explanation as to why they secretly paid the vice president of the referees association millions and millions of dollars. Either they got influence or they thought they were getting influence. It taints the entire era, including those glorious Pep years.

They might be guilty of getting influence over referees, and the prosecutors claim to want to prove that, or they might not be guilty. The feeling I get is that most fans of other teams want them to be guilty. It likely won’t be too dissimilar to Deflategate here. Fans and other teams will be out for blood, and probably rightly so.

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Thanks for the insight. Interesting year in La Liga, maybe not so much at the top, but to see Valencia and especially Sevilla in danger of the drop is surprising.

 

[Zososoxfan]

I agree with you regarding the ease of rooting for Bilbao, Sociedad and others over the big two. The majority of Spanish teams are comprised of local kids brought up through the youth system. Their just more interesting and fun to root for, at least in my opinion.

When it comes Barca, I personally have more of an issue with this current scandal than with the “levers” pulled over the summer. They sold real monetary assets that will compromise their ability to maximize on revenue down the road. There was real cost and there is real risk for Barca if this gamble does not work out- the gamble being that they were willing to give away future earnings to improve the team now based on the idea that increased advertising from this improved squad would offset those future losses.

I say this as a former diehard Barca fan who gave up on that fandom years ago when I found myself more interested in clubs like Betis, Celta, Depor, Osasuna, and yes, those two Basque teams. I have family members who are socios at Barca (as well as members at Espanyol). This ref scandal is a big deal. There is just no way for Barcelona to come up for a reasonable explanation as to why they secretly paid the vice president of the referees association millions and millions of dollars. Either they got influence or they thought they were getting influence. It taints the entire era, including those glorious Pep years.

They might be guilty of getting influence over referees, and the prosecutors claim to want to prove that, or they might not be guilty. The feeling I get is that most fans of other teams want them to be guilty. It likely won’t be too dissimilar to Deflategate here. Fans and other teams will be out for blood, and probably rightly so.

Even though I remain a solid Blaugrana culer, I absolutely understand this sentiment. La Liga is a disaster of an organization and they're so far behind the times in seeing the value of some revenue sharing to boost the quality of sides in La Liga, but even throughout the Spanish pro pyramid. La Liga is much more exciting when there aren't any pushovers at the bottom, and the winning side finishes with 70-something points, as opposed to 80+.

Although looking at the EPL, perhaps there's something more nuanced than that. IOW, the EPL winners have finished with 80+ points every season this millennium, and even during the last handful of seasons where the league has been its most exciting (IMO), you still have winners at 90+ points. In any event, I think the EPL this year is pretty darn exciting, with a race that quickly came down to 2 teams, a strong second tier with plenty of competition, and a relegation battle without even one side lagging so far behind as to throw in the towel.

 

[rguilmar]

I do find La Liga in general super entertaining because the stakes are pretty high for the "other" 17 teams besides Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona. The relegation scrap will be top tier this season, and teams relegated to La Liga SmartBank are one bad season away from purgatory. The fight out of the third tier can take a long time, just ask Deportivo la Coruna. Depor finished one goal away from promotion back to La Liga but lost the game, and the following season were relegated to the third tier where they've been for a couple of seasons. And that is a massive club in Spain. It's a precarious position to be in and it makes it both terrifying and exciting. Watching the fight for Europe is huge too, especially because the relative size of these teams allows the impact to be enormous. Real Sociedad currently occupy that fourth spot with a total salary budget of 43 million Euros. Atletico are more than triple that, and that is not including Cholo's 30 million plus Euros. Champions League money, or Europa League for that matter, just means that much more than to any of the top 7 EPL sides just in terms of percentage of the budget. Couple that with the fact that many Spanish teams are especially good at finding and developing talent, the difference the cash makes is huge. That says nothing of the impact of actual financial regulations that Spanish teams operate under. Just imagine what La Real could do with an extra tens of millions of Euros while keeping in mind that they are operating at a net positive gain of over 27 million Euros in transfers this season

Back to the field. @Zososoxfan might have a different view on this, but it seems like Barcelona this season, like Real Madrid last campaign, are winning games that maybe their performances don't totally justify. Lots of narrow 1-0 wins. Take the Athletic Club game this weekend. I think a fair argument could be made that even a draw would have been unfair to the Basque squad. They were really on it. MATS has been obscenely good this season. Even though the (very nice) goal scored by Inaki was rightly disallowed, it was just by sheer bad luck that the ball hit Munian's arm instead of his shoulder or head. Barca's defense was badly caught out. But, such is the luck of a champion sometimes. I love watching Gavi and Araujo play though.

On the other end of the table, Sevilla at one point jumped from 19th to 13th in like a 15 minute span when they scored two goals against Almeria. It's that tight.

 

[rguilmar]

Huge Derby this week featuring two team close to each other in the table and with potentially tens of millions of Euros at stake. But enough about Cádiz-Almería, there is a Clásico on Sunday too. There is bound to be some extra fire this time with Real Madrid joining other member clubs in the case against Barcelona. Madrid must win or No Hay Liga. Rumors are that Pedri could suit up for Barcelona. Let’s just hope that the winner doesn’t comes from a bad call favoring Barca. Spanish media will be insufferable for weeks.

Elsewhere, Osasuna hosting Villarreal is a sneaky interesting game with two teams who play entertaining yet also contrasting soccer and both teams in the fight for a spot in Europe.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Huge Derby this week featuring two team close to each other in the table and with potentially tens of millions of Euros at stake. But enough about Cádiz-Almería, there is a Clásico on Sunday too. There is bound to be some extra fire this time with Real Madrid joining other member clubs in the case against Barcelona. Madrid must win or No Hay Liga. Rumors are that Pedri could suit up for Barcelona. Let’s just hope that the winner doesn’t comes from a bad call favoring Barca. Spanish media will be insufferable for weeks.

Elsewhere, Osasuna hosting Villarreal is a sneaky interesting game with two teams who play entertaining yet also contrasting soccer and both teams in the fight for a spot in Europe.

Pedri ruled out for today.

 

[rguilmar]

Barca won this weekend’s Clásico so no hay Liga. The Blaugrana have it all wrapped up. Sure, there’s a mathematical chance that they lose it, but that’s just not going to happen.

The team playing the best right now are Atletico Madrid. They trounced Valencia 3-0. I’ve been down on Atleti a lot this season, but they have that snarl back along with some really nice soccer. There was a chance in the 20th minute that was like Pep Era Barca. I know a lot will be made of shipping out Felix and getting the Griezmann deal wrapped up, but there is likely more to it than that. The Frenchman has been the best field player this season in La Liga imo.

Goal of the week goes to El Comandante, José Luis Morales, for his strike from close to midfield.

Call of the week goes to the ESPN analyst (was it Graham Hunter???) who channeled his inner Tony Romo by noting that Morales was monitoring the Osasuna GK's positioning and that Morales might try a long range shot no more than a few second before the aforementioned goal. He had made a similar note maybe a minute beforehand.

A message to Gavi- I love you but you gotta cut that sh*t out. I know you’re passionate, but Lewa can take care of himself. No need to deck a Madrid player behind the ref’s back and risk a card just because he touched the big striker.

A message to Gabri Veiga-I love you but you gotta cut that sh*t out. Stop scoring goals and being generally awesome at the game or some filthy rich English team will take you away from us.

A message to all EPL teams- Gabri Veiga isn’t very good. And even if he was, Galicians don’t travel well. See Aspas, Iago and Perez, Lucas for evidence. Best leave the young man at Celta.

Sevilla and Valencia are both in serious danger of relegation. Neither team looks to have the fight in them right now.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Barca won this weekend’s Clásico so no hay Liga. The Blaugrana have it all wrapped up. Sure, there’s a mathematical chance that they lose it, but that’s just not going to happen.

The team playing the best right now are Atletico Madrid. They trounced Valencia 3-0. I’ve been down on Atleti a lot this season, but they have that snarl back along with some really nice soccer. There was a chance in the 20th minute that was like Pep Era Barca. I know a lot will be made of shipping out Felix and getting the Griezmann deal wrapped up, but there is likely more to it than that. The Frenchman has been the best field player this season in La Liga imo.

Goal of the week goes to El Comandante, José Luis Morales, for his strike from close to midfield.

Call of the week goes to the ESPN analyst (was it Graham Hunter???) who channeled his inner Tony Romo by noting that Morales was monitoring the Osasuna GK's positioning and that Morales might try a long range shot no more than a few second before the aforementioned goal. He had made a similar note maybe a minute beforehand.

A message to Gavi- I love you but you gotta cut that sh*t out. I know you’re passionate, but Lewa can take care of himself. No need to deck a Madrid player behind the ref’s back and risk a card just because he touched the big striker.

A message to Gabri Veiga-I love you but you gotta cut that sh*t out. Stop scoring goals and being generally awesome at the game or some filthy rich English team will take you away from us.

A message to all EPL teams- Gabri Veiga isn’t very good. And even if he was, Galicians don’t travel well. See Aspas, Iago and Perez, Lucas for evidence. Best leave the young man at Celta.

Sevilla and Valencia are both in serious danger of relegation. Neither team looks to have the fight in them right now.

Pretty awesome that two often maligned players in Roberto and Kessie scored against Madrid. Araujo is just a monster, and shutting down Vini is one of the hardest things to do in the sport at the moment. I do think Araujo is injured again though. Having him and Kounde locked up, along with Christensen makes me feel good about the future of the backline. FDJ really shined again in this game--it's taken far longer than anyone had hoped or expected, but he's now reaching elite MF status again.