For 23-years, sports giant Nike and Spain’s top-flight football governing body La Liga has enjoyed a tight relationship. However, the rumors bursting out of Spain look to have confirmed that relationship will come to a close at the end of this season after La Liga signed a deal with Puma to supply the league with footballs for the next three seasons. The deal is reportedly worth around $5.6 million per year and sees the German sports brand trump one of their biggest rivals. Why the change? La Liga president Javier Tebas wants a ball that is exclusive to La Liga and recognized across the globe as so. Tebas is reportedly concerned that Nike’s deals with the English Premier League and Serie A means the balls produced are too similar to those from rival leagues and does not enable La Liga to be identified from the actual hardware on the pitch. Puma on the rise Puma have upped their commercial efforts dramatic fashion over the last 12 months. A deal with City Football … [Read More...]
The Getafe Gate-Crashers out to Make History
At the end of the 2009/10 Spanish top-flight season Barcelona were celebrating their 20th La Liga title, Atletico Madrid were left frustrated down in ninth and Xerez had just been relegated from their one and only appearance in the big time (the club now plays in the fourth tier of Spanish football). However, there was another story that went under the radar unless you hail from a city located in the Madrid metropolitan area known as Getafe. That season, the club achieved its highest ever finish since the club’s reformation in 1983. Sixth place a still unbeaten haul of 58-points was impressive while the club also reached the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey to cap off a fine season for the Deep Blues. However, as the 2018/19 starts to get closer and closer to the finish line, Getafe could be on the verge of breaking all their own records. One glance at the table will show you that the club clearly well managed by José Bordalás find themselves sat in the dizzying … [Read More...]
Villarreal in Serious Relegation Threat
The Yellow Submarine are having a truly torrid time of things this season. At the time of writing, Javier Calleja’s men find themselves one-point adrift of safety in La Liga having picked up just four wins all season. Since taking over, Calleja himself has claimed just one La Liga win (although it did come against Sevilla) since taking back charge of the club despite having already been sacked by the club this season. In a move similar to that of Monaco this season, the man who had been in charge of the club since May 2017 and guided them into the Europa League this season was sacked on the 10th December after a dismal opening half of the campaign. In came Luis García (not that one) but nine games later no league wins later and out the door he went. Back came in Calleja on the 29th January and results have improved dramatically. Two wins, three draws and just one defeat to be exact in a turn around that has given the board and fans belief that the worst can be … [Read More...]
Dramatic Real Madrid U-turn has them closing in on trophies
Any Real Madrid fan leaving the Bernabeu on January the 6th after defeat to Real Sociedad would have been well in their rights to question the goings-on at the club. Sociedad had just kept Los Blancos out at home and recorded an unlikely 2-0 win which came on the back of a shambolic defensive performance away to Villareal. If you were to cast your mind back to two weeks before the draw at the Estadio de la Ceramica, when Madrid welcomed CSKA Moscow to the Bernabeu on matchday 6 of the Champions League, you realise there was genuine cause for concern. The Russian outfit ran amok in the Spanish capital as they beat Santiago Solari’s men 3-0 in a game that was virtually meaningless for Real Madrid given that they were already guaranteed a spot in the next round, but it was another lethargic display that was becoming all too familiar. How close Solari came to getting the sack on the night of January the 6th is anyone's guess but one thing you can be sure about is that there was a … [Read More...]
Can Valencia Break Their Barca Hoodoo?
Seven games have passed since Valencia last recorded a victory over Barcelona. For most sides, that is hardly a disastrous record, but for a team of Valencia’s overall calibre and desire, that is a disappointment. The Bats have a rich history in Spain’s top flight with six titles to their name, however betting sites currently back Valencia as having more chance of relegation than lifting the coveted title for a seventh time. Even just to record a victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou like they last did in April 2016 are as long as 8/1. That is probably because trawling through the history books will show you that Valencia have only recorded two victories in their last 28 games against Barcelona in all competitions. Suddenly, it becomes clear there is a real hoodoo. However, do the Bats have enough in their locker to overcome the Catalan giants once more and do the whole of Spanish football a favour a keep a title race of sorts alive? Goals need to be … [Read More...]
Huesca on Course for Fewest Points Ever in La Liga
Everything started so brightly for the smallest club to ever reach Spain’s top flight. A debut victory over Eibar was backed up with a creditable draw away at Athletic Bilbao and suddenly the tiny club from the North East of Spain was making the country’s top flight look like a piece of cake. However, a trip to Barcelona was soon to prove a lesson the club have as of yet failed to recover with Messi and co running riot in an 8-2 hammering at the Nou Camp. Four months have passed since that defeat and Huesca have not recording a single win since and have collected just four points since the 2nd September. It is of no surprise then that those who bet on La Liga with paypal at the start of the season for the minnows to drop straight back down to the Segunda division are rubbing their hands ready for an early pay out. Leo Franco was brought in as manager at the beginning of the season but was dismissed on the 9th October despite recording the clubs sole top flight win and … [Read More...]
Can Anyone Stop Barcelona?
The door has been left wide open plenty of times this season for someone outside of Barcelona and Real Madrid to walk through but as of yet, no one has taken the chance to walk through it. Sevilla and Atletico Madrid have come close but so far trail the Barcelona juggernaut whilst keeping one eye firmly on the wounded European Champions who have endured a nightmare opening half. So far this season, Barcelona has lost two and drawn four in their opening 17 games. That is twice as many defeats as the whole of last season and if the trend continues into the second half then one can only hope both Atletico and Sevilla have enough motivation to ensure they take what could be a golden chance in a current Spanish monopoly. Diego Simone’s Atletico is the best placed to be the ones to repeat their famous 2014 title triumph especially after suffering just one defeat prior to the winter break (away at Celta Vigo). However, Simone’s sides weakness has been a plethora of draws, … [Read More...]
Bilbao win to give Gaizka Garitanoa a perfect start
It was meant to be the match that kick-started new Bilbao head coach Gaizka Garitano’s La Liga reign off to the perfect start to follow up that sublime 4-0 thumping of Huesca in the Copa Del Rey midweek. And that is exactly what it proved to be despite leaving it until the 90th minute in order to beat highflying Girona on Monday night thanks to an Aritz Adruiz penalty. That means that since taking over the Bilbao hot seat on the 4th December, Garitano has already achieved the same number of victories (2) as his predecessor managed. Two matches and two wins is a superb start and it means the win over Girona lifts Bilbao onto 14 points, the same as Villarreal in 17th. However, it should come as little surprise that Garitano has hit the ground running. After all, the 43-year-old has been embedded into Bilbao for a number of years and vacated his role as the Bilbao Athletic B manager in order to step into the breach following Eduardo Berizzo dismissal. So, who is Gaizka … [Read More...]