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The Spanish Football Thread

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Original post by jit987
As expected Real Madrid finding hard to break this Villareal defense down. Villareal should have been 1 nil up!


Great double chance in the half, which was otherwise drab. Vietto absolutely terrorised the Real defence, if he hadn't slipped when 1 on 1 they could have won.

Original post by CB91
Real draw, title is in Barca's own hands again.

And Valencia only a point behind Atleti. :teeth:


Barca win all their games, they win La Liga but Real just need a draw in the Nou Camp. There will be more twists and turns.

Atleti will be looking over their shoulders instead of up at the moment.
Original post by qua
It's not like Cani is some unknown quantity. He may not be one of the best AMs Spain has to offer, but is decent, experienced & fully capable of being a good creative back up at Atléti, even in the CL if it's against Leverkusen. He hasn't looked "not fully up to speed" after returning from injury at the end of Jan at all, but has actually slotted in well and been good when brought in, cf. the way he improved their attacking play and brought back some flow in the Celta game. Subbing him on would surely not have raised as many eyebrows as subbing on Torres did, especially since many people were asking for Cani. Games like this, when their play is screaming for some composure, organisation and creativity in midfield and Arda/Koke can't provide it, are what he was brought in for after all.

I guess so, probably was worth it getting a creative midfielder due to the lack of creativity. Maybe Simeone is under pressure to make Torres work but obviously he cannot drop Mandzukic for him bar for tactical reasons and Griezmann is Atléti's biggest attacking threat so it's doesn't make sense to drop him either for Torres.

No need to focus on that particular detail though, my point wasn't about Cani but about the strategy of the sub. Hence "a player like Cani", not "Cani". Playing with the full trident and Torres in midfield has already failed against Celta; it makes their play much too static, so going back to that when the play was already static enough and sorely needed some creative spark in midfield was a questionable decision that didn't pay off.

True. It probably won't matter too much and they did have good chances to score, injuries are piling up for the players though, Atlético are really struggling to retain their crown(although you never really saw them retaining it with the high key players turnover last summer), the CL is their only real chance of silverware this season, think they should just aim for top 3/4 and then just focus on CL end of season. That's what they'll probably do as I think Sevilla will be looking at winning Europa due to the gap, while Atlético being seeded very highly means that if they were to get 4th, they'll still get an relatively easy tie anyway.
As predicted on Saturday both Madrid teams found it difficult and dropped points....yayyy
Atleti are out of the running now.
Original post by Mackay
Atleti are out of the running now.


I think they did pretty well to stay in touch for so long tbh.
Original post by Zerforax
I think they did pretty well to stay in touch for so long tbh.


Definitely! Shows what a young, hungry manager can do to upset the status quo. I'm sure a lot of Arsenal fans would be interested in somebody similar taking over from Wenger and showing a bit of determination to succeed, rather than just tread water.
Original post by Zerforax
I think they did pretty well to stay in touch for so long tbh.

This season I'd say they've done ok. I wouldn't say they did 'pretty well.' I would say that Simeone struggled to find a regular winning formula early on in the season, using Raul Garcia up top instead of Griezmann which affected their attacking play, they only really sprung into good form(i.e. scoring goals from open play) around Xmas time onwards, with the continued use of Griezmann up top in tandem with Mandzukic.

Tbf though, they were never going to win the league when you look at the player turnover and the players they brought in afterwards, only Griezmann you could really say is an upgrade on who Atlético had the previous season.

The good news for them however is that with José Giménez, Saúl, Griezmann all coming into the team and integrating with the squad very well with prolonged periods in the first team, with the likes of Olivér coming back from loan after having a good season at Porto so far(6 goals and 6 assists in 18 appearances from central midfield) the future is bright for Atlético and you can see them sustainably challenging for the title from next season. Squad is settled now, Atlético have money so they just need a few more improvements on the first 11(an LB, a GK if Oblak isn't up to it and a pacey forward who works hard running on the channels with good aerial threat, Torres/Costa etc. any player who fits that criteria, I guess Correa will probably solve that somewhat)
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by jam277
This season I'd say they've done ok. I wouldn't say they did 'pretty well.' I would say that Simeone struggled to find a regular winning formula early on in the season, using Raul Garcia up top instead of Griezmann which affected their attacking play, they only really sprung into good form(i.e. scoring goals from open play) around Xmas time onwards, with the continued use of Griezmann up top in tandem with Mandzukic.

Tbf though, they were never going to win the league when you look at the player turnover and the players they brought in afterwards, only Griezmann you could really say is an upgrade on who Atlético had the previous season.

The good news for them however is that with José Giménez, Saúl, Griezmann all coming into the team and integrating with the squad very well with prolonged periods in the first team, with the likes of Olivér coming back from loan after having a good season at Porto so far(6 goals and 6 assists in 18 appearances from central midfield) the future is bright for Atlético and you can see them sustainably challenging for the title from next season. Squad is settled now, Atlético have money so they just need a few more improvements on the first 11(an LB, a GK if Oblak isn't up to it and a pacey forward who works hard running on the channels with good aerial threat, Torres/Costa etc. any player who fits that criteria, I guess Correa will probably solve that somewhat)


I'm excited by talk of them getting rid of Turan. He'd be a great acquisition for Liverpool, or any PL side in truth.
Quite worry about barça since Enrique has a uncomfortable relationship with loads of stars....(although I go with Madrid in la liga.............)


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3-1 FT, Barca make the CDR final. Neymar got 2 but could have had more, the build up to hia first was fantastic, great passes from Masch and Messi. Suarez took his goal well.

All Catalan final or Catalan Basque final in Madrid would be torturous for Madridistas! :biggrin:
Original post by Icecream1
3-1 FT, Barca make the CDR final. Neymar got 2 but could have had more, the build up to hia first was fantastic, great passes from Masch and Messi. Suarez took his goal well.

All Catalan final or Catalan Basque final in Madrid would be torturous for Madridistas! :biggrin:


There were rumours of being in Nou Camp? :redface:

Fantastic match btw
Original post by jit987
There were rumours of being in Nou Camp? :redface:

Fantastic match btw


Great match, really like Marcelino and Villareal but some dreadful tackles today. Pina got a red card for jumping, scissoring and two footing Neymar and a bad looking tackle of Busquets.

I guess traveling to Madrid doesn't make sense for two teams from Barcelona or a team from Basque country and Camp Nou has the greatest capacity but I have heard that it could be the Mestalla.

1-0 to Athletic, Aduriz.
Original post by Icecream1
Great match, really like Marcelino and Villareal but some dreadful tackles today. Pina got a red card for jumping, scissoring and two footing Neymar and a bad looking tackle of Busquets.

I guess traveling to Madrid doesn't make sense for two teams from Barcelona or a team from Basque country and Camp Nou has the greatest capacity but I have heard that it could be the Mestalla.

1-0 to Athletic, Aduriz.


That tackle to Neymar was just ouch! Was a tad selfish though no? :P

Busquets was smiling on the bench haha...thought he would be out for months and not days as Enrique has said post-match

Bernabaeu should be 1st choice, big pitch, big capacity :biggrin: Really want a catalan final...
Original post by jit987
That tackle to Neymar was just ouch! Was a tad selfish though no? :P

Busquets was smiling on the bench haha...thought he would be out for months and not days as Enrique has said post-match

Bernabaeu should be 1st choice, big pitch, big capacity :biggrin: Really want a catalan final...


Yeah, I liked the extra jump from Neymar when he was on the floor, great dolphin impression. :wink:

Busquets is so important in protecting the back 4, Masch is great but not quite as good as Busi. It was good to see him on the bench, I thought he could be on the way to hospital.

Catalan Derby + Bernabeu = Top banter!
I'm sure the Bernabeu will probably have "renovation work" going on or something.:tongue:
Disgraceful by Pina, just no need for it.

A Catalan derby in the final at the Bernebeu? Yes please. :coma:
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Vae
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A Basque/Catalan final is probably harder to stomach for the capital than an all Catalan "derbi" would have been. Espanyol is still perceived as too Spanish a club for the game to have the same in-yer-face character as a classic Athletic-Barça final with both clubs' fans booing the anthem will have. Not to mention it's the more attractive game from a football perspective.

Athletic deserved to go through too, they were outplaying Espanyol for large parts of the game. Aduriz looks better than ever at the moment.
Neymar and Messi's combination...
Original post by qua
A Basque/Catalan final is probably harder to stomach for the capital than an all Catalan "derbi" would have been. Espanyol is still perceived as too Spanish a club for the game to have the same in-yer-face character as a classic Athletic-Barça final with both clubs' fans booing the anthem will have. Not to mention it's the more attractive game from a football perspective.

Athletic deserved to go through too, they were outplaying Espanyol for large parts of the game. Aduriz looks better than ever at the moment.


The booing in the 2012 final was so loud, I think the Spanish TV director lowered the volume during the national anthem. :biggrin:
Have to say, a front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar when they become fully in sync with each other is just a delicious thought really. I hope Munir is allowed more games though, I like watching him play.
Title back In barca's hands as predicted

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