La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24

[condoras]

But clearly from the highlights, Messi was still involved in everything! Which is nice to see of course but it keeps me worried that the successor is yet to be identified. I mean, that magic feet and brain my god.

Still, they did really well to come back from 2 goals down though but I wonder if the extra 30 minutes will not be helpful for them to stay fresh.

Barca was built on Messi and it's unlikely not to have him involved in almost anything. Messi was and still is one of the best players in soccer and there will not be any successor. Those players are unique and there are one of a kind. Sure at some point, we will see others but nothing like Messi or Cristiano.

[Xxmodded]

But clearly from the highlights, Messi was still involved in everything! Which is nice to see of course but it keeps me worried that the successor is yet to be identified. I mean, that magic feet and brain my god.

Still, they did really well to come back from 2 goals down though but I wonder if the extra 30 minutes will not be helpful for them to stay fresh.

Barca was built on Messi and it's unlikely not to have him involved in almost anything. Messi was and still is one of the best players in soccer and there will not be any successor. Those players are unique and there are one of a kind. Sure at some point, we will see others but nothing like Messi or Cristiano.

I think why Barcelona loss much money this season because salary for Messi very high and Barcelona have any payment for many clubs right now. I think Messi become free player transfer on June but do not have any new contract will Messi extended for Barcelona or not, but Manchester City will give more surprise for Messi if wanna be Manchester City team next season.

[Bilgent]

The Barcelona team is reducing its reliance on Messi by this I mean that Griezmann was not in the form before, if Messi had not scored or assisted, it would have been very difficult to win against the small team of Barcelona. But now Barcelona seems stable enough. De Jong, Pedri, Griezmann are all able to score now.

I don't agree with you here. Because I checked the statistics and saw that the most scorer of the team is Messi with 12 goals (in 18 matches) in La Liga. He made also 4 assists. The closest player to him is Griezmann with 6 goals. So, Messi still makes a big contribution to the team. I wonder whether Barcelona will manage to fill his place (which is really hard) after he is gone.

[boltz]

Copa del Rey tonight with Betis and Bilbao facing each other with a Betis team coming after a HUGE LUCKY victory in extra time even if they were playing in 10 men. BIlbao, on the other side , are coming after a win with Barcelona and also with a good team morale so I would go with both teams to score and maybe over 2.5 goals because I don't see this game going in extra time ...they have no stamina left for a game to be that long.

[TheGreatPython]

Since Ronaldo left, their productivity has decreased.~~Meanwhile, Benzema looks not able to perform optimally like last season

Yep, that's why I said Real Madrid missed a key player in the front line. Ronaldo is the previous key player there. After he left, Hazard is expected to replace the role but unfortunately, he can't. On the other hand, we cannot expect too much on Benzema because he also needs a proper partner in the attacking line. Hazard still cannot show his best performance because he still has difficulties cooperating with all players there. He also may need a longer time to adapt to the Madrid football style.

When you are a team like Real Madrid everyone plays against you with the idea of "lets not lose" and that is a big difference versus teams playing each other to win. This means every team will have a harsher defense with a lot more people, and that is why I think it is quite important that we focus on the issues that was caused by other teams instead of issues by lacking players.

Hazard came from premier league where teams played to win, La liga is a place "let's see if madrid of barça will win" aside from this year where ATM plays decent. So, I think Hazard is a good player but you can't expect him to be like Ronaldo, at his peak (or even today if you want to) Ronaldo was the best player I have ever seen along with Messi, it is great that we saw them together but those are top 2 players in football history for me, to expect another player to be like that would be too much to ask.

[BITCOIN4X]

The Barcelona team is reducing its reliance on Messi by this I mean that Griezmann was not in the form before, if Messi had not scored or assisted, it would have been very difficult to win against the small team of Barcelona. But now Barcelona seems stable enough. De Jong, Pedri, Griezmann are all able to score now.

True, they've been doing pretty well so far but I think they're too late for the heat. The difference in points with Atletico is very far and if Atletico wins in a postponed match then Barcelona will have a hard time catching up with point. It has been difficult for Barcelona this season to be at the top because in my opinion they have wasted a lot of chances when the season started. Atletico were strong against their opponent and Barcelona dropped a lot of point. Maybe at that time the coach was still adapting to the Barcelona players.

Barcelona looks weak in defense and that is what is a problem for them. Having conceded 18 goals in 20 game in my opinion has made them a weak team in defense. I think the coach has to find the right tandems in this area, they are very weak in my opinion. The last time they conceded 3 goals was in the Coppa del Rey from Granada.

[acquafredda]

Pellegrini's Betis is looking good, their performance has been significant throughout the season. Betis - Bilbao is probably the most exciting game of these quarter-finals. Both teams are doing great and I expect no less than three goals: maybe Bilbao is going to win the match at the end. Moreover, many think Copa del Rey is a tangible goal for Bilbao's season and I believe so too.

[AakZaki]

It is not really only about being a motivator or not; at some point in life, particulary if you are Zinedine Zidane and you have won basically all that could be won as a player and as manager, you would want to go somewhere else to look for new challenges. Can't it be that way? Sometimes the easier thing to do is also the most simple and I hope Zidane will leave Real pretty soon. His cycle's ended over there.

I agree with you regarding the Zidane trophy. Zidane has given Real Madrid 10 titles and they have come from various competitions. He is a great coach. But after I read some rumors, it is management who wants Zidane to leave. So I don't think Zidane should be saturated. Just look at the league always bringing new things and new challenges. I actually support him if he stays at Madrid.

[Spack17]

Pellegrini's Betis is looking good, their performance has been significant throughout the season. Betis - Bilbao is probably the most exciting game of these quarter-finals. Both teams are doing great and I expect no less than three goals: maybe Bilbao is going to win the match at the end. Moreover, many think Copa del Rey is a tangible goal for Bilbao's season and I believe so too.

I agree that Betis have been very good this season so far. They are at the 7th position in La Liga and they are fighting for joining the international tournaments. They have also done a great job so far in Copa Del Rey. They eliminated Real Sociedad the last with a 3-1 score. We shouldn't also underestimate A. Bilbao because they have been very good in cup games this season so far. They have an important player missing for this match, Inaki Williams who scored 5 goals in total in La Liga and Supercopa so far. I expect a huge competition in this match and a draw won't make me surprised.

[fullhdpixel]

The Barcelona team is reducing its reliance on Messi by this I mean that Griezmann was not in the form before, if Messi had not scored or assisted, it would have been very difficult to win against the small team of Barcelona. But now Barcelona seems stable enough. De Jong, Pedri, Griezmann are all able to score now.

But clearly from the highlights, Messi was still involved in everything! Which is nice to see of course but it keeps me worried that the successor is yet to be identified. I mean, that magic feet and brain my god.

Still, they did really well to come back from 2 goals down though but I wonder if the extra 30 minutes will not be helpful for them to stay fresh.

I have said the same thing about real Madrid before and I will say it for Barcelona as well, you do not replace these players. Madrid had trouble finding "another ronaldo" and they just sold him because 100 millio for 34 year old player was an awesome offer and they imagined if they could pay 100 million for another young star they could have replaced him but we all know how they failed, you can't replace a ronaldo.

Same goes for Messi and Barcelona, you can't replace messi because he is messi, there will never be another messi (well not any time soon at least) and his peak was something football has never seen before. So at the end of the day what can you do if you can't replace messi? You replace his average, which means if you have lets say a bad right back and no messi, you do great right back and replace messi with another great player (not at messi level) that way you decrease average in one position but you increase it on another and try to cover the difference, do this in 4-5 positions and you will be good.

[masulum]

I agree with you regarding the Zidane trophy. Zidane has given Real Madrid 10 titles and they have come from various competitions. He is a great coach. But after I read some rumors, it is management who wants Zidane to leave. So I don't think Zidane should be saturated. Just look at the league always bringing new things and new challenges. I actually support him if he stays at Madrid.

Sacking Zidane is not good choice made by Madrid boards, he will be more struggling except they recruit another good coach. With Zidane, madrid not wasting too much money for buying players. Let me speculate, they are sacking Zidane and replace with Raul. Since if I'm not wrong Raul also in Madrid as coach. IMO, raul may not the best options for Madrid.

[Expecto]

The Barcelona team is reducing its reliance on Messi by this I mean that Griezmann was not in the form before, if Messi had not scored or assisted, it would have been very difficult to win against the small team of Barcelona. But now Barcelona seems stable enough. De Jong, Pedri, Griezmann are all able to score now.

But clearly from the highlights, Messi was still involved in everything! Which is nice to see of course but it keeps me worried that the successor is yet to be identified. I mean, that magic feet and brain my god.

Still, they did really well to come back from 2 goals down though but I wonder if the extra 30 minutes will not be helpful for them to stay fresh.

I have said the same thing about real Madrid before and I will say it for Barcelona as well, you do not replace these players. Madrid had trouble finding "another ronaldo" and they just sold him because 100 millio for 34 year old player was an awesome offer and they imagined if they could pay 100 million for another young star they could have replaced him but we all know how they failed, you can't replace a ronaldo.

Same goes for Messi and Barcelona, you can't replace messi because he is messi, there will never be another messi (well not any time soon at least) and his peak was something football has never seen before. So at the end of the day what can you do if you can't replace messi? You replace his average, which means if you have lets say a bad right back and no messi, you do great right back and replace messi with another great player (not at messi level) that way you decrease average in one position but you increase it on another and try to cover the difference, do this in 4-5 positions and you will be good.

I definitely agree with you. Some people really don't want to understand this. These kind of players are too special and it is one of the hardest things to fill their place. We might see a player like these again e.g. after 30 years. But for now, there is nobody who can replace them.

[CryptocurencyKing]

It seems all the Coppa del ray games would be going for an extra time or a penalty shot out for a decider! Through yesterday and today, its been same strain all through. A very sad one for Real Betis to have conceived a die minute goal by Raul Garcia to make the equalization that moved the game to a penalty shot out, same mistake Granada made against Barcelona yesterday. Cups are always where the competition seems to be at its peak, lots of yellow cards in this game. over 8 yellow cards and most of tem were Bilbao. But then, Real Betis still lost and Athletic Bilbao gets to bag all 3 points tonight.

[LTU_btc]

It seems all the Coppa del ray games would be going for an extra time or a penalty shot out for a decider! Through yesterday and today, its been same strain all through. A very sad one for Real Betis to have conceived a die minute goal by Raul Garcia to make the equalization that moved the game to a penalty shot out, same mistake Granada made against Barcelona yesterday. Cups are always where the competition seems to be at its peak, lots of yellow cards in this game. over 8 yellow cards and most of tem were Bilbao. But then, Real Betis still lost and Athletic Bilbao gets to bag all 3 points tonight.

Interesting and nervous game. Athletic proved again that they have big balls. So, new they have chance to win Copa del Rey trophies in same month.
We have Barcelona, Sevilla, Levante and Athletic in semifinals and draw is yet to be made. Is difficult to predict something now, only clear thing that Levante is main underdog there.

[Shasha80]

It seems all the Coppa del ray games would be going for an extra time or a penalty shot out for a decider! Through yesterday and today, its been same strain all through. A very sad one for Real Betis to have conceived a die minute goal by Raul Garcia to make the equalization that moved the game to a penalty shot out, same mistake Granada made against Barcelona yesterday. Cups are always where the competition seems to be at its peak, lots of yellow cards in this game. over 8 yellow cards and most of tem were Bilbao. But then, Real Betis still lost and Athletic Bilbao gets to bag all 3 points tonight.

I just realized that as you said almost all Coppa del Rey games have to end in extra times or penalty shot out. But this makes the match even more
interesting to watch, especially the Real Betis vs Athletic Bilbao match which is very dramatic for Betis. Because the victory that almost got failed
because in injury time Bilbao managed to equalize to 1-1. And finally Betis had to lose through a penalty shot out, after Canales and Juanmi failed
to do their job well as penalty takers. This is a lesson for Betis, so they always concentrate until the match is over.

[kawetsriyanto]

Next matchday (Matchday 22)
- Huesca vs Real Madrid
- Real Betis vs Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid vs Celta Vigo

I think there will be no change in the position of these 3 teams tomorrow. They will against small teams and I predict all the top teams will get 3 points to secure their current position, especially for Atletico Madrid that will play at home tomorrow. Well, all the supporters of Atletico, Real, And Barce should be satisfied with the current result and don't expect much for the change.  

[ILuckyGuyI]

Barcelona are going to play an away game against Betis this weekend. Barcelona are the 2nd with 40 points and Betis are the 7th with 30 points. Betis (3W 2D) and Barcelona (5W) both didn't get any loss in the last 5 games in the league. Betis didn't lose in their last 5 home games and Barcelona also didn't lose in their last 5 away games. In the last 5 head-to-head games, Barcelona won 4 times and Betis won only once.

Missing player(s) at Betis: Claudio Bravo, Marc Bartra, Diego Lainez Leyva
Missing player(s) at Barcelona: Gerard Pique, Philippe Coutinho (2 goals), Sergi Roberto (1 goal), Anssumane Fati (4 goals)

Betis are really good this season and I think there is a very tough game waiting for Barcelona. I think this game will end in a draw.

[slaman29]

I think there will be no change in the position of these 3 teams tomorrow. They will against small teams and I predict all the top teams will get 3 points to secure their current position, especially for Atletico Madrid that will play at home tomorrow. Well, all the supporters of Atletico, Real, And Barce should be satisfied with the current result and don't expect much for the change.  

Game to game I find it really useless to predict positions,,, especially with games in hands and some clubs having stronger lineups against weaker opponents. But the pressure is on Atletico for sure after all these seasons chasing the pack, now they are the ones on top. Their games in hand also will psychologically test them to be complacent with the safety net!

[Mahdirakib]

~snip~
I think there will be no change in the position of these 3 teams tomorrow. They will against small teams and I predict all the top teams will get 3 points to secure their current position, especially for Atletico Madrid that will play at home tomorrow. Well, all the supporters of Atletico, Real, And Barce should be satisfied with the current result and don't expect much for the change.  

Clearly Atletico Madrid and Barcelona having great time now. Both team have good winning streak and they will remain favourite in upcoming matches. But I think there will be a break in their winning streak. Their opponents will try their best to get points from the match and they aren't weak as well. We may see draw at any of those match. And RMA have the highest chance to get a victory against the weakest opponent.

[ShowOff]

Next matchday (Matchday 22)
- Huesca vs Real Madrid
- Real Betis vs Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid vs Celta Vigo

I think there will be no change in the position of these 3 teams tomorrow. They will against small teams and I predict all the top teams will get 3 points to secure their current position, especially for Atletico Madrid that will play at home tomorrow. Well, all the supporters of Atletico, Real, And Barce should be satisfied with the current result and don't expect much for the change.  

There may not be much change to the standings even though these three big teams win their respective matche. But if you are a Real Madrid or Barcelona supporter then I am sure you will hope that Atletico Madrid will play badly later and suffer defeat. Only that will allow Barcelona and Real Madrid to cut the point distance from Atletico Madrid.

And RMA have the highest chance to get a victory against the weakest opponent.

It would be a big surprise if Real Madrid lost to a team that is likely to experience relegation this season. It is of course that Madrid will benefit from the easy opponent this time around.