La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24

[Volgastallion]

Emery for Barcelona? Really? For me is a top coach but he has a problem, and that problem is a big one, and is more related to luck or soul than performance, and is every time he reach a big club, like Arsenal or PSG he doesnt do so well as expected, in PSG clearly he wins everything but he can not ending winning the goal who was UCL.

[1715267408]

1715267408

[dzungmobile]

Girona must immediately restore their current performance if they want to remain in the top 4. Meanwhile, regarding Atletico Madrid, there are only 3 difficult matches that Atletico Madrid will face in the remainder of this season, namely against Girona, Bilbao and Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, the remaining matches can actually be said to be quite easy, such as against Osasuna, Getafe, Celta, Mallorca, Villareal and Alaves.
So I think Atletico Madrid will find it quite easy to return to the top 4.
Because Bilbao also has the chance to lose in the next match against Real Madrid. And that's when we will see Atletico Madrid return to 4th place.

Girona are still safe in top four and their position is better than Atletico Madrid. You are only partially right about remaining matches of Atletico Madrid because you forgot that they will have to play in Champions League too. With affects from Champions League, Atletico Madrid have risk to lose concentration on their matches in La Liga around two quarter final matches, and they potentially can lose points too.

If they lose points, it will be harder for them to return to top four. Girona are still in top four and they only have La Liga to focus on so at least they are not at high risk to end this season out of top four like Atletico Madrid.

[Chilwell]

I agree with you that it is not easy for Athletico Madrid to finish in the top four of La Liga. I checked Athletico Madrid's remaining matches in the league, and I must say that Athletico Madrid has some tough matches to play before La Liga ends this season. Athletic Bilbao will be playing against Real Madrid on the 31st of this month at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and Athletic Bilbao cannot win against Real Madrid at home. Athletico Madrid still has an opportunity to overtake Athletic Bilbao in the fourth position of the La Liga table if they can beat Villareal on April 1st, but if they fail to beat Villareal, it will be hard for them to finish in the top four in the league.

I didn't really pay attention to the standings after matchday 29 finished and after reading your post I realized that Atletico Madrid was dropping further and was already outside the top four, losing eight points in the last five matches making their position shifted by Athletic Bilbao and of course that was very disappointing although anything could still happen because there are nine matches between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao which can be said to be in the same conditions where they are strong teams but also don't always get good results because they can lose or draw with any team.
With a very narrow point difference, it will be very interesting to watch because Atletico Madrid can still move up in ranking to be able to play in the Champions League as well as Athletic Bilbao if they can appear more consistent in the remaining matches, and it is very possible that their meeting at the end of April will determine who will be the team that plays in the Champions League because both of them will still face tight matches and vice versa, but if Atletico Madrid failed, of course it would be very disappointing for them because they can almost always ensure they are in the top four.

With the recent inconsistency and the pressure on Girona in the La Liga table, I think they will not be able to handle the pressure to remain in the top four of La Liga. If Athletico Madrid improves their performance in the league, they can finish in the top four of La Liga. 

Before have much confidence in Atletico Madrid to replace Girona I think you should check their current status, I don't think there is any improvement in their performance, if you even talk about Bilbao I will agree with you because they are even close with 6 points difference, the two teams are facing serious set back, I don't see any reason for hyping Atletico Madrid over Girona they have the same record in their last five matches, I can even say Girona are a little bit recovery than Atletico Madrid because Atletico Madrid lost home match against Barcelona while Girona lost away game, the only thing that Atletico Madrid can tell Girona is because they always fight this battle every season which Girona are experiencing it for the first which they find it so strange.

[Abu-Naim]

Emery for Barcelona? Really? For me is a top coach but he has a problem, and that problem is a big one, and is more related to luck or soul than performance, and is every time he reach a big club, like Arsenal or PSG he doesnt do so well as expected, in PSG clearly he wins everything but he can not ending winning the goal who was UCL.

Uni Emery was not given enough time at Arsenal, he could have displayed his talent as a good coach and if he was the Arsenal Manager last season, he could have won the Premier League title because he has been in the coaching game for a while so he have experience that can maintain the pressure Arsenal had at the end of the season.

If given Barcelona job, he will do well because he has been coaching in the Laliga for a while, he led Sevilla to become one of the most important team in the Europa League, and he tried his best while coaching Villarreal. His lack of luck at PSG is related to lack of players then, but this time he have gained more experience in the EPL clehile coaching Aston Villa because he is about to lead the team to the Champions League next season.

[Mayor of ogba]

With the recent inconsistency and the pressure on Girona in the La Liga table, I think they will not be able to handle the pressure to remain in the top four of La Liga. If Athletico Madrid improves their performance in the league, they can finish in the top four of La Liga. 

First of all, Girona performance shocked everyone this season because no one expected to see them where they are now. I know there is an imbalance of form recently I don't think Girona will lose a spot in top four. They have just nine games to round off the game and they are sitting ahead of Athletic Bilbao comfortably with six points and I think it is enough to keep their hopes alive. If Athletico Madrid should improve and take any spot up there, then it should be Bilbao spot that are just one point ahead of them. Some of the top leagues in Europe have taken another dimension this season with some new teams attempting to break a long time record. The same thing is happening in Bundesliga where Leverkusen is trying to overthrown long time domination of Bayern Munich and also in premier league with Arsenal, Liverpool and City locking horn with each other.

I know the six points Girona is leading Athletic Bilbao with are enough for Girona to finish in the top four of La Liga. But their current performance has made them drop a lot of points in a short time, and if they continue to perform like that, Athletico Madrid and Athletic Bilboa will close the gap with Girona in the La Liga table. Girona needs to improve their performance and start winning matches to remain in their third position in the La Liga table.

[Weawant]

I know the six points Girona is leading Athletic Bilbao with are enough for Girona to finish in the top four of La Liga. But their current performance has made them drop a lot of points in a short time, and if they continue to perform like that, Athletico Madrid and Athletic Bilboa will close the gap with Girona in the La Liga table. Girona needs to improve their performance and start winning matches to remain in their third position in the La Liga table.

The six points is actually enough if only Girona will be able to maintain it because it take loosing Just two matches and they will be ripped of that six points difference, they will have to maintain a winning streak or possibly a draw at worse, that way they will be able to still maintain their position within the top four position on the table but if they fail to maintain winnings or draw they may stand the risk of loosing their position to either Barcelona or Bilbao.

Bilbao is currently in a very sound form such that we can not underestimate what they are actually capable of as at this time, they are very much Capable of been able to close the gap much more than we would be thinking of them, although I'm aswell aware that Girona has been of a considerable good performance which can even be seen as above average, so it's still possible they will be able to literally want to maintain their position well enough and not been displaced my other teams.

Girona has recently not been in their very best form as they were at the beginning of the season so it time they actually beginning to make sure to sit up else they may not be able to finish at the second position but they are very likely to still stay within the confines of the top four and finish as such to be able to qualify for the champions league next season which I think will be an achievement for them cause not often have they qualifed for the UCL.

[hahay]

Emery for Barcelona? Really? For me is a top coach but he has a problem, and that problem is a big one, and is more related to luck or soul than performance, and is every time he reach a big club, like Arsenal or PSG he doesnt do so well as expected, in PSG clearly he wins everything but he can not ending winning the goal who was UCL.

I think at the moment the rumors are about Arteta being expected to become Barcelona head coach and yes, one of the factors that makes Arteta expected to Barcelona is because Arteta has a history of being a Barcelona player in the past. But even so, I personally still quite sure that Barcelona might not succeed in bringing Arteta. But if it's to bring in Emery, it seems like it could still happen because after all, Emery is also only the head coach at Aston Villa and therefore, at least Barcelona can pay higher if Emery accepts the offer. But forme, Emery can still provide good results if he gets full support from the club's finances. Butyes, considering Barcelona's finances seem to still be in a recovery process then of course, it will likely remain difficult for Barcelona to bring in a top coach to replace Xavi next season.

[Dzwaafu11]

Girona's players lost confidence after the big defeat against Madrid. And the scenario changed quite rapidly after that. Girona lost their winning streak. And their performance is no longer stable. Even relatively small teams will be confident now against Girona and earn points.

However, Girona's main goal now is to qualify for the Champions League. This is the honor for them. I don't know if the Girona team has ever qualified for the Champions League in the past. Probably not. So now Girona will try to stay in the top four of the table.

I don't think Girona will be able to perform as well with this same squad next season. However, if Girona strengthen their squad and add to the squad of talented players, they are likely to stay at the top of the points table next season.

Yeah. Actually, Girona have lost their performance since they got defeated by Real Madrid. However, Girona is supposed to get their performance back because the defeat has happened for weeks now, so I'm still surprised why their performance is still like this, and again, it's very unfortunate that their performance declined when they got that defeat by Real Madrid. So after that, I think they should at least be in the top 2 of the table, but they failed to do so.

Although I think it will be very good for them if they manage to qualify for the Champions League competition since they lost hope of getting the La Liga top 1 talk less of getting the title, the main thing for them now is to qualify for the Champions League.

[AYOBA]

With the recent inconsistency and the pressure on Girona in the La Liga table, I think they will not be able to handle the pressure to remain in the top four of La Liga. If Athletico Madrid improves their performance in the league, they can finish in the top four of La Liga. 

First of all, Girona performance shocked everyone this season because no one expected to see them where they are now. I know there is an imbalance of form recently I don't think Girona will lose a spot in top four. They have just nine games to round off the game and they are sitting ahead of Athletic Bilbao comfortably with six points and I think it is enough to keep their hopes alive. If Athletico Madrid should improve and take any spot up there, then it should be Bilbao spot that are just one point ahead of them. Some of the top leagues in Europe have taken another dimension this season with some new teams attempting to break a long time record. The same thing is happening in Bundesliga where Leverkusen is trying to overthrown long time domination of Bayern Munich and also in premier league with Arsenal, Liverpool and City locking horn with each other.

Since Girona had a poor start to the season and everyone was claiming they were not going anywhere, many people were actually amazed by how well they did well this season. However, they have taken everybody by surprise throughout their prior encounters, as nobody expected them to put in the effort and reach this position. And with Girona's current form, they never accomplish anything because I'm aspecting them that they should do better them before to knocking Barcelona out of second place so they can surpass Barcelona in the same manner that they are currently leading Athletic by nearly six points. and their moving forward, because I'm hoping that they will put in a lot of effort to earn points in the nine games they still have to play before round off.

[KTChampions]

It seems to me on the contrary, Atlético’s chances of reaching the top 4 are falling due to the fact that they have a good position in the Champions League. If they can beat Dortmund, then on the way to the final one of the pair PSG - Barcelona will be waiting for them (this is much better than Real, Bayern, City or Arsenal as in the second branch to the final). Maybe it will turn out that they will give all their strength (due to motivation) in the Champions League and lose points in La Liga. I wouldn’t be surprised if they lose the head-to-head match to Athletic and worsen their situation.

That's not a reason in my opinion because even though the Atletico Madrid team will still fight for a top 4 position so that they can still get a ticket to the Champions League next season, if they hope to win the Champion League title this season I think it is very difficult.
In fact, teams that are focused on the European stage make the team's mentality and confidence better when facing matches in La Liga, especially if they have the same motivation.
So in my opinion Atletico Madrid's chances of finishing in the top 4 are still quite wide open, now Atletico Madrid is only 1 point different from the 4th ranked team and with 9 more matches left in this season their chances are very wide open.

Nope. A team that fights in European competitions usually loses its results in the national championship; this is a common pattern for everyone, both for top clubs and for lucky “newcomers” on the European arena. Even with good squad depth, it is difficult to compete equally well on all fronts.
As for Atlético, what do you think about what all the players are thinking about - that before reaching the Champions League final they only have to beat Dortmund, and then either PSG or Barcelona, which looks very realistic, or about how they will play with Villarreal and Alaves?  

[ShowOff]

Not only that, there were similarities where Girona would become Leicester in 2016, where they won the league by completely dominating for a season. But it seems that this assumption is not proven by Girona's declining performance and they are experiencing a season full of obstacles. We know that it is not easy to maintain the top position with so much pressure in every match, especially since teams full of history like Real Madrid or Barcelona are always lurking from behind.

In the end, Girona must be satisfied with their current condition and at least they are still fighting for a place in 2nd place in the standings to close this season and of course they will not be alone because Barcelona has also started to move and is only 2 points away. I think this will be a fierce battle between two Catalan teams and this is something we rarely see.

I would like to add, last season Sevilla also did the same thing, yes they were able to compete closely at first, but when they entered the second half towards the end of the season, they also experienced a very deep decline which ultimately made them have to settle for 4th place in the standings. at the end of the season. This is something that happens repeatedly in La Liga, and in the end no one can compete with the dominance of the 3 teams that are already regulars at the top of the rankings.
But still, what Girona has done this season is extraordinary, yes they have shown something beyond our predictions, they can even survive this far even though they are in a not better position now. I think this is normal because they are not a team that has that strong of a mentality.

That's a great observation, pusaka. I think you're right about that and to be honest we really didn't expect Girona to be that good this season, in fact they were still in the top four until week 29. La Liga has 9 games left in the season, so Girona will probably fight as hard as possible to finish this season with his best achievements.

Girona is still very likely to end this season in the Champions League zone as long as they are able to win a few more matches in the remaining season. There were some tough matches, while there were also some easy matches for them. But regarding the title, that is no longer a goal that Girona needs to achieve since Real Madrid leads the standings by a lot of points.

[Mayor of ogba]

With the recent inconsistency and the pressure on Girona in the La Liga table, I think they will not be able to handle the pressure to remain in the top four of La Liga. If Athletico Madrid improves their performance in the league, they can finish in the top four of La Liga. 

First of all, Girona performance shocked everyone this season because no one expected to see them where they are now. I know there is an imbalance of form recently I don't think Girona will lose a spot in top four. They have just nine games to round off the game and they are sitting ahead of Athletic Bilbao comfortably with six points and I think it is enough to keep their hopes alive. If Athletico Madrid should improve and take any spot up there, then it should be Bilbao spot that are just one point ahead of them. Some of the top leagues in Europe have taken another dimension this season with some new teams attempting to break a long time record. The same thing is happening in Bundesliga where Leverkusen is trying to overthrown long time domination of Bayern Munich and also in premier league with Arsenal, Liverpool and City locking horn with each other.

Since Girona had a poor start to the season and everyone was claiming they were not going anywhere, many people were actually amazed by how well they did well this season. However, they have taken everybody by surprise throughout their prior encounters, as nobody expected them to put in the effort and reach this position. And with Girona's current form, they never accomplish anything because I'm aspecting them that they should do better them before to knocking Barcelona out of second place so they can surpass Barcelona in the same manner that they are currently leading Athletic by nearly six points. and their moving forward, because I'm hoping that they will put in a lot of effort to earn points in the nine games they still have to play before round off.

With the consistency of Girona this season, they tried to put pressure on Real Madrid for the La Liga title for a long time. It will be hard for Girona to overtake Barcelona at the La Liga table because Girona is not currently consistent. Barcelona will capitalize on Girona's current form to lead Girona by at least four points, which will give them a comfortable lead over Girona.

[Farma]

With the recent inconsistency and the pressure on Girona in the La Liga table, I think they will not be able to handle the pressure to remain in the top four of La Liga. If Athletico Madrid improves their performance in the league, they can finish in the top four of La Liga. 

First of all, Girona performance shocked everyone this season because no one expected to see them where they are now. I know there is an imbalance of form recently I don't think Girona will lose a spot in top four. They have just nine games to round off the game and they are sitting ahead of Athletic Bilbao comfortably with six points and I think it is enough to keep their hopes alive. If Athletico Madrid should improve and take any spot up there, then it should be Bilbao spot that are just one point ahead of them. Some of the top leagues in Europe have taken another dimension this season with some new teams attempting to break a long time record. The same thing is happening in Bundesliga where Leverkusen is trying to overthrown long time domination of Bayern Munich and also in premier league with Arsenal, Liverpool and City locking horn with each other.

I know the six points Girona is leading Athletic Bilbao with are enough for Girona to finish in the top four of La Liga. But their current performance has made them drop a lot of points in a short time, and if they continue to perform like that, Athletico Madrid and Athletic Bilboa will close the gap with Girona in the La Liga table. Girona needs to improve their performance and start winning matches to remain in their third position in the La Liga table.

It's not Girona's 6-point advantage that means their chances of finishing in the top 4 are wide open this season, but because the performance of Athletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao is also inconsistent so they are not that threatening to Girona's position.

I think Girona's decline in performance is quite natural because overall the strength of this team is not very capable this season, but what has happened since the start of the season is a surprise that they have been able to maintain for a long time and all of that is due to factors outside of their influencing strength. chemistry to create slick performance.
And now Girona have returned to their roots, they are showing the performance they should and basically this team is not that strong.

[Palakka]

Yeah. Actually, Girona have lost their performance since they got defeated by Real Madrid. However, Girona is supposed to get their performance back because the defeat has happened for weeks now, so I'm still surprised why their performance is still like this, and again, it's very unfortunate that their performance declined when they got that defeat by Real Madrid. So after that, I think they should at least be in the top 2 of the table, but they failed to do so.

Although I think it will be very good for them if they manage to qualify for the Champions League competition since they lost hope of getting the La Liga top 1 talk less of getting the title, the main thing for them now is to qualify for the Champions League.

The defeat to Madrid became the starting point of Girona's declining performance this season after they had a long season and were able to stay at the top of the table for so long, but precisely lose in one match made Girona seem to lose their prestige and strength in the league, yes we admit if the defeat took place a few weeks ago but until now they have not even been able to rise and continue to extend their negative trend by losing to teams like Bilbao, Mallorca and Getafe.

I don't think there was much change in the Girona squad after the defeat, but that's the difference between the mentality that a surprise team like Girona has and a big team like Madrid and Barcelona, now that mentality Is the main thing that Is missing from girona after they were slaughtered by Madrid and i think that's what makes it difficult for them to get up and forget about the defeat unlike the case with Madrid and Barcelona who until now can still rise even though they get defeated, Girona only target this season is to stay in the top 4 zone although it seems a bit difficult when seeing the performance of Atletico Madrid and Bibao starting to rise at this time.

[skarais]

~~~

With the consistency of Girona this season, they tried to put pressure on Real Madrid for the La Liga title for a long time. It will be hard for Girona to overtake Barcelona at the La Liga table because Girona is not currently consistent. Barcelona will capitalize on Girona's current form to lead Girona by at least four points, which will give them a comfortable lead over Girona.

Nothing is difficult as long as the point gap between the two is still low. But the question is, what's the point for Girona to overtake Barcelona in second place when they themselves are unable to compete with Real Madrid for the title?

I know this is a matter of prestige between the respective teams and coaches, but without realizing it, Girona's rise this season in La Liga has also been a blessing for Real Madrid. Real Madrid is a team that has no rivals in the race for the title this season because Girona, I mean Girona is the team that is preventing Atletico Madrid and Barcelona from competing for the title.

[mammusu]

That defeat by Barcelona have a negative impact on Atletico Madrid, because they need to fight back their way to the top four, so that they can be in the Champions League next season, otherwise they will have to go for Europa cup.

Barcelona was able to show that they are superior over Atletico, no matter where the match is played. This was why it was very easy for them to win the match with 3 goals on a clean sheet. Only if Bilbao and Girona drop points, that is when there can be hope for Atletico to finish on top four.

Atletico Madrid have to pay more attention on their matches in La Liga. Losing a fourth position to Athletic Club is not good at all and the competitor is not weak. They are able to hold this fourth position till the season ending and Atletico Madrid have to be carefully with their matches and be ready to take advantage of any poor performance from Athletic Club. Such chance will not be too often appear and if Atletico Madrid waste such rare chance, they will lose against Athletic Club after all.

Most important is they must get good results from their own matches first as if they continue to lose points, their chance will only become smaller.

It's not that they don't pay attention to La Liga, but this season they experienced a decline which made it very difficult for them to get a win which means they are now outside the top 4. Their chances of returning to the top 4 are still very big, because they are only 1 point away from Atletico Bilbao. With a distance like that, it could change a lot in just one match, as long as Atletico Bilbao can taste victory again.

However, in my opinion, with the remaining matches, I doubt that Atletico Bilbao can sweep all the matches with a win. So, Atletico Madrid's opportunity is still quite open, but this also comes with many caveats, one of which is that they cannot lose points if they want to return to the top 4. That is something difficult of course, but it could also open up other opportunities depending on how Atletico Bilbao is, whether they will receive many draws or defeats which could open up even greater opportunities for Atletico Madrid. The point is that Atletico Madrid should not miss a match with a good result.

[Xcode7]

Nothing is difficult as long as the point gap between the two is still low. But the question is, what's the point for Girona to overtake Barcelona in second place when they themselves are unable to compete with Real Madrid for the title?

I know this is a matter of prestige between the respective teams and coaches, but without realizing it, Girona's rise this season in La Liga has also been a blessing for Real Madrid. Real Madrid is a team that has no rivals in the race for the title this season because Girona, I mean Girona is the team that is preventing Atletico Madrid and Barcelona from competing for the title.

I don't think it's Girona that is blocking Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, but Atletico Madrid and Barcelona's performance this season is quite bad so they can't put pressure on Real Madrid in the competition for the title this season, while Girona only makes a surprise without being able to put pressure/compete in the race. This season's La Liga title with Real Madrid because in terms of strength they are not capable or equal to Real Madrid.

Finishing in 2nd or 3rd position is the same because a team that cannot win the title will only focus on being able to finish in the top 4 positions so that they can get a ticket to the Champions League next season, but it all comes back to the prestige of being able to finish in the best position, and every team has motivation for it.

[topbitcoin]

I would like to add, last season Sevilla also did the same thing, yes they were able to compete closely at first, but when they entered the second half towards the end of the season, they also experienced a very deep decline which ultimately made them have to settle for 4th place in the standings. at the end of the season. This is something that happens repeatedly in La Liga, and in the end no one can compete with the dominance of the 3 teams that are already regulars at the top of the rankings.
But still, what Girona has done this season is extraordinary, yes they have shown something beyond our predictions, they can even survive this far even though they are in a not better position now. I think this is normal because they are not a team that has that strong of a mentality.

True, if you look at the situation in La Liga in recent seasons it does seem like the same thing keeps happening but for now I honestly want something different with Girona.
Indeed if you look at the current conditions and compare with some dark horse clubs last season in the end Girona's performance was just as disruptive as Sevilla in the previous few seasons or Sociedad last season but precisely with the current conditions Girona still has momentum I think it would be great if they became troublesome compared to the previous few seasons.
Although the problem now is that for Girona they are starting to experience a setback that is not too unexpected but the hope is definitely that they must try to regain good momentum in the remaining matches that will be carried out.

At the moment their momentum is fading in the competition even after previously being comfortable at the top at the moment they are actually thrown into third place but of course I expect a better change for Girona to be able to restore their momentum like at the beginning of the season so as not to be labeled as only being troublesome at the beginning of the season but instead making an ordinary impression at the end of the season.

[kawetsriyanto]

I don't think it's Girona that is blocking Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, but Atletico Madrid and Barcelona's performance this season is quite bad so they can't put pressure on Real Madrid in the competition for the title this season, while Girona only makes a surprise without being able to put pressure/compete in the race. This season's La Liga title with Real Madrid because in terms of strength they are not capable or equal to Real Madrid.

We must admit that the performance of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid is rather badly during this season. The main problem of these teams are they failed to build a strong team with proper players. It makes sense for Barcelona, they have financial crisis. Meanwhile Atletico Madrid, they lose their mentality in the last few seasons. Simeone failed to rebuild a strong defense of Atletico Madrid. Having the bad situation on these teams, we have Girona who can perform very impressive since the early of the season. They could compete with Real Madrid for the 1st place although they don't have many popular players. This is a coincidence, Girona performed impressive when Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are underperformance.

Finishing in 2nd or 3rd position is the same because a team that cannot win the title will only focus on being able to finish in the top 4 positions so that they can get a ticket to the Champions League next season, but it all comes back to the prestige of being able to finish in the best position, and every team has motivation for it.

I think it is a bit different when you could finish as a runner-up (second place). It is a bit prestigious status but it won't mean a lot because all the teams in the position 2-4 will be in UCL for the next season. I think Barcelona and Atletico Madrid won't care if they finish in 2, 3, or 4. But for Girona, I'm sure they will try all out to finish as a runner-up. They want to show all people that they are the second strongest team in La Liga nowadays.

[skarais]

~~~

I don't think it's Girona that is blocking Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, but Atletico Madrid and Barcelona's performance this season is quite bad so they can't put pressure on Real Madrid in the competition for the title this season, while Girona only makes a surprise without being able to put pressure/compete in the race. This season's La Liga title with Real Madrid because in terms of strength they are not capable or equal to Real Madrid.

Finishing in 2nd or 3rd position is the same because a team that cannot win the title will only focus on being able to finish in the top 4 positions so that they can get a ticket to the Champions League next season, but it all comes back to the prestige of being able to finish in the best position, and every team has motivation for it.

If you think so, then I don't completely deny it. Girona is a surprise  in La Liga this season and their performances against the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have been very different, meaning they have something to prove. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid failed to respond well and both dropped points, while Girona failed to establish themselves as serious contenders.

You also realize that no team can always perform consistently throughout the season without dropping points, so perhaps it is natural that teams like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid lose a number of points when their opponents give 100% of their ability to get points. Stopping Barcelona may be easier than stopping Real Madrid, meaning you only need 10 players in the defensive area and close the space tightly and get 1 point as the lowest consequence. That's what many La Liga teams usually do against Barcelona, ​​but they failed against Real Madrid.