La Liga 2010/11

[smokey]

Well - might as well be the first to start it.

Goal.com's Comedy take on La Liga (http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2010/08/20/2079407/goalcomedy-top-ten-things-to-expect-from-la-liga-in-the-2010)

Number 4 is the absolute best.:D

[UltimateWarez]

I think Higuain is going to get the Golden Boot

[Cantera]

Messi seems to be getting better and better. He was unbelievable against Sevilla.

[stefan9]

Will be close but barca will take la liga. Madrid's defence especially at lb will be exposed in the games vs barca.

[UltimateWarez]

I somehow can't see it happening. Inter Milan has Chivu at LB and they did fine. Arbeloa/Marcelo are not that bad!

[stefan9]

I somehow can't see it happening. Inter Milan has Chivu at LB and they did fine. Arbeloa/Marcelo are not that bad!

Zanetti played at left back for most of the season. Chivu only played at lb when motta was out injured/suspended and jz was needed in midfield.

Also chivu is a better defender then either arbeloa or marcelo...

[smokey]

Zanetti played at left back for most of the season. Chivu only played at lb when motta was out injured/suspended and jz was needed in midfield.

Also chivu is a better defender then either arbeloa or marcelo...

Jacob Zuma plays for Inter!!!! :eek:

[stefan9]

Jacob Zuma plays for Inter!!!! :eek:

:mad::mad: Don't insult the great Javier Zanetti by confusing him with zuma.;)

[smokey]

:mad::mad: Don't insult the great Javier Zanetti by confusing him with zuma.;)

Then don't, for the love of God, call him jz. That made me crap myself.




:p

[smokey]

The Name's Mourinho, Not Potter

“I am a coach, not Harry Potter. He is a magician. Magic is fiction and I live for football, which is real. I’ve only been in Madrid for two months. Do you know how many training sessions I have had with everyone together, including the new signings? Not even 10. My profile as a coach is different to what it has been in recent years. If things go badly I have to leave. I would have one of the best clubs in the world waiting for me.

“This personal stability allows me to say I am the ideal person to be at Madrid because I fear nothing. Madrid need stability, and I am here to give it," Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho suffers no identity crisis as he made it clear that he is no Harry Potter - not even close. He is, to put it simply, the 'Special One'.

As always, Mourinho has something to say and that something will invariably be interesting, funny and provocative. Special One indeed.

[Stickfigure]

Spanish League's attempt to take credit for Spain's success is farcical


Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan. As the bandwagon passed this summer, it felt like the whole of Spanish soccer -- the whole of Spanish society, in fact -- sought to jump on board. When Spain paraded through a celebrating Madrid, people were queuing up to demand a paternity suit to prove that they had fathered the World Cup winners. And now, as La Liga takes its traditional and frustrating break for international football a single week into the season, the arguments have been revisited. The child is mine. No, mine. Mine. Mine!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/sid_lowe/09/04/lfp.spain/index.html

[Randhir]

RM handing out an ass-whipping to Racing Santander. Ronaldo has four goals already...

[RexxGrim]

RM handing out an ass-whipping to Racing Santander. Ronaldo has four goals already...

The top 2 is starting to open the gap now. Saw the highlights of the RM goals on Skysports News. So much for Mourinho's defensive style of play. He has racked up a few high scoring wins recently.

[Randhir]

Real Madrid 8-0 Levante: Magnificent Merengues Crush Hapless Visitors In Copa Del Rey (http://www.goal.com/en/match/54213/real-madrid-vs-levante/report)


Real Madrid annihilated a woeful Levante side 8-0 to cruise to a comfortable first leg win in the Copa del Rey this evening.

Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were the heroes, both grabbing a hat-trick a piece, while Mesut Oezil and substitute Pedro Leon netted solitary strikes as rampant Real served up a Christmas cracker for the fans who turned out at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho put out a surprisingly strong starting XI, including star man Ronaldo, who was a pre-match doubt. However, it was team-mate Benzema who stole the show with a stunning first half performance.

Yet there was no sign of what was to come when he volleyed Ronaldo’s sumptuous flick wide from close range in the second minute.

Benzema did not let the miss affect him, however, and he opened the scoring four minutes later. The Frenchman pounced on to Xavi Torres’ slack pass, knocked the ball through Miquel Robuste’s legs and skipped past Torres before rifling the ball under Gustavo Munua.

The former Lyon man turned creator in the 10th minute when he set Ronaldo away with an angled pass. The Portuguese appeared to clip Cerra’s heels while bursting past him, but the referee saw no foul and waved play on. Ronaldo raced forward before sliding the ball to Oezil, who knocked the ball past Munua with his first touch and rolled the ball into the net to make it 2-0.

The pace was relentless and it was abundantly clear Mourinho had given his side clear instructions to put the tie to bed in the first leg.

Xabi Alonso, Benzema and Angel Di Maria all went incredibly close to extending the lead, while Asier Del Horno had Levante’s only shot on target in the first half when he unleashed a drive straight at Iker Casillas from 22 yards.

The effort offered Levante a little hope for a short period, but the home side were in a ruthless mood and Benzema cashed in on another defensive mistake for an easy third in the 32nd minute. This time Cerra failed to cut out a Di Maria pass and Benzema took full advantage by rounding the hopelessly exposed Munua.

Los Blancos were serving up some scintillating football and it was little more than they deserved when they made it four on the stroke of half-time. There was a strange sense of deja vu about the goal as Benzema took advantage of Sergio Ballesteros woeful attempt to intercept Marcelo’s through ball and squared for Ronaldo, who had the simplest of tasks of tapping into an empty net.

After a slow start to the second 45, Mourinho’s men burst into life again on the hour mark. Benzema thought he’d secured his hat-trick when he latched on to Di Maria’s inventive flick and fired past Munua, but the strike was correctly ruled out for offside.

Benzema didn’t have long to wait for his third goal, however, arriving right on time to meet another delicious Di Maria flick with a deft touch of his own to lift the ball over the Levante number one to make it 5-0 in the 69th minute.

Di Maria seemed to be everywhere and he rolled the ball into Ronaldo’s path to score with a blistering strike in the 72nd minute.

Never to be outdone, Ronaldo matched Benzema's scoring exploits by completing his hat-trick just two minutes after scoring his second when he raced onto Benzema’s slide-rule pass and whipped the ball beyond Munua’s despairing dive.

Substitute Pedro Leon completed the scoring, and a perfect night for the home side, when he tapped into an unguarded net after superb work by fellow sub Alavaro Morato.

The sides meet again on January 4, 2011 in the Ciutat de Valencia for the second leg of the tie. However, both sets of players will be given a chance to recharge their batteries first, as Spanish competition takes a short winter break.

I know it isn't La Liga, but I couldn't be bothered to make a Copa thread, or look for one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfLshUMloto

[Randhir]

Watched the goals now, first four was all individual fault by the Levante backline, only real standout goal for me was the 5th, at about 5mins into the above video.

Benzema was involved in 6 of the 8 goals. Nice.

[Stickfigure]

Wow. Only 14 replies in the "best league in the world" thread...

[RexxGrim]

Switched the channel over last night with Real vs Villareal at 2-2. Sat down and could not stop watching till the end. Madrid won 4-2, but it was some exciting football.

I can't wait till the EPL teams face the likes of Barca and Madrid. As I've said before I think it will be a real measure what's currently going on in the EPL.

[MartyMarts]

B U M P !!

So the really interesting question is who is going to be 3rd and 4th in La Liga :D

[SinghDude]

Ronaldo has screw loose: Pandiani :D:D:D

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sport/2011/02/03/ronaldo-has-screw-loose-pandiani



MADRID - Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo "has a screw loose", Osasuna forward Walter Pandiani blasted yesterday after the pair clashed during Real's shock weekend loss.



Ronaldo and Pandiani reportedly exchanged angry words during half-time in Osasuna's 1-0 victory over Real Madrid that left Real's arch-rivals Barcelona seven points clear at the top of the league.

According to media reports, Ronaldo sparked the row by asking Pandiani how much he earned and the Osasuna player replied by mentioning the trophies he had won.

"You have to be more humble. When he wins the Supercups, the King's Cups that I have in Spain then maybe I will listen to him," the Uruguayan striker said. "As a footballer he is a phenomenon but to do the things he does, maybe he has a screw loose."


:p

[SinghDude]

Racism 'ingrained' in Spain


Rio De Janeiro - Brazil right back Daniel Alves has been the victim of racism throughout his time in Spain with Barcelona, he said in an interview published on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old described how he had been called a "monkey" by fans of Barca's rivals at many grounds in Spain.

"Sadly, I've learnt to live with it," he told the Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo while preparing for Brazil's friendly against France in Paris on Wednesday.

"I live with it in all the matches but I don't feel offended. They insult me, they call me monkey," said Alves, who has established himself as one of Barcelona's key players since joining them from Sevilla in 2008.

"The fans do it, the players are against it ... My family are unhappy, they complain but I try to distance myself from it. I consider those people uneducated and don't give them importance."

Alves, from a poor background in the northeastern interior of Brazil, said that despite the efforts of La Liga to sanction fans for racist behaviour, racism "is uncontrollable. It will never stop".
Reuters

Anybody wants to eat a banana ?

[R13...]

Racism 'ingrained' in Spain


What's new?

[dbecks]

What's new?Barca won on the wknd with Messi scoring

[SinghDude]

Barca won on the wknd with Messi scoring

another hatrick .

Pretty Ronaldo got a brace.

Interesting to see who will finish atop the goal scoring charts.

[dbecks]

another hatrick .

Pretty Ronaldo got a brace.

Interesting to see who will finish atop the goal scoring charts.And knowing Ronaldo he made sure to get amongst the goals after Messi scored

They are level now arent they?

[SinghDude]

Ronaldo is on 34... Messi around the same or just ahead i think.

[smokey]

I'm sorry, that's just bull****. Both of those players on 30+ goals and we've only just entered February. Best league in the world my arse. Most lopsided league in the world maybe.

[SinghDude]

Weren't Barca so vocifeorus against big money sponsors etc. They sponsored Unicef for a while and since have sold their souls to the devil ( Qatar ).

Who's become greedy now ? Barca is also heavily debt-laden, reporting millions in losses last year.

[R13...]

Weren't Barca so vocifeorus against big money sponsors etc. They sponsored Unicef for a while and since have sold their souls to the devil ( Qatar ).

Who's become greedy now ? Barca is also heavily debt-laden, reporting millions in losses last year.
They actually will still continue with unicef, only the logo will move to the back of the shirt. I imagine their wages bill is sizeable!

[RexxGrim]

I'm sorry, that's just bull****. Both of those players on 30+ goals and we've only just entered February. Best league in the world my arse. Most lopsided league in the world maybe.

Both are on 24 goals for La Liga only. Think Messi has fewer games though. To say its a 2 team league is a bit unfair. Its more like a one team league now.

[SinghDude]

Well its Argentina vs Potugal tonight. Will be interesting to note how well Messi and Ronaldo go head to head whilst playing for their respective countries.

Always seems as thou Messi has Barca blood and he does'nt always perform on par when playing for Argentina.

[poolmania]

Ronaldo is on 34... Messi around the same or just ahead i think.

I think Messi is on 40 after his hatrick in all competitions.

[Alan]

I'm sorry, that's just bull****. Both of those players on 30+ goals and we've only just entered February. Best league in the world my arse. Most lopsided league in the world maybe.

Perhaps but watching Barca tear teams apart is a treat

[Alan]

The Only Option
The petty squabbles of the Spanish sporting press are often equal parts hilarious and depressing. Some will tell you Real Madrid are angels made flesh and any misfortune that befalls them must be the skullduggerous work of the FA/government/shadowy all-powerful and all-knowing forces. The other half are the same, only for Barcelona.

AS fall squarely into the former category, and when faced with a contentious offside call that went in Barca's favour (David Villa's goal, set up by Dani Alves, who may or may not have been off), there was only one thing they could possibly do.

Simply remove the defender who may actually be playing the Barça man onside from an image in your paper and shout from the rooftops about a refereeing howler.

Then get found out and apologise for the 'error'.

Marvel here.


http://www.as.com/recorte/20110221dasdasftb_15/LCO/Ies/Barcelona-Athletic.jpg

:whistle:

[RexxGrim]

http://www.as.com/recorte/20110221dasdasftb_15/LCO/Ies/Barcelona-Athletic.jpg

:whistle:

Priceless, watched it live on TV, but the replay did not have Alves in picture so you couldn't really tell.

[Dr3xus]

even with the man in its hard to tell whether he is on or off tbh

[Randhir]

even with the man in its hard to tell whether he is on or off tbh

Not if you understand the offside rule :confused:

[Dr3xus]

... the picture is from an angle and if you basing it on the colour of the pitch its partially obstructed from the yellow line
so how is it clear to judge using the picture provided above?