Real Madrid have failed to live up to their usual high standards this season in La Liga and the Champions League, which could lead to the Spanish giants splashing the cash in the summer to reshape how their team looks for the 2019/20 campaign. Los Blancos said goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo last summer as he left for Juventus and they have struggled to replace their leading goalscorer and that is reflected in the La Liga betting for the title as they are now as big as 100/1 going into the final two months of the campaign. Zinedine Zidane returned to the club a few weeks and has found a slight improvement from the squad. The Frenchman, though, has surely been promised a huge transfer chest to go out and land some of the world’s leading stars once the transfer window opens. Here are two players that have been linked with joining the Real Madrid revolution this summer and could be the future in the capital. Kylian Mbappe Kylian Mbappe is considered by many as the leading … [Read More...]
La Liga set for a record-breaking transfer window
Who doesn’t love a transfer rumour? Come on admit, we all do however, this summer looks set to be a window of epic proportions with a host of names being banded around. Some rumours are just that, but a number have been gathering some pace for awhile now and have quickly gone from being an opinion piece in the newspaper, to a genuine target for the clubs in question. With Barcelona running away with the league but boasting an aging squad and Real Madrid with Zinedine Zidane back at the helm and in need of a refresh, there is opportunity galore across Spain’s top flight (as Getafe are proving). So, as the summer transfer window draws ever nearer, we look at some of the La Liga transfer stories that are making the headlines ahead of what has the potential to be a record-breaking spending session for Spain’s top twenty clubs. Swap deal – Philippe Coutinho & Marcus Rashford It may be only hours since Ole Gunner Solskjær was handed the permanent reins at Manchester … [Read More...]
Huesca Dealt Cruel Real Blow
It is safe to say it has been a tough debut season in La Liga for minnows Huesca. However, the club that four years ago was plying its trade in Spain’s third tier has proven a welcome and solid edition to the league this season even if relegation is looking an almost certainty. With nine games to go, Francisco Javier Rodríguez Vílchez’s men find themselves seven-points adrift of safety. By no means down and out, but clearly with much to do and their fate out of their hands. Five wins this season has highlighted the progression a club can make despite boasting a stadium that only holds a meagre 7,638 spectators. Sevilla has so far been the biggest scalp the minnows have claimed defeating the almighty giants 2-1 at the beginning of March on home soil. That result will no doubt go down as the greatest in the club’s history, but on Sunday night, that result almost paled into insignificance. For many, a trip to thirteen-time European Champions Real Madrid Bernabeu is … [Read More...]
Will Cardoso be the man to help Celta Vigo realise their true potential?
IMAGE SOURCE: @RCCelta via Twitter Following a less than satisfactory start to the 2018-19 season in La Liga, Celta Vigo became the latest Spanish club to wield the axe when they sacked Antonio Mohamed, who only took the post at Balaidos last summer, along with his coaching staff. The Galician club didn’t waste any time in appointing a replacement, announcing the arrival of Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso. Undoubtedly facing a difficult challenge, Cardoso will be tasked with turning a poor season around, aiming to guide the club towards finishing in the top half of the table, at the very least. Anything better than that will be a bonus, of course, with Celta Vigo 11/1 outsiders for the top six at Betway as of 14th November, albeit with much work for the new coach to do if his team is to realise the potential many feel they're capable of producing. It's a stark contrast to their hopes from just a few seasons ago. Stalled potential at Celta Vigo Just a few years ago, Celta … [Read More...]
Cheerio Nike, Welcome Puma as La Liga Signs New Ball Deal
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...]