La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2016/17

[Naida_BR]

Real Madrid are pathetic without Ronaldo. I guess it is the football God’s playing their part, you can’t have everything nice in life forever. You must experience sadness at some point. The same as Man Utd after Ferguson retires — misery.

I think it would be a disaster for Real Madrid if they are not able to qualify for the Uefa Champions League next season, Real Madrid have lost their last match to Real Sociedad at the stadium of Santiago Bernabeu, I think Real Madrid is truly making a big mistake when they sold Cristiano Ronaldo away to Juventus, it is also pretty strange to see other famous football stars who are playing in Real Madrid unable to perform without Cristiano Ronaldo leading the team in front.

I think that the situation is going to be reversed in the near future and Real Madrid will manage to qualify to the Uefa Champions League. It is sad to see top class players underperforming after Ronaldo left the club as the squad was built based on his playstyle. The coach should find a new leader that is going to take the goal chances in difficult matches and under pressure if they want to get positive results.

[Harkorede]

Today was the draw for the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey:

Real Madrid - Girona
Getafe - Valencia
Sevilla - Barcelona
Espanyol - Betis

Tough week for Sevilla, they're playing against Real Madrid in the league tomorrow, and 4 days later, against Barcelona.

I read somewhere about Barcelona possibility to be eliminated for fielding an ineligible player, I'm waiting to see how this would turn out.

Barcelona B defender Chumi, who played the first 58 minutes of the first leg, should have been suspended after picking up a fifth booking in the Segunda Division B.

The Catalans argued that they believed the suspension was only valid for league games, a posture later denied by the RFEF.

[kenzawak]

Today was the draw for the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey:

Real Madrid - Girona
Getafe - Valencia
Sevilla - Barcelona
Espanyol - Betis

Tough week for Sevilla, they're playing against Real Madrid in the league tomorrow, and 4 days later, against Barcelona.

I read somewhere about Barcelona possibility to be eliminated for fielding an ineligible player, I'm waiting to see how this would turn out.

Barcelona B defender Chumi, who played the first 58 minutes of the first leg, should have been suspended after picking up a fifth booking in the Segunda Division B.

The Catalans argued that they believed the suspension was only valid for league games, a posture later denied by the RFEF.

They got out of this ok (unfair if you ask me, they should be dqed).
It's confirmed that they'll play Sevilla in the next round :
http://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/football/2019/jan/19/barcelona-face-sevilla-in-cup-quarters-after-disqualification-threat-lifted-1926971.html

[LTU_btc]

I read somewhere about Barcelona possibility to be eliminated for fielding an ineligible player, I'm waiting to how this would turn out.

Barcelona B defender Chumi, who played the first 58 minutes of the first leg, should have been suspended after picking up a fifth booking in the Segunda Division B.

The Catalans argued that they believed the suspension was only valid for league games, a posture later denied by the RFEF.

Complaint from Levante has been rejected by federation already, as it's arrived too late:
http://www.rfef.es/noticias/oficial-competicion-considera-que-denuncia-del-levante-llego-fuera-plazo
It's not clear situation - Barca says that Chumi was eligible to play because rules were changed in November, others saying that he wsnt allowed to play.
It's interesting that few years ago Real Madrdi did exact same thing and they weren't punished:
https://en.as.com/en/2019/01/18/football/1547805450_928346.html
And another thing - Levante player Postigo got red card in league game against Girona, but he played in first leg of cup against Barca - why nobody talking about it?

[Harkorede]

.../

Lucky escape for Barcelona, I thought they'd get disqualified, I'm happy as a Barcelona fan though.
I remember vividly that Real Madrid got disqualified for the exact same reason in 2015 when fielded ineligible Denis Cheryshev.

[LTU_btc]

.../

Lucky escape for Barcelona, I thought they'd get disqualified, I'm happy as a Barcelona fan though.
I remember vividly that Real Madrid got disqualified for the exact same reason in 2015 when fielded ineligible Denis Cheryshev.

I'm also happy as fan of Barca, but I find this situation very strange..
Real situation wasn't exactly same, because Cheryshev was player of main team. I'm not expert, but from what I read it looks that reserve team players have different status than main team players and it was used as excuse by Barca. But Real had same story like Barca in 2016 with reserve team player Alvaro Tejero and they also faced no sanctions.

Quite unexpected result today - Getafe just smashed Deportivo Alaves 4:0. Alaves playing really poor in recent weeks, I highly doubt that they will remain in Europa league spots for long.

[Harkorede]

Quite unexpected result today - Getafe just smashed Deportivo Alaves 4:0. Alaves playing really poor in recent weeks, I highly doubt that they will remain in Europa league spots for long.

I didn't watch the match but I was surprised by final result and the match statistics also demonstrated that Alaves were very poor today. Although they had the highest ball possession which should be expected due to their style of play, however they didn't manage to get a single shot on target, while Getafe on the other hand were very clinical, scoring 4 from 5 shots on goal.

[tomahawk9]

.../

Lucky escape for Barcelona, I thought they'd get disqualified, I'm happy as a Barcelona fan though.
I remember vividly that Real Madrid got disqualified for the exact same reason in 2015 when fielded ineligible Denis Cheryshev.

I'm also happy as fan of Barca, but I find this situation very strange..
Real situation wasn't exactly same, because Cheryshev was player of main team. I'm not expert, but from what I read it looks that reserve team players have different status than main team players and it was used as excuse by Barca. But Real had same story like Barca in 2016 with reserve team player Alvaro Tejero and they also faced no sanctions.

It seems like Barcelona were "lucky" as the judge of the RFEF (spanish football federation) ruled out Levante's complaint because it was out of the period established by the spanish regulations.

I didn't watch the match but I was surprised by final result and the match statistics also demonstrated that Alaves were very poor today.

I watched the game (was bored and decided to watch the stream). Getafe absolutely dominated the entire match, MOTM for me was Cristoforo who bossed the midfield throughout the whole game. The match could've ended with a bigger scoreline for Getafe as both Antunes in the 1st half and Angel in the 2nd half had some clear chances. Btw, the second goal was an absolute screamer.

[Harkorede]

Real madrid was finally able to see off stubborn Sevilla, 2 late goals from Casemiro and Luka Modric were enough. The match look destined for draw until that absolute stunner from Casemiro (A potential goal of week, IMO) Madrid are now in the 3rd position, 3 points behind Atletico Madrid who currently playing against Huesca.

[Barcode_]

Sevilla might lose the chance to qualify for next season Uefa Champions League if they still continue to lose points in their next upcoming match, Sevilla will be playing against Levante in front of their home fans and I think this is a good opportunity for Sevilla to start gaining points and restoring confidence in the team if they are able to beat Levante today, so my prediction would be Sevilla to win the match in full time.

[GalaWan]

If this match Sevilla and Real Madrid won coincide with the same points so to me definitely want to win this match. I really wonder if I've got to win to get to the absolute bottom rows from Villareal match, but hard work.

[Juggy777]

Sevilla might lose the chance to qualify for next season Uefa Champions League if they still continue to lose points in their next upcoming match, Sevilla will be playing against Levante in front of their home fans and I think this is a good opportunity for Sevilla to start gaining points and restoring confidence in the team if they are able to beat Levante today, so my prediction would be Sevilla to win the match in full time.

Hey you’re correct as there’s just a point difference between the third spot, and the fifth spot it shall be a shame if they don’t make it to the champions league. I feel both Real Madrid and Sevilla need to step up as they don’t have much points, with 20 matches already over they can’t afford any more losses. I’ll too favour Sevilla to win tonight game, and get back on track.

[Harkorede]

Hey you’re correct as there’s just a point difference between the third spot, and the fifth spot it shall be a shame if they don’t make it to the champions league. I feel both Real Madrid and Sevilla need to step up as they don’t have much points, with 20 matches already over they can’t afford any more losses. I’ll too favour Sevilla to win tonight game, and get back on track.

It's going to be tricky test for Sevilla, they could lose their 4th spot if they fail to win today,  they also have a second leg fixture of the Copa Del Rey against Barcelona in 4days in which the hold 2 - 0 advantage, they might want to fancy their chances of qualifying to semi final and as such choose a slightly weak team or substitute their best players out quite early to give the them adequate rest for the upcoming match.

[Harkorede]

Sevilla won the match by 5 goals to none, all the goals came during the 2nd half of the game, I'm definitely sure no one saw that coming. And I think that will boost their confidence ahead the 2nd Leg showdown against Barcelona, despite the fact that I'm a Barcelona fan, I might back them to qualify if the odd is somewhat ridiculous.

I just hope the rest of this week La Liga's fixtures are as action packed as this match.

[davinchi]

I mean they are basically the better team but that is not the only reason, the European tournaments bring in a lot of money for Spanish teams, remember the athletico Madrid team few years back, they made so much money that in the end that changed the whole aspect of the team for more than that year.

Unfortunately in La Liga the winner of the league and the second team gets a lot of money from TV and so forth deals but after that 3rd is getting much less and gets smaller and smaller when you drop further down. Which means these teams require the money from the European cups to actually get financial freedom a bit and get decent players on their teams. Hence, Sevilla has a lot to lose if they do not care about this match, they need the win because they need the money from the European cups and they will probably play accordingly.

[Harkorede]

Sevilla has a lot to lose if they do not care about this match, they need the win because they need the money from the European cups and they will probably play accordingly.

The win is a good one for them as they are back on the 3rd position ahead of Real Madrid who plays tomorrow, Atletico Madrid also won today, that keep the pressure on both Barcelona and Real Madrid to restore their 5 points gap at the top of the table and return back 3rd position with 3 points difference respectively.

[FIFA worldcup]

Quite unexpected result today - Getafe just smashed Deportivo Alaves 4:0. Alaves playing really poor in recent weeks, I highly doubt that they will remain in Europa league spots for long.

I didn't watch the match but I was surprised by final result and the match statistics also demonstrated that Alaves were very poor today. Although they had the highest ball possession which should be expected due to their style of play, however they didn't manage to get a single shot on target, while Getafe on the other hand were very clinical, scoring 4 from 5 shots on goal.

The defeat of  Deportivo Alaves was obvious for me as they are not playing well these days but to have lost by straight 4:0 is really astonishing. I guess the couch of  Alaves should retire now and a few new players should be given a chance. A new blood in the team is always healthy. If they do not make big changes to their lineup i am afraid we may see them out of European league soon.

[DeathAngel]

Espanyol vs Real Madrid should be a good game tonight. Real need to win to keep pace with Barca. Wouldn’t surprise me if Real drop points tonight though.

[Aqualung89]

It looks like things are not going well for Villareal. as if at the last corner can not find an outlet while nothing seems to be going well.

Real Madrid won the match today I took it easy, but bumpy continues situation.

Barcelona still knows how to win as usual today we can say that it was so. They managed to score thanks to Messi.

[tomahawk9]

Espanyol vs Real Madrid should be a good game tonight. Real need to win to keep pace with Barca. Wouldn’t surprise me if Real drop points tonight though.

Watched the game and we pretty much dominated the entire match until Varane was sent off in the 70' min, after that Espanyol made a good effort to comeback but the match ended 2-4. Overall, a great performance from the team, Benzema was MOTM to me, he pretty much carried the whole team on his back today, kinda worried that Ramos left the pitch in HF due to an injury, hopefully it's not that bad.

Good to see that we're slowly recovering our good form, just in time because we're getting closer to the Champions League games.