La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24

[Smartvirus]

I was very surprised by Atletico Madrid's defeat today. Of course I hope they drop point, but not the Atletic Bilbao game. Thanks to Atletico Madrid's defeat today, I think Barcelona can use it to top the table, but of course they have to win match-33 against Granada.

I was surprised too. I though the Real Madrid draw might have meant something to them, a motivation on how to gain more points and push themselves further up the league but I thought wrong. The worst of it all was them to have lost. Athletic Bilbao isn't an easy team to win though and they were playing from home 8n this particular encounter. This puts Barcelona in a very good spot to actually topping the league. At the moment, they have equated Real Madrid in points, still have an outstanding game that could put them on top of the table and end the Atletico Madrid's rain. What a turn of event, from third place and are now potential first place. Atletico Madrid have lost this title,  to have been so far up and now, are at the mercy of the league.

[nelson4lov]

What's happening this year in Spain it's incredible.

I remember Atletico was leading the Liga with an advantage of 8 points and having 2 fewer games played over Barca and Real.

Now they lost this evening and if Barca will win the missing game they will be behind them.

From a potential +14 to a -1

It's a clear reminder that it's never too late to keep pushing. Atlético Madrid looked like they were unstoppable for a long time and were the only unbeaten team in the league. I wonder why they got this bad. Simone said that he was focused on building a better team than contesting to win in a title race. He did just that as his team has been dropping bad results like its an album. I hope Barcelona finishes off Granada on Thursday and assume that #1 spot. It's been Atlético for far too long.

[AndySt]

I was very surprised by Atletico Madrid's defeat today. Of course I hope they drop point, but not the Atletic Bilbao game. Thanks to Atletico Madrid's defeat today, I think Barcelona can use it to top the table, but of course they have to win match-33 against Granada.
If Barcelona lead the table, I just want them to keep it until the end of the season. There is only one match that will determine the title this season and that is Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, but I wouldn't say Barcelona's other opponent will be easy to beat for the rest of the season. Hopefully Barcelona can win the match vs Granada this weekend.

By the way, after this round, the four teams of the Champions League were formed (if Real Madrid and Barcelona still allow it to be done by UEFA): Atletico, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Seville. Atletico at the end of the season, when it was only necessary to confirm their class and just take their points in the standings, began to experience huge problems. If earlier the trump card of Atletico was stability, now there is nothing left of it, because it is not in the style of Simeone. If Atletico still want to continue to claim the title, it is necessary not only to beat Barcelona, but also not to lose points in the remaining matches, which in light of recent results is very doubtful.

[logfiles]

I am no longer surprised to see Atletico Madrid's defeat, but I am very disappointed. As you have said, the draw obtained by Real Madrid should be
able to motivate Atletico Madrid players to win the match. I understand Bilbao is not an easy team to beat, but at least it can end in a draw.
With the bad results obtained by Atletico Madrid, could give Barcelona the opportunity to replace Atletico if Barcelona can win the match against Granada.

I think Atletico Madrid are facing a much bigger problem. Probably fatigue of the players as they have a very thin squad that place match in match out. I have never seen a team lose such a big point gap in only 1 half of the season after an impressive start in a long time.
With even a few matches left, I have already written them off as title contenders.

[Lordhermes]

After Atletico Madrid fall  that gave the lead to Barca if it beats Granada next Thursday .
Laliga changes overnight and the change came this time to turn the tables on Simeone, who definitely does not deserve winnjng tge league with all these stumbling block.
Now Real Madrid is back to the race again they are only 3 points away from the awaited leader next Thursday.
I think it's jut time to wait until Barcelona to the top Thursday.

Wow, I just checked on the standings and confirms that Barca is the luckiest team to achieve the Laliga title, it's amazing to see ATM falling to this extent, now I know that the statement "it is not over until it's over" usually works.

It's Barca open opportunity to betray ATM by taking the title from backyard, I don't know how Barca is prepared to win the remaining 6 matches. I trust in barca when thing had gone this way. They will not like to fall the fans.

[snipie]

What's happening this year in Spain it's incredible.

I remember Atletico was leading the Liga with an advantage of 8 points and having 2 fewer games played over Barca and Real.

Now they lost this evening and if Barca will win the missing game they will be behind them.

From a potential +14 to a -1

That's what I called catastrophic failure
ATM was unable to keep its advantage, to stay consistent, to win what used to be a well merited title... At the opposite they lost points so easily to let (most likely) a team that used to be 14th (Barca) to catch it. That's very disappointing

[mamesso]

It's a clear reminder that it's never too late to keep pushing. Atlético Madrid looked like they were unstoppable for a long time and were the only unbeaten team in the league. I wonder why they got this bad. Simone said that he was focused on building a better team than contesting to win in a title race. He did just that as his team has been dropping bad results like its an album. I hope Barcelona finishes off Granada on Thursday and assume that #1 spot. It's been Atlético for far too long.

Barcelona target is not just Granada, Barcelona must win all matches until the end of the season to add to their trophy collection. Of the 6 matches that haven't been played, only Atletico hard to beat, Barcelona vs Atletico matches is the most exciting matches to watch, even though it's not a final match, but the result in this match will determine who will be the champion this year.

While in other matches Sevilla managed to beat Granada with a score of 2-1, an additional three points makes sevilla managed to earn one UCL ticket next season, The 70 point collected by Sevilla could not be pursued by Real Sociedad who was in 5th position.

[kawetsriyanto]

I am no longer surprised to see Atletico Madrid's defeat, but I am very disappointed.

Yep, we already saw it many times, Atletico Madrid wasted the chance to get 3 points and lead with bigger point gaps. They are like a group of people that have no big motivation to win the title anymore. I assume, one of the problems of this team is in the midfield and attacking line. They need a strong DMF (Defensive Midfielder) and another quality CF (Centre-Forward). If they can fix this, I am sure they will be easier to score effectively and has better balance in the midfield.

[MCobian]

~

I think Atletico Madrid are facing a much bigger problem. Probably fatigue of the players as they have a very thin squad that place match in match out. I have never seen a team lose such a big point gap in only 1 half of the season after an impressive start in a long time.
With even a few matches left, I have already written them off as title contenders.

What you say makes a lot of sense, because Atletico don't have a good squad depth. Even the substitutes are not as good as the main players,
this might make some Atletico players exhausted by a busy match schedule. So it's no wonder Atletico Madrid's performance continues to decline,
if the remaining matches Atletico still lose more points and Atletico could fail to win La Liga.

I am no longer surprised to see Atletico Madrid's defeat, but I am very disappointed.

Yep, we already saw it many times, Atletico Madrid wasted the chance to get 3 points and lead with bigger point gaps. They are like a group of people that have no big motivation to win the title anymore. I assume, one of the problems of this team is in the midfield and attacking line. They need a strong DMF (Defensive Midfielder) and another quality CF (Centre-Forward). If they can fix this, I am sure they will be easier to score effectively and has better balance in the midfield.

Even though Atletico Madrid started this season very well, but near the end of the season they often dropped points. I also agree that Atletico
players don't have a high fighting spirit to win La Liga this season. They play like they have lost motivation, actually Atletico's opportunity is
still open, because there are still 5 games left. This is Simeone's job as a coach who must revive the enthusiasm of Atletico players to fight
in the last 5 matches. After losing Thomas Partey, Atletico did lose a formidable defensive midfielder, and also Atletico should look for center forward
such as Aguero, Griezmann and Diego Costa. The Atletico striker right now is indeed not good at scoring goals. This is something that must be
fixed in the next season by Atletico Madrid.

[Swordsoffreedom]

I am no longer surprised to see Atletico Madrid's defeat, but I am very disappointed.

Yep, we already saw it many times, Atletico Madrid wasted the chance to get 3 points and lead with bigger point gaps. They are like a group of people that have no big motivation to win the title anymore. I assume, one of the problems of this team is in the midfield and attacking line. They need a strong DMF (Defensive Midfielder) and another quality CF (Centre-Forward). If they can fix this, I am sure they will be easier to score effectively and has better balance in the midfield.

I think there is a lack of coordination among the players on the team. They got a lot of easy chances, but they couldn’t score. Moreover, Atletico fans expect better gameplay from Suarez. He was not successful in yesterday's match. If Atletico Madrid were in the form they were at the start of the season, no one would have snatched the title from them if they had regained their form.

[W Jr.]

It shocked me that Atletico Madrid lost to Atletic Bilbao. They could not consider Real Madrid's draw. AM, don't seem to want the championship.  Atletico Madrid’s next match is with Elche. They have to go through this match without any losses.

 Now I see Barcelona more advantageous in the championship race.

[Maidak]

It shocked me that Atletico Madrid lost to Atletic Bilbao. They could not consider Real Madrid's draw. AM, don't seem to want the championship.  Atletico Madrid’s next match is with Elche. They have to go through this match without any losses.

 Now I see Barcelona more advantageous in the championship race.

Athletic Bilbao is also a good enough team. And if you watch yesterday's match, you can easily see that Bilbao played very well. They deserve this victory. Atletico Madrid needs to change their playstyle. They will probably win against Elche. But if they lose to Barcelona, they will not be able to win the title this season.

[Lordhermes]

But if they lose to Barcelona, they will not be able to win the title this season.

This will be a very crucial match to be played and who ever wins this match qualify to lift the Laliga title this season, ATM had certainly realize that they have to buckle up in their next matches because they are at the point of loosing out the title race, Barca will also play with Valencia, do you think the Catalians can win these two big upfront matches, do you think Real Madrid will fold their hands and watch them battling over the Laliga title without wanting to join the battlefield? Laliga is competitive right now and who ever loose guards is out of the battle.

[MAAManda]

Athletic Bilbao is also a good enough team. And if you watch yesterday's match, you can easily see that Bilbao played very well. They deserve this victory. Atletico Madrid needs to change their playstyle. They will probably win against Elche. But if they lose to Barcelona, they will not be able to win the title this season.

Actually, Athletic Bilbao did not play very well, their defensive style of play in that match even exceeded Atletico Madrid's defensive style.

I saw the match on television, Atletico Madrid struggled very hard to get past the Athletic Bilbao defense, but maybe fate was not on their side.

From the final statistics, we can actually see how defensive Athletic Bilbao are, more than 60% of the game is controlled by Atletico Madrid until they manage to equalize the score of Goal Stefan Savic. But that's not enough.

[Slow death]

It shocked me that Atletico Madrid lost to Atletic Bilbao. They could not consider Real Madrid's draw. AM, don't seem to want the championship.  Atletico Madrid’s next match is with Elche. They have to go through this match without any losses.

the most ridiculous thing about all this is that Atletic Bilbao was the first to score a goal very early, 8 minutes played and they were already winning the game, it was a premise that they would end up winning that game. ATM no longer had the psychological and tactical capacity to stay on top, they did not know how to manage the great advantage that had to be champions. now it is too late, they no longer have any chance of being champions, so the usual ones: barcelona and real madrid glued the ATM everything became clear from who will be champion: Real madrid or Barcelona, I had already said that Barcelona would be champion, even if I'm a fan of real madrid.

Now I see Barcelona more advantageous in the championship race.

they will be champions

[ILuckyGuyI]

Benzema can't always carry the team but he is still doing a great job that's for sure. But even he couldn't prevent the point loss against Betis last night. They have a CL game too and because of that I guess they couldn't focus fully on this game.

Interestingly I feel like all the goals Benzema had was basically the system focusing on a good striker to score the goals. Don't get me wrong I am not saying Benzema otherwise wouldn't be able to score goals, he is a marvelous striker and he would great anywhere, I am just talking about the number that's it, put him on liverpool instead of Firmino for example and he would score 10 goals at best, not because he is bad, Firmino is not bad, he is great and so is Benzema but the system there is different and helps all attackers, even backs if they are up front, it is a whole team offense whereas in Real it is more like "get the ball to person who suppose to score" type of striker mentality.

This is why I think it is quite obvious he has more goals than he normally would in another strategy. At the end of the day Zidane is a great manager but he needs to bring other plaers into play on offense, he is amazing on defense management but his offense needs help.

I agree with you, yeah. Benzema is scoring this many goals because of the playing style of the team. Real Madrid are depending too much on him. And as a result, they have big difficulties many times when he doesn't score. So, Real Madrid really need fresh bloods to help him and they need to put an end to this kind of tactic.

[LittleBitFunny]

Benzema can't always carry the team but he is still doing a great job that's for sure. But even he couldn't prevent the point loss against Betis last night. They have a CL game too and because of that I guess they couldn't focus fully on this game.

Interestingly I feel like all the goals Benzema had was basically the system focusing on a good striker to score the goals. Don't get me wrong I am not saying Benzema otherwise wouldn't be able to score goals, he is a marvelous striker and he would great anywhere, I am just talking about the number that's it, put him on liverpool instead of Firmino for example and he would score 10 goals at best, not because he is bad, Firmino is not bad, he is great and so is Benzema but the system there is different and helps all attackers, even backs if they are up front, it is a whole team offense whereas in Real it is more like "get the ball to person who suppose to score" type of striker mentality.

This is why I think it is quite obvious he has more goals than he normally would in another strategy. At the end of the day Zidane is a great manager but he needs to bring other plaers into play on offense, he is amazing on defense management but his offense needs help.

I agree with you, yeah. Benzema is scoring this many goals because of the playing style of the team. Real Madrid are depending too much on him. And as a result, they have big difficulties many times when he doesn't score. So, Real Madrid really need fresh bloods to help him and they need to put an end to this kind of tactic.

This is completely true. The Real Madrid team relies heavily on Benzema. And the other players on the team gave Benzema the opportunity to score many goals. It is very difficult to beat Real Madrid in a match in which Benzema can perform well. But if Benzema does not perform as expected, the overall performance of the team is worse. Real Madrid should reduce their dependence on Benzema.

[ILuckyGuyI]

I must admit that I was really shocked when I saw Atletico losing to Bilbao. Because Bilbao had a really bad form and it was one of the crucial games for Atletico on the road going to the championship. After this loss, Real Madrid decreased the point difference with them to 2. And Barcelona have a big chance to take the lead if they win their missing game against Granada home 3 days later.

[Cnut237]

I must admit that I was really shocked when I saw Atletico losing to Bilbao. Because Bilbao had a really bad form and it was one of the crucial games for Atletico on the road going to the championship. After this loss, Real Madrid decreased the point difference with them to 2. And Barcelona have a big chance to take the lead if they win their missing game against Granada home 3 days later.

Really bad result for Atletico. I think now that Barca will win the title. They are winning all their games, the only exception was their defeat in the Clasico. Atletico's only chance now is to beat BArca when they play them, otherwise I think their chances are over for this year.

One thing to remember is that Real Madrid have the advantage in head-to-head results should these teams finish level on points.

[abhiseshakana]

Really bad result for Atletico. I think now that Barca will win the title. They are winning all their games, the only exception was their defeat in the Clasico. Atletico's only chance now is to beat BArca when they play them, otherwise I think their chances are over for this year.

I think Atletico still has a chance to become champions. Even though they will come as guests on May 8th, that doesn't mean that they will be easily beaten by Barcelona. If they can turn things around (can win against Barcelona) then the road to becoming La Liga champions will be even wider.

One thing to remember is that Real Madrid have the advantage in head-to-head results should these teams finish level on points.

Real Madrid only has a small chance because they still have to fight in the Champions League, while they are also facing injury problems.