The 2017/18 La Liga season has just four games left for a majority of the sides and for some, the campaign has been an overwhelming success no matter what happens in the remaining games whilst for others, it has been a disaster. However, as we like to focus on the positive side of the game, we thought what better time than now to check out who deserves a shot at the manager of the season accolade after nine months of hard work. Ernesto Valverde – Barcelona We may as well start at the top and you simply cannot exclude the man who wins the league title. Granted, the league title is … [Read more...]
Champions League Fall Out: Barcelona and Real Made to Look Vulnerable
There was a time, not so long ago when the indomitable forces of Real Madrid and Barcelona would fail to be threatened by any side in Europe after taking such a healthy first-leg lead but if this week is anything to go by, that unbeatable far factor has disappeared opening-up this seasons Champions League. Barcelona may have the La Liga title all but wrapped up this season but on Tuesday night against Roma, but a significant chink in the armour was exposed that teams such as Atletico, Valencia and Sevilla will look to expose next season as the Italians came back to knock Ernesto Valverde’s … [Read more...]
Fireworks Set for 219th Madrid Derby
Forget the Mersyside derby or the Manchester Derby this weekend, the City of Madrid steals the limelight as the showpiece match of Europe as Atletico Madrid make the short trip across Spain’s capital to the Santiago Bernabéu to face the old enemy Real Madrid. Across all competitions, the pair have met a whopping 218 times and unsurprisingly, it is Los Blancos who hold a significant statistical edge over their neighbours. Real have won exactly half of all the encounters with 109 victories between the two whilst Atletico have claimed a poultry 55 by comparison and a total of 54 … [Read more...]
The Rise of the Underdog: Girona, Real Betis, Getafe
This season, many people have been getting carried away by Barcelona’s dominance at the top of the table and Real Madrid’s domestic troubles. But the real story of the season still lies in the upper reaches of the division, just not with teams one may have expected. Girona, Real Betis and Getafe find themselves seventh, eighth and ninth respectively and above the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, and Espanyol. Remarkably, newly promoted Girona find themselves just two points behind Sevilla and chasing down the unlikeliest of European places for next season. This has opened … [Read more...]
What Happened to Cristian Tello? The Man Expected to Carry Barcelona
When Cristian Tello broke into the Barcelona first team during the 2011/12 season it looked like the man who was part of Spain’s under-21 squad that won the 2013 European Championships would carry the Blaugrana forward line for the next decade. Everything certainly started well after scoring a brace in the 9-0 hammering of CE L'Hospitalet in the Copa Del Rey and then later scoring in his first league start against Real Sociedad in early February 2012. This begs the question, why (with so much positivity surrounding the Spaniard's early career) are we not raving about Tello’s achievements … [Read more...]
PSG v Real Madrid – All Still to Play for in the French Capital
Eighty minutes in and it looked like PSG were going to come away from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with the perfect score draw and thus putting the balance power in the hands of Paris. However, Ronaldo and Marcelo had other ideas and late strikes by the pair gives the defending European title holders a heavy advantage as they head to the Parc des Princes for a critical last sixteen-second leg tie. But do not think for a second that it is game over. If Real have proved anything this season, it is that they have the capability to implode as witnessed once again at the weekend when they … [Read more...]
Copa del Rey Special: Pique Out as Valencia Eye the Title
The 2017/18 Copa Del Rey semi-finals second legs complete this week with a place in the final just 90 minutes away (barring extra time of course). Across the two semi-finals it is all to play for with Leganes and Sevilla entering their second leg finely poised at 1-1 with Barcelona holding a slender 1-0 lead over a resurgent Valencia. However, with Barcelona soon set to resume their Champions League campaign, the Valencianistes are eyeing a chance to take the crown away from the three-time defending champions with chinks in the seemingly unbreakable Barcelona armour starting to … [Read more...]
Leganes Dancing in the Streets as Cup Exit Leaves Zidane on the Brink
It was only the other week we reported that Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane was signing a contract extension until 2020. But just a matter of days later, Zidane is facing a very uncertain future. Football is a fickle business where one week you are king and the next in line for the boot, but the signs have been poor for awhile despite the man at the helm guiding Los Blancos to a successful defence of their Champions League title and a 33rd La Liga title just eight months ago. However, eight months in football is an eternity and now Zidane has found himself in the arduous … [Read more...]
Zidane Signs Until 2020
Despite many suggesting the Real Madrid hierarchy have been a little unsettled of late with Los Blancos trailing arch rivals Barcelona by sixteen points at the half way stage in the league, head coach Zinedine Zidane confirmed to press last night after his sides 2-2 Copa Del Rey draw that he has signed a contract extension until 2020. "It's signed, I'm enjoying what I do every day, because that's the way it is. I can't imagine myself as a coach in two, three years, because things are not like that. I know how it goes, nothing more, even with this contract it does not change anything." … [Read more...]
La Liga Self Destructs as Barcelona Wrap up the Title
As Dani Carvajal saw red and Lionel Messi slammed in the resulting penalty to put Barce 2-0 up at the Bernabeu, you could see the whole of Spain outside of Catalonia’s shoulders slump and raise the white flag. Aleix Vidal added a third in injury-time to leave Zinedine Zidane’s men to face the baying home support as his side slipped to fourteen points behind their great rivals with the season not even at the half way stage. Catastrophe This week has been a catastrophe for Barcelona’s rivals but a triumph for the Blaugrana as the quartet of Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Real Madrid and … [Read more...]