It must be admitted that this is a big factor because the crazy transfers of several Saudi teams can affect the existing competition, but if you look at Al-Taawoun's performance, which did not bring in a single European player last summer, shouldn't they also not be able to compete at the top? So I think this is not entirely a factor in the transfer of the star player and more about how a team can adapt to a different competitive level.

Talking about Al-Ittihad, they have lost their consistency so far and that is due to their lack of preparedness this season as well as the problems with coaches and players which were previously rumored to have also affected the results. Al-Ittihad will likely be able to return to the top flight and that is not to occupy 1st or 2nd place but rather finish in 3rd place in the standings this season.

The Atletico vs Getafe match saw a rain of goals which meant that each team conceded 3 goals in this match and a total of 6 goals proved that the competition between the two on the field was very intense. It's a shame that Atletico, who were favored to win, only achieved a 3-3 draw against Getafe and this was a pretty good result for Getafe because they managed to secure 1 point through this match.

But Atletico's losses started in the first half when they had to play with 10 people after one of their players received a second yellow card. Borja Mayoral, who took the penalty kick in injury time, managed to save Getafe from defeat. Atletico's draw at home will only make Barcelona happy because Atletico now has the same points as Barcelona so this is a golden opportunity for Barcelona to start overtaking them.

Vallecano failed to secure a win at home and had to lose to Valencia with a narrow score of 0-1. Maybe not many people expect Vallecano to win considering that at home they are always strong against balanced opponents and here they should be able to win against Valencia. But in fact they conceded a goal scored by Sergi Canos in the 61st minute and even though there was still quite a long time left in the second half, Vallecano failed to equalize.

On the other hand, this is the third defeat in the last 5 matches and they have not won again since then. Vallecano, which usually fills the middle table, will probably start falling to the bottom table if next week it still suffers the same defeat. Well, congratulations to Valencia for managing to maintain this lead until the referee's final whistle.

A draw was not what the bettors wanted and Leipzig failed to deliver the win they could have deserved. I also placed a bet on this match and with decent odds, Leipzig should be able to win easily. I know Wolfsburg might make it difficult for Leipzig but at least they can bring home a narrow victory. Maybe not many people here bet on a draw because Leipzig are very favored to win even though this is an away match.

Indeed, I agree that in the end Leipzig emerged as a fluctuating team and were often unable to get maximum results. Losing consistency this season will make them further away from their desired targets and for the title race they are not the right team to compete with other teams. I am quite disappointed with their performance tonight and have to be willing to share 1 point with Wolfsburg.

Maybe someone missed the draw for the round of 16 of the conference league and these are the draw results. As can be seen, many strong teams have managed to advance to the round of 16 and perhaps my focus will be on the Saint Gilloise vs Frankfurt and Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb matches. I think this match is at an equal level and maybe there will be surprises that are difficult to predict.

I feel Saint Gilloise is still a strong team in the conference league but it is possible that Frankfurt will make things difficult for them early. On the other hand, Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb is a tense match because in my opinion Dinamo Zagreb is still better than Real Betis and yes I want to see them go further through this round of 16. Which match do you think is the most interesting and maybe you have other favorite matches?

I am quite curious about what has happened to Al-Shabab because last season they managed to finish in 4th position in the standings and now they have fallen all the way down to 12th in the standings. Last season they were one of the strongest teams in the Saudi league and collected a total of 56 points in 30 matches. Meanwhile, currently they are still collecting 18 points from 17 matches.

Even though the composition of the players was still the same as the previous season, they even got additional strength with the presence of Yannick Carassco in their squad, but the results were still felt to be lacking. Even though there is still half a season left, it seems like it is too late for Al-Shabab to compete again in the top 4 and with the existing competition, they may be stuck finishing in the middle of the table.

Maybe PSG used to be too excessive in spending so much money on just one player, but over time this team seems to be starting to realize that building a competitive squad is not just about star players and they have to start by looking for talented players from other continents so they can hone them better when was at the club. I think PSG is like Manchester City in the EPL which has good financial strength but the difference is that Manchester City can always compete in the Champions League competition and PSG always loses in important rounds. Even though these two teams have almost the same squad depth, the difference on the field is quite large.

Well, now there is only Mbappe left as a star player at PSG and next season I'm not sure he will stay at PSG even though his contract has ended and he might actually leave PSG. Disaster or not depends on management whether they can do it without star players or not, if they are still dependent then it will get worse and only Ligue 1 can they dominate every season.

I was one of the people who bet on Aston Villa winning and indeed I was a little panicked considering that this match was still too early in my multibet so it would destroy all subsequent bets. But fortunately, they still have a winning mentality and do not give up on the existing situation. For them, 3 points is a very important number to maintain their chances of remaining at the top.

Aston Villa's next match will be against one of the current relegation teams and it seems that Sheffield has no chance of winning against Aston Villa. The results are clear and they will even be able to overcome the current problems with the existing squad.

I think there will probably be improvements in terms of players and the addition of new players is also quite necessary considering that we are already halfway through the season. The three teams you mentioned will definitely make purchases according to their needs in January, whether with a permanent option or a season-long loan. They have to do that if they want to remove Girona from the top of the list and Girona will probably do the same and they will always be wary of these three teams.

Girona's current competition is actually only with Real Madrid and considering that Real Madrid is the only team that can beat them so far, they will try to beat Los Blancos in the rematch in the second round and this will also determine who will win the title if both still consistent for the remaining dozens of matches later.

Le Havre was able to beat Nice last week and no one expected that this time Nice would concede 3 goals in one match. Whereas previously Nice was known for its strong defense which made them at the top of the list as the team in the top 5 European leagues that conceded the fewest goals. I think this is purely because their defense is starting to sag and as usual Nice's lack of attacking effectiveness makes it difficult for them to equalize.

Again, they could only score a few points and that was still not enough when they were 2 goals behind their opponents. I think PSG should be grateful to Le Havre because they indirectly thwarted Nice's ambition to get closer to PSG in the standings, but PSG themselves also failed to take advantage of Nice's defeat opportunity to win against Lille. Well, things are still going pretty stable for the top competition and PSG must start widening the gap again in the next match and don't give Nice a chance to get closer.

Al-Ettifaq is a pretty strong opponent but they are not as strong as Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad so the possibility of Al-Nassr winning is still very big. Currently Al-Ettifaq sits in 8th position in the standings and is far enough away to be called a strong team in the Saudi league. Maybe they have a coach who is a former legendary player like Steven Gerrard but that is not enough considering that Steven Gerrard's record is not good enough in managing several teams.

It is possible that this season Al-Ettifaq will only finish in the middle of the table and it will be very difficult to compete to be in the top 4. Al-Nassr must secure victory, especially in front of the support of the fans, they must also pay attention to the difference in points from Al-Hilal so that they are not left behind. The competition for the top scorer in the Saudi League is still felt today and both Ronaldo and Mitrovic will continue to race to get the Saudi League golden boot.

It was a match that Bayern Munich should have won but in fact they seemed to lose their soul and Frankfurt easily beat them home without taking a point. I think Thomas Tuchel was also late in changing the team's strategy and instead remained confident in what he was doing. It was a fatal mistake and perhaps the players were very disappointed when they found out they had the opportunity to get close to Leverkusen.

The rivalry between Leverkusen and Bayern Munich will still continue and it is important to remember that Bayern Munich has fewer matches than Leverkusen and that is an opportunity they have to maximize later. I think the meeting in the second round in the remainder of the season will also be very decisive for Bayern Munich to overtake Leverkusen and I agree with what you say. Leverkusen must be ready when that day comes and not lose if they want the Bundesliga title this season.

Dortmund is a regular team in the round of 16 and they will be very favored regardless of whether it is a home or away match. But it seems that facing PSV in an away match will make Dortmund a little difficult because this season PSV has proven its strength not only as the top of the standings in the domestic league but also managed to reach the round of 16. The possibility of a draw that Dortmund will be aiming for is quite reasonable, but if Dortmund can do more than that, such as a narrow win, it will make them even more invincible in the second leg. That will only make Dortmund increase the aggregate number of goals which makes it difficult for PSV to catch up.

The other matches you say are difficult to predict, it could be said that the strengths are quite evenly matched but I am quite sure that Inter vs Atletico and Porto vs Arsenal in the first leg will both get a draw but of course provided that both teams will score equally.

There were doubts because conceding first did not make Atalanta too afraid to face Salernitana and the hosts managed to beat the visitors badly with a score of 4-1. In fact, the match was quite even between the two teams, but after scoring first in the first half, Salernitana's defense became weak in the second half and made it easier for the Atalanta players to break through.

As a result, Atalanta managed to score 4 goals and Salernitana was unable to reduce the deficit. Atalanta secured their second win in a row and succeeded in occupying 7th place in the standings. Meanwhile, Salernitana has to settle for remaining at the bottom of the standings and is increasingly at home in the relegation zone. Salernitana in 16 matches only won 1 time and that is a bad result for them this season.

Barcelona President Joan Laporta said that if Barcelona does not win the title there will always be consequences. Here I caught his words referring to Xavi's fate as Barcelona coach and even though a few days ago there were rumors about his dismissal, I think Joan Laporta still quite believes him. Joan Laporta also added that currently Barcelona is still active in all competitions and this will be a strict consideration before deciding on the next thing.

He also still hopes that Barcelona can still win all the titles and we know that this seems very small considering the competition between teams is getting tighter and in La Liga alone they are quite far behind. So in this interview, Joan Laporta emphasized that they will not make a decision on a new coach to replace Xavi as long as Barcelona is still competing in all competitions and if Barcelona is eliminated then they will move quickly to find a replacement.

Source: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1736897186284130682

Girona closed week 17 with a landslide win against Alaves at home and this result ensures they will return to top position this week. Girona are still unstoppable and they will continue to advance regardless of their opponent. A brace scored by Dovbyk and a goal scored by Portu sealed Girona's victory in this match and Alaves did not have time to get a goal back against Girona. Well, Girona is a phenomenal team this season and they continue to haunt the big teams who usually compete at the top.

Will they become champions of La Liga this season? Even though the chances are not big, as long as they can maintain consistency there is a possibility that we will see a new champion this season. But I will not leave Real Madrid and even though it is only 2 points away, Real Madrid will definitely overtake Girona. One Girona defeat will be put to good use by Real Madrid and it is only a matter of time.

The following are the La Liga standings in week 17:

I think Aston Villa's victory over Brentford was lucky because Brentford took the lead towards the end of the first half thanks to a goal scored by Lewis Potter. However, in the second half, Brentford lost one of their players, namely Ben Mee, in the 71st minute, which made the direction of the match completely belong to Aston Villa. Even after only playing with 10 people, Brentford's defense became weak and as a result Aston Villa managed to score 2 goals through Moreno and Watkins.

Victory in the away match with a score of 1-2 for Aston Villa and even though in the final minutes of the match they also had to lose a player due to receiving a red card, but that would not threaten Aston Villa's defense. But indeed losing Boubacar Kamara due to the red card will be quite detrimental to Aston Villa in the next match. This result also solidifies Aston Villa's position in 3rd place in the standings with the same points as Liverpool.

So far I don't have a gambling problem and I always avoid bad things when everything is destined to lose. Currently I only actively gamble on football betting and I do that every weekend when all the matches from various leagues start to take place. When I started filling out the betting list, it was like there was an intense atmosphere in my head that always pushed me to various positive things (what I mean by positive here is joy). Even if I lose or lose money, I will be fine and not experience mental problems.

So, regarding gambling problems, I haven't encountered this myself, but I can't rule out the fact that there are definitely lots of people out there who have gambling problems, perhaps the worst thing is losing all their savings. But I hope we are all still under reasonable control and don't do anything that could harm ourselves or others.

One of the highlights is Feyenoord against Roma and I can't wait to place a bet on this round. Maybe this time I will favor Feyenoord because this team plays more freely and also attacks so that there is more chance of winning. For Roma, I still have doubts because this team always prioritizes strong defense but is sometimes blunt when attacking. Even though they have Lukaku who is ready to break through his opponent's goal, as long as Lukaku is closely guarded, it is possible that Roma will have difficulty scoring goals. So I am really looking forward to this match and hope that no players suffer injuries before this match starts.

I think if Manchester United invites Casemiro to leave in January but hasn't found a suitable replacement then that would be a mistake. Indeed, there are no problems between Casemiro and Erik Ten Hag, but the depth of their squad will be reduced. So far Casemiro has been the main choice but since suffering an injury he has started to be doubted.

Maybe Casemiro was also wrong in choosing Manchester United as his new club since leaving Real Madrid because it seems he is starting to regret the mentality of this team. So that his career is still good enough at his current age, he has to leave in January and that is the right decision. However, it would be a bit of a shame if he joined one of the Saudi league teams and I hope there is still a team in one of Europe's top leagues that is willing to make an offer to him.