La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24

[Falconer]

I disagree with this point haha; I think Simeone is the main problem of the Atletico side; the clubside has signed countless of top attackers and none of them is able to perform under Simeone as manager. his model of football is outdated and he needs to change his approach or be changed if Atletico Madrid wants to challenge again

But the fact is that you have to admit that Simeone has had more success than Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao and several other challengers besides Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​right? Simeone has won several La Liga titles, but perhaps that is never enough in the eyes of the people.

IMO, Simeone is one of the coaches who has made Laliga's top 4 even better. He is a good Argentinian coaches for Atletico Madrid so far and I don't expect him to be sacked just because this season has not been good in the Champions League. But you are entitled to have different assumptions, and so am I.

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[Altryist]

Actually they are a very capable club to provide competitive competition to Barcelona and Real Madrid. But yes as we see now that they have declined which makes it very difficult for them to compete with these two clubs. It's true that Diego Simeone's strategy isn't that bad, but still those who watch don't want to know that, because for fans they just want to see their proud club always perform well and win every game. But now they can't do that and even make their fans' expectations slowly fade. There is still a lot of time for them to improve on this, but to catch Barcelona and Real Madrid to the same level will be very difficult.

Simeone's strategy is defensive football, and it seems to me that this is not very relevant now. Mourinho can be called a representative of such a strategy, and as we see his results are also mediocre. It can work if the team is really very good defensively, otherwise it won't work. There is still enough time, but Atletico will not be able to compete on equal terms with Barcelona and Realia this season.

[fullhdpixel]

I think Atletico Madrid he’s not going to improve their performance unless something changes drastically. I think they need to bring in some good players. Gone are those times when the match between Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid happened to be very interesting and influential. Right now, almost all the time, Atletico Madrid is not given any chance against these two teams. And it is understandable why that happens. These two teams are very much better and capable of beating Atletico Madrid.

I don’t think we also can blame the coach. I think his tactics are actually not that bad. The problem is the plans that he’s making are not being implemented in the field well enough in my opinion.

This season is surely having some serious troubles for the Atlético Madrid they are currently having 24 points which are sharing by two other teams as well and their spot is fifth just because of goal difference for me their performance is surely not going to have any good impression in last five games they have only five points with losing matches against teams like Cadiz, Mallorca and Español is surely matter of concern which needs to be quick fix otherwise they are not going to have any other positive replacement for this all.

Difference from second spotted team is 11 points but from third spot Real Sociedad is just two points which mean they are still good in education and can do thing s as well now after break they have to improve defence which is surely creating problems for them.

[Alanaz]

I disagree with this point haha; I think Simeone is the main problem of the Atletico side; the clubside has signed countless of top attackers and none of them is able to perform under Simeone as manager. his model of football is outdated and he needs to change his approach or be changed if Atletico Madrid wants to challenge again

But the fact is that you have to admit that Simeone has had more success than Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao and several other challengers besides Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​right? Simeone has won several La Liga titles, but perhaps that is never enough in the eyes of the people.

IMO, Simeone is one of the coaches who has made Laliga's top 4 even better. He is a good Argentinian coaches for Atletico Madrid so far and I don't expect him to be sacked just because this season has not been good in the Champions League. But you are entitled to have different assumptions, and so am I.

It looks like the debate here is interesting enough to involve one coach. Yes, that's the perception of everyone who is free to express opinions from 2 different points of view.  
Diego Simeone is a good coach, but he just has the same strategy that can only keep Atletico Madrid at the same level. Whereas in a competition a coach must be smarter in designing a tactic. Otherwise, he will be branded a bad strategy coach in the sense of not having diverse innovations.

[lixer]

The biggest weak point of Barcelona's team is their weak defense. One of the reasons why they lose most of the matches is because of their poor defensive performance. If Barcelona want to move forward, the first step they need to take now is the defense.

So what do you think is the problem with defense? Is it the poor quality of the stoppers or is it a tactical problem? Christensen and Alonso came from Chelsea, they know each other. They should have gotten a good fit. Since Pique retired from football, it may be necessary to get another central defender numerically. There is a new signing Kounde, and there is also Garcia. Actually they have 4 good defenders but they are not at superstar level yet. I don't think it's a big deal on defense. In fact, Barcelona was defeated only once in the league and drew once. They conceded only 5 goals in 14 matches. This looks like a pretty good stats. I can't agree with the view that it's a defense issue.

Right now after 14th rounds Barcelona is having the best defence in La Liga because in all matches they concede only five goals and having four clean sheets in five matches are still good now as time is running out they are improving and strategy is also doing good benefits which are very good there were few other issues but surely not related to this.

Currently, their biggest issue is debit which is surely hurting them badly, and they are trying to settle this, but things are not favourable specially as they are selling their shares from other subsidies mean their profit margin is also cutting, so hopefully they will have smoother system which will help to have better hands in this all case specially right now few good things are also coming with mostly they can end this season as winner because their team is best, and their bench power is also good.

[zuzie]

I disagree with this point haha; I think Simeone is the main problem of the Atletico side; the clubside has signed countless of top attackers and none of them is able to perform under Simeone as manager. his model of football is outdated and he needs to change his approach or be changed if Atletico Madrid wants to challenge again

Especially this season 22/23 Atletico Madrid have not been very active in the transfer market, Diego Simeone is still taking advantage of the strikers options available with several additions such as Alvaro Morata. So far, Atletico Madrid's performance has been far from what was expected, they have continued to experience unsatisfactory results in recent weeks, this has left Atletico Madrid increasingly far behind their rivals such as Barcelona and Real Madrid.

[kro55]

I disagree with this point haha; I think Simeone is the main problem of the Atletico side; the clubside has signed countless of top attackers and none of them is able to perform under Simeone as manager. his model of football is outdated and he needs to change his approach or be changed if Atletico Madrid wants to challenge again

Especially this season 22/23 Atletico Madrid have not been very active in the transfer market, Diego Simeone is still taking advantage of the strikers options available with several additions such as Alvaro Morata. So far, Atletico Madrid's performance has been far from what was expected, they have continued to experience unsatisfactory results in recent weeks, this has left Atletico Madrid increasingly far behind their rivals such as Barcelona and Real Madrid.

After the 2020-21 title win, we thought Atletico Madrid might continue their run of form, and challenge for the title. But we have not seen that. Their performance has deteriorated day by day. Several of their team's weaknesses have been well observed this season. Atlético management should have spent some money to add the required talented players to the team. But the Atletico Madrid management is not interested in spending money. Their performance this season has been very poor. They are now 13 points behind Barcelona. Atletico Madrid will not return to its glory days without an experienced striker.

[imamusma]

Yes, they must be willing to re-invest a lot in the winter transfer market and the new coach must be able to find ideal players and revive their lack of confidence. This will also be material for future evaluation of how Sevilla can get out of relegation and stay away it was the first point for them to get out of this problem.
The hope is still quite big and they can also return to the middle table even though it's not a bad hope but at least Sevilla which we considered a strong team last season we should be able to see again in this season.

It doesn't make sense for Sevilla's management to let their team go down at the end of the season by not investing money in the winter transfer market. I wouldn't believe they would be strong with the same players, it would be unfair on them.

Sevilla should fight their way out of the relegation zone as much as possible although at the moment I'm not too worried about them. Sevilla will stay in Laliga, but being a mid-table team this season was unimaginable to me at the start of the season. Crazy, this is crazy, I don't know what their problem is.

[Distraction]

I disagree with this point haha; I think Simeone is the main problem of the Atletico side; the clubside has signed countless of top attackers and none of them is able to perform under Simeone as manager. his model of football is outdated and he needs to change his approach or be changed if Atletico Madrid wants to challenge again

I agree with you about Simeone. I definitely think that he is the problem now. Above all else, I'm aware of the times that Atletico Madrid did a really great job with him. They won the La Liga title with him two times. They won Europa League and UEFA Super Cup titles also. Simeone was even chosen for the World's Best Club Coach prize around seven years ago. I appreciate his big success with Atletico Madrid in the past as a result. He is normally a good manager.

However this doesn't mean that his usual strategies will always continue to work with Atletico Madrid. It is clearly seen that they don't work anymore. Atletico Madrid have been unsuccessful in the La Liga and Champions League both this season. They definitely need some critical changes in their strategies. It doesn't seem like this will happen with Simeone. This squad deserves to be managed better than this now.

[herurist]

It doesn't make sense for Sevilla's management to let their team go down at the end of the season by not investing money in the winter transfer market. I wouldn't believe they would be strong with the same players, it would be unfair on them.

Sevilla should fight their way out of the relegation zone as much as possible although at the moment I'm not too worried about them. Sevilla will stay in Laliga, but being a mid-table team this season was unimaginable to me at the start of the season. Crazy, this is crazy, I don't know what their problem is.

It's hard to see Sevilla's current condition if they don't force to spend money because their current performance is very concerning and one of the things that must be done is to overhaul several positions that are considered vulnerable now.
Sevilla's condition in terms of players, especially for defense, is currently so concerning. They repeatedly made the same mistakes in the matches they have made this season which has seen them now in free fall in the relegation zone.
Obviously this must be anticipated immediately because otherwise the impact could be even worse than now.

[RealMalatesta]

Xavi got everyone he wanted in the summer (putting Barcelona in an even more difficult financial position) but Barcelona continue to lose every big game. What do you say if this continues and the result of the season is second place in La Liga again? Barcelona are on the verge of bankruptcy and I don't think they can wait longer than 2 seasons for a good result from Xavi. In modern football, this is more than the maximum term.

Well 2 years, does he have to go? So if he does leave, who will replace him? There are still quite a lot of opportunities for the League and UEL champions. So let's see.
Financial problems, this season Xavi is quite surprising. He shopped quite a lot of players. But I've read, Barcelona is likely to have difficulty paying players' salaries in the following year.

I agree that there are not alternatives right now, plus wanting someone to be sacked just after half a season (not even that much) he got the players he wanted doesn't make sense. He needs a bit more time, and that’s the problem with the football world these days, they do not give people enough time anymore, they just see this as an alternative to getting the fans out of their backs and fire the coach instead.

I believe that managers should be running teams for 10+ years if they are good enough, sure do not do that with horrible ones, but Xavi is a great manager and he deserves at least 2.5 more seasons to run this team and then after that time if he is still not winning anything then fire him.

[ingiltere]

The biggest weak point of Barcelona's team is their weak defense. One of the reasons why they lose most of the matches is because of their poor defensive performance. If Barcelona want to move forward, the first step they need to take now is the defense.

From what I have seen so far the defense of the Barcelona team is not so bad and even better than some other teams in La Liga. And for now Barcelona is also at the top of the standings although in general the position is still not safe because Real Madrid can still be overtaken, but at least Barcelona has proven itself to still have the ability to compete and try to get a trophy in La Liga this season.

Because of all the teams that Barcelona have to beat this season in La Liga, Real Madrid is a very important opponent for Barcelona to beat if Barcelona is to get a bigger chance of bringing home the trophy this season.

I'm pretty sure he never watch a Barcelona match, otherwise he wouldn't comment nonsense like that. Barcelona has by far the least conceded goal stats in all European leagues combined. 11 clean sheet in 14 league games, they conceded in only 3 games. I believe he only watched El Clasico -if he ever watch a game this season- so he saw 3 conceded goals. That doesn't mean Barca's defense is weak. Some people just put random nonsense here and try to get attraction. I guess he achieved it now, since we comment on his post.

[Ayers]

We see Real Sociedad at the third place in the league standings now. I guess that I remember this scenario from somewhere.    They had a really similar season in more recent times. They started strongly but it didn't take too long for them to start underperforming. I think the same scenario will be real again this season. Because this kind of teams have been like this for many seasons. Top 3 places in the La Liga have been under the dominance of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid for many years.

But it looks like at least there will be a change in top 4 this year. Because Sevilla are in a terrible shape. There is already a gap like 13 points with the 4th-placed team so it will be very difficult for Sevilla to climb up there somehow. They still haven't even figured out how they can fix their bad form.

Sevilla supporters should be happy this season if they aren't downgraded to 2ª División, given their awful performance until now. Betis, their natural contenders, have many more options to end up 4th. About Real Sociedad and Athletic de Bilbao, they have played quite well so far but, as you say, they usually start underperforming after a winning spree. What is most likely is that Atlético de Madrid will maintain their classic 3rd position at the end of the season, despite many people have lost faith in Simeone. Who else?

I think the only thing which is quite predictable is that Real Madrid and Barcelona are going to be in the first two positions in La Liga. Other than that it is really hard to predict anything in La Liga.

Atletico Madrid is not performing up to the mark, but they can obviously start performing better. So they can end in the third position. Real Sociedad is in the third position right now, but I really do not think they will be able to play consistently to stay in the third position.

I don’t have too much will be about Sevilla right now because they are in the relegation zone. It is possible for them to get out of the relegation zone, but I don’t think they will be able to finish it even in the top six.

[Balmain]

I think Barcelona still has some weaknesses, Barcelona always looks dominant when playing with a team below its level.  however, if you meet a big team like in the El Classico match. Barcelona has difficulty, especially to keep up with the style of play from more established opposing teams. that is, Barcelona is not too strong and Xavi must fix the weaknesses of his troops.  Regarding who will be the champion in this competition, the La Liga schedule still has 24 matches remaining. only two points away from first and second place.

As for Real Madrid, so far Madrid has remained a strong candidate to win the trophy in this competition. a distance of two points from Barcelona is not an obstacle for them to regain the top of the standings. well, so in the end. only the most consistent team will be able to win the La Liga title.

You are right and that is why they failed in the champions league and are doing better in the league this season. They get wins  easily but struggle to win games when they play against big teams like Real Madrid, PSG , Bayern Munich etc. This is a troubling issue that needs to be addressed and fixed because to compete in European top flight you have to be able to compete against top teams.

The biggest weak point of Barcelona's team is their weak defense. One of the reasons why they lose most of the matches is because of their poor defensive performance. If Barcelona want to move forward, the first step they need to take now is the defense.

In general, La-Liga is not a very competitive league. We only see the Real Madrid and Barcelona struggle this year. If you say that Barcelona's defense is bad for only one match, it means you don't follow La-Liga much. If you had said that Barcelona's Defensive performance in the Champions League was bad, I would understand. But when you consider the statistics, you can't call the Barcelona defense bad in the league. Or if you say it, you need to state it in clear statements. Currently, 2 good defenders are injured and it is not clear when they will return. Especially the absence of Jules Koundé can cause problems for the defensive line of the team.

[Anguwa]

Simeone is a great coach and i don't think that the problem problem of atleteco is in the coach, but the team need to find new players asap because the squad is really need fresh blood, simeone is one of the best coaches in the last 10 years in my opinion and i don't imagine atleteco without him

Regardless of the fact that he is a good coach, the team needs a new management approach, so he must leave and give them permission to hire a replacement. He is the main issue Atletico Madrid is probably facing because, as we all know, they have good players who are very good and can also play good football. If the team had a new coach who could effectively manage the players, they would be competing for the Laliga title as well, but with this team and coach, they are currently unable to even make the top four.

[Porfirii]

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Sevilla supporters should be happy this season if they aren't downgraded to 2ª División, given their awful performance until now. Betis, their natural contenders, have many more options to end up 4th. About Real Sociedad and Athletic de Bilbao, they have played quite well so far but, as you say, they usually start underperforming after a winning spree. What is most likely is that Atlético de Madrid will maintain their classic 3rd position at the end of the season, despite many people have lost faith in Simeone. Who else?

I think the only thing which is quite predictable is that Real Madrid and Barcelona are going to be in the first two positions in La Liga. Other than that it is really hard to predict anything in La Liga.

Atletico Madrid is not performing up to the mark, but they can obviously start performing better. So they can end in the third position. Real Sociedad is in the third position right now, but I really do not think they will be able to play consistently to stay in the third position.

I don’t have too much will be about Sevilla right now because they are in the relegation zone. It is possible for them to get out of the relegation zone, but I don’t think they will be able to finish it even in the top six.

This is the beauty of this sport, there is a lot at stake for most teams and we won't know the fate of most until La Liga is almost over. Historically it is really hard for anyone to compete with Barça or Real Madrid, and this year won't be any different. Not impossible, but it would be a miracle. Apart from that, anything can happen.

Whatever it may be, we will have to wait until the World Cup is over in order to see how the new results unfold.

[terrorJR]

Simeone is a great coach and i don't think that the problem problem of atleteco is in the coach, but the team need to find new players asap because the squad is really need fresh blood, simeone is one of the best coaches in the last 10 years in my opinion and i don't imagine atleteco without him

Regardless of the fact that he is a good coach, the team needs a new management approach, so he must leave and give them permission to hire a replacement. He is the main issue Atletico Madrid is probably facing because, as we all know, they have good players who are very good and can also play good football. If the team had a new coach who could effectively manage the players, they would be competing for the Laliga title as well, but with this team and coach, they are currently unable to even make the top four.

Simeone's performance and behavior in these 2 seasons has not been very good even last season there were some things he did that the players from Atletico didn't like which made this even worse.
Simeone is actually quite a good coach but his current condition is not very good and it really seems that Atletico will have to be prepared to look for a replacement if this continues even though Simeone is currently adamant that he does not want to leave his position because he thinks he is still able to improve the condition of the team.

[mv1986]

This was Xavi's last shot I think! After dropping out of the champions league, the pressure would have been unbearably high on both him, but also the directors of Barcelona because of the fans. The club can't stick to a coach that is not able to compete with Real Madrid on par. Now that they can spend the Winter break in the first place a lot of the pressure was relieved. If he was like 6 points or so behind Real Madrid right now (and they also lost the clasico), this might already have been the end for him.

Now everything is good for Barcelona especially in Laliga. Xavi has given Barcelona the best even though they haven't had much luck in the Champions League. Barcelona and Xavi must evaluate the many things and weaknesses in the Champions League and fix them so they don't make the same mistakes for several ongoing competitions.

I don't think Xavi deserves to be sacked by Barcelona for losing the Champions League. Xavi needs time to restore Barcelona's glory because there are actually a lot of problems to be solved there and they can't be solved in just one season. I trust Xavi, it's the best way to keep supporting him.

One thing I was wondering about is the fact that Lewandowski is actually not getting any younger. I am all for giving Xavi the time for as long as he plays competitive soccer in La Liga. Now let's assume he succeeds in building a new team around Lewandowski that is able to compete with the best of the best in the champions league again. By the time that happens, and let's assume that might perhaps take two years as they also have a lot of younger talents who still need to enfold their full potential, they might again be at a point where they need to find a substitute for the offender who now scores about every second goal. I think they have to already be watching out for a substitute, maybe a younger player who is ok with taking a seat on the bench while also getting his chances every now and then. The offender will once more be a critical position to be filled for Barcelona as Lewandowski is going to be 35 by next year Summer.

[TopT3ns]

if you don't have two teams in your squad (practically) you are destined for this drop
the year my beloved team, Atalanta, went to the champions league was a disaster..
the champions league gives you a lot of money, but it totally consumes you

The Champions League does spend a lot of money to buy very professional players. If you want to get good results, you have to use a fairly high capital because if you don't buy good players, it will make it difficult for your team to win in the Champions League.

[MoonOfLife]

if you don't have two teams in your squad (practically) you are destined for this drop
the year my beloved team, Atalanta, went to the champions league was a disaster..
the champions league gives you a lot of money, but it totally consumes you

The Champions League does spend a lot of money to buy very professional players. If you want to get good results, you have to use a fairly high capital because if you don't buy good players, it will make it difficult for your team to win in the Champions League.

you are right If you want to win the Champions League title, you must have talented players in your squad. Otherwise, the competition cannot survive in a competitive place like the Champions League. Having talented players in the squad also requires an experienced coach and a good match strategy. Without it, winning the Champions League title is impossible.