La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2025/26

[jems]

Xabi Alonso seems to have already established harmony among Real Madrid's players. The only criticism is that they don't score many goals. They're not wrong about that, as their victories are usually those with one goal more. Real Madrid, on the other hand, has accustomed us all to expecting four- or five-goal wins. Of course, even one goal after three points is enough, but if we're talking about the best team in the world, we expect more.

Criticism always comes to a coach, especially if they're the manager of Real Madrid, as this team is one of the most talked about teams worldwide.
Changing circumstances change everything, and the number of goals isn't really the issue, but rather how to consistently win.
Although we've seen Real Madrid consistently win by a much higher scoreline under Ancelotti, this doesn't mean much; it will take several big matches to see how consistent Real Madrid can be in achieving better results.

This is exactly what I'm expecting. Last year, under Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid suffered a decisive defeat against Barcelona. They failed to win a single Clasico match. This year, the biggest test for the new manager, and the one he'll be most exposed to, will be the matches against Barcelona. Other than that, the other matches won't draw much criticism. For now, Real Madrid is top of La Liga. That's what matters. They'll want to win against Barcelona and widen the gap, but until then, they have to win every match.

Whoever manages Real Madrid is always in the spotlight, which is the burden of all the demands from management and fans to improve the team. I think Xabi Alonso is aware of this, and he's felt it since his arrival.

I won't overestimate Real Madrid's current performance. I think Xabi Alonso still has a lot of work to do and also shortcomings to fix. What happened in the three matches they lost cannot be used as a benchmark, even if they did win.

Xabi Alonso's goal is not just to win El Clasico, but to win a trophy this season. Real Madrid didn't win anything last season. It's still early in the season, and I don't think there's anything to judge. The season is still very long, and anything is possible.

[Mustang Shelby]

You know, some people bet based on emotion. What I mean is that people bet on Barcelona because they are fans of Barcelona and do not just consider the performance. They don’t really have anything like fear in them when betting on Barcelona. If not for the way they turned out to be, I would also be surprised, and I expected Barcelona to perform more than they did. However, that is football.

Sometimes even if a team is the strongest in the competition, they won’t always be good; sometimes they mess up things. Vallecano players are very confident in the match; they came ready because they know how strong and good the Barcelona squad is this season, so they came prepared.

Every team against Barcelona tries to show their best performance, and they also try to defend very well because they know that Barcelona is an attacking team and will create a lot of chances. Rayo Vallecano were lucky to play well in defense and, moreover, they were lucky to score a goal. Yes, you are right that sometimes such matches happen, and Barcelona expected to get an easy win here, but afterwards they couldn’t pull themselves together and score again. It’s disappointing to drop points at the very start of the league, but that happens too.

Dropping points like this is now considered normal in the long-running Spanish league, as it's one of the toughest leagues in the world. Even Barcelona can drop points in such matches. They've fallen behind Real Madrid, but that's not a problem because they faced similar difficulties last year, but Barcelona won the championship at the end of the year. If they can maintain a similar dominance in their matches against Real Madrid as they did last year, they could overtake them. However, Real Madrid isn't the Real Madrid they were last year; they appear to be more organized and have a stronger defense. Barcelona could also drop points against them.

[SmartCharpa]

You know, some people bet based on emotion. What I mean is that people bet on Barcelona because they are fans of Barcelona and do not just consider the performance. They don’t really have anything like fear in them when betting on Barcelona. If not for the way they turned out to be, I would also be surprised, and I expected Barcelona to perform more than they did. However, that is football.

Sometimes even if a team is the strongest in the competition, they won’t always be good; sometimes they mess up things. Vallecano players are very confident in the match; they came ready because they know how strong and good the Barcelona squad is this season, so they came prepared.

Rayo Vallecano is not a weak team, as people have assumed, in fact, I expected them to win when they pressured Barcelona in the second half. They played much better than Barcelona, Vallecano had 6 shots on target compared to Barcelona's 3 and scored from a penalty, if Barcelona had not been given a penalty in the first half of the match, I wonder how they would have scored. Rayo Vallecano could have won the game, but their second goal was disallowed out due to offside.

Many people expected Barcelona to win because Vallecano lost their previous two games against Athletic Bilbo's, and Barcelona seemed to be stronger than Bilbo, so many people would bet on Barcelona to win because the bookmakers also considered them the favourite team. Any club that plays Vallecano away must be prepared to face big challenges because they are strong at home.

[laijsica]

You know, some people bet based on emotion. What I mean is that people bet on Barcelona because they are fans of Barcelona and do not just consider the performance. They don’t really have anything like fear in them when betting on Barcelona. If not for the way they turned out to be, I would also be surprised, and I expected Barcelona to perform more than they did. However, that is football.

Sometimes even if a team is the strongest in the competition, they won’t always be good; sometimes they mess up things. Vallecano players are very confident in the match; they came ready because they know how strong and good the Barcelona squad is this season, so they came prepared.

Every team against Barcelona tries to show their best performance, and they also try to defend very well because they know that Barcelona is an attacking team and will create a lot of chances. Rayo Vallecano were lucky to play well in defense and, moreover, they were lucky to score a goal. Yes, you are right that sometimes such matches happen, and Barcelona expected to get an easy win here, but afterwards they couldn’t pull themselves together and score again. It’s disappointing to drop points at the very start of the league, but that happens too.

Dropping points like this is now considered normal in the long-running Spanish league, as it's one of the toughest leagues in the world. Even Barcelona can drop points in such matches. They've fallen behind Real Madrid, but that's not a problem because they faced similar difficulties last year, but Barcelona won the championship at the end of the year. If they can maintain a similar dominance in their matches against Real Madrid as they did last year, they could overtake them. However, Real Madrid isn't the Real Madrid they were last year; they appear to be more organized and have a stronger defense. Barcelona could also drop points against them.

You are right that Real Madrid are more active this season than last season and their style of play has changed a lot. The team has seen visible changes in the last two matches and Alonso is working hard to improve the team. The best thing for the Real Madrid team is that every player is working hard and trying to improve their performance. Most of the players including Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are currently doing well while Rodrygo who has been out of form for a long time is also performing well.

Real Madrid is currently at the top of the La Liga points table but Atletico Madrid is in second position with the same number of points and Barcelona is very close. Although the results of most of the matches were not in line with expectations there is still a chance for Barcelona to come back positively and play exciting football like last season.

[HajiBagi]

Every team against Barcelona tries to show their best performance, and they also try to defend very well because they know that Barcelona is an attacking team and will create a lot of chances. Rayo Vallecano were lucky to play well in defense and, moreover, they were lucky to score a goal. Yes, you are right that sometimes such matches happen, and Barcelona expected to get an easy win here, but afterwards they couldn’t pull themselves together and score again. It’s disappointing to drop points at the very start of the league, but that happens too.

Unfortunately, the latest news is bad news for Barcelona, ​​as their left-back, Alejandro Balde, suffered a hamstring injury during the training. He's likely to be out for three to four weeks. This will certainly present a challenge for Barcelona's defense, especially at left-back. They may include Gerard Martín as their main LB or another alternative defender to strengthen their position.  

Source: Alejandro Balde has suffered a 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲

Balde is a good left back, and if not for the injury, he has the ability to become one of the best left backs in the world. He is good in attacking and defending, and he was one of the players who contributed to Barcelona's success last season. Balde was injured in training and will be out for four weeks, which is another problem for Barcelona because no other player will be able to do what he is doing. Gerard Martin can be managed, but he is not good enough to hold the position. If not Inigo Martinez last season, Barcelona would have lost many games when Balde was injured.

I am not a Barcelona fan, but I don't like it when players get injured because they are also human beings. Injuries have made some players look bad, which is why the Spanish coach isn't calling Balde during international competitions. Barcelona needs to get another left back to help Balde, if it's Gerard Martin, I don't think he can handle the pressure.

[CryptoYar]

[...]

You are right that his skills in both attack and defense make him hard to replace and that Barcelona has big problem because they do not have good backup. Team reliance on one key player makes them vulnerable and it is huge risk. It is also true that injuries can hurt player reputation especially with national team coaches. I agree that it is tough to see any player get hurt and it will be interesting to see if Barcelona signs another quality player to solve this problem.

[dezoel]

There are many surprises in football and this is one of them and it must be admitted that Rayo Vallecano is a strong team when playing at home but if we measure the strength of both teams it is clear that this is a big surprise that happened at the beginning of the La Liga season this season although we should not be too excessive because on the one hand I see Barcelona as if they were unlucky so they could not bring out their best performance so I will not also respond to Barcelona's performance because in my opinion from this one match cannot be used as a reference for anything.

I do not agree with that at all. They are not a strong team and you will see end of the season they will be much lower. The only thing is that not even the greatest team ever ends up winning all their games. Look at Bayern when they won six cups in a year, look at Barcelona when they won six cups a year. That is the most cups a team could win in a single year (English teams 7) and yet they still had losses and draws during that year.

Just because one game ended in a draw, doesn't make Barcelona bad, and doesn't make Rayo good. It was just one of those games, everyone ends up losing to everyone and it's common thing. In football ,bad teams could end up beating the good teams, it happens and it is not rare, and this was one of those weeks.

[SatoPrincess]

This is where the unpredictability in betting lies, there are matches like Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano, when almost no one doubted that Barcelona should win, but instead there was a draw, which spoiled the bets of many players. It is difficult to say what was the reason for this draw, Rayo defended well and were able to equalize at the end of the match, and Barcelona could not score again, this happens sometimes. I think that this is an exception to the rule, and in La Liga, few will be able to take points from Barcelona.

Most of the bettors consider Barcelona as the favorite in this match. Barcelona played well and won their first two matches. Everyone thought that Barcelona would continue their winning streak. But they shared the points in the match. Barcelona's performance was a bit weak. However, Rayo Vallecano's performance surprised me. This team really performed well. I saw Vallecano's players very confident. And Hansi Flick probably expected such a great performance from Rayo's players. Still, I am happy that Barcelona did not lose this match. Hansi Flick will have to be more careful about every opponent in the upcoming matches. If they cannot continue their winning streak, it will not be possible to win the title this season.

It is normal to think that way when a particular team has been going on a winning streak. I believe even Barcelona team believed it was a game they would win and take home all three points but met  a resilient team that was determined to also get a win from the game. Kudos to Rayo Vallecano for putting up such a strong performance against the current best team in the league and shared points.

[Ahli38]

Frankly, I also didn't think that Barcelona would only get 1 point in this match because their squad is much more promising than Rayo Vallecano, and Barcelona also has a good record when facing Vallecano. But in football, surprises often occur, and that is what happened when Vallecano surprisingly managed to hold Barcelona to a draw. Barcelona's rhythm looks quite monotonous and they failed to dominate the game, and they didn't even have more shots on target than Vallecano.

This is where the unpredictability in betting lies, there are matches like Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano, when almost no one doubted that Barcelona should win, but instead there was a draw, which spoiled the bets of many players. It is difficult to say what was the reason for this draw, Rayo defended well and were able to equalize at the end of the match, and Barcelona could not score again, this happens sometimes. I think that this is an exception to the rule, and in La Liga, few will be able to take points from Barcelona.

Actually Barcelona dominated the game when the first half began. And several times they created chances through Rapinha and Lamine Yamal, although they did not really threaten Rayo Vallecano's goal. Until the 40th minute Barcelona finally got a chance to score through a penalty kick. And Luckily Yamal managed to convert it, bringing the score to 0-1 against Rayo Vallecano. In the second half, Rayo Vallecano seemed to dominate the game. They threatened Barcelona's defense and even their keeper several times through Pedro Diaz, Alvaro Garcia, and Andrei Ratiu. In the end, Rayo Vallecano managed to hold Barcelona to a 1-1 draw through a goal from Fran Perez. The score remained until the end of the match. So I think Rayo Vallecano successfully read Barcelona's movements or even their tactics in the first half. This allowed them to dominate the second half with high intensity and equalize the score. Rayo Vallecano even scored another goal. But unfortunately, it was disallowed due to an offside by one of their players.

[bastisisca]

Team	Point	GF	GS
Real Madrid	9	6	1
Athletic Bilbao	9	6	3
Villarreal	7	8	1
Barcellona	7	7	3
Espanyol	7	5	3
Getafe	6	4	4
Elche	5	4	2
Betis Siviglia	5	4	4
Valencia	4	4	2
Rayo Vallecano	4	4	3
Alaves	4	3	3
Siviglia	3	5	5
Osasuna	3	1	2
Celta Vigo	3	3	5
Real Oviedo	3	1	5
Real Sociedad	2	3	4
Atletico Madrid	2	3	4
Maiorca	1	2	6
Levante	0	3	7
Girona	0	1	10

Girona has already conceded 10 goals, ouch

[Zlantann]

Actually Barcelona dominated the game when the first half began. And several times they created chances through Rapinha and Lamine Yamal, although they did not really threaten Rayo Vallecano's goal. Until the 40th minute Barcelona finally got a chance to score through a penalty kick. And Luckily Yamal managed to convert it, bringing the score to 0-1 against Rayo Vallecano. In the second half, Rayo Vallecano seemed to dominate the game. They threatened Barcelona's defense and even their keeper several times through Pedro Diaz, Alvaro Garcia, and Andrei Ratiu. In the end, Rayo Vallecano managed to hold Barcelona to a 1-1 draw through a goal from Fran Perez. The score remained until the end of the match. So I think Rayo Vallecano successfully read Barcelona's movements or even their tactics in the first half. This allowed them to dominate the second half with high intensity and equalize the score. Rayo Vallecano even scored another goal. But unfortunately, it was disallowed due to an offside by one of their players.

For me, the penalty that was awarded to Barcelona was controversial because the contact between Pep Chavarria and Lamine Yamal was not much. I think both of them had an equal impact on each other. Barca got that goal because the VAR was not functioning. Rayo Vallecano gave the defending champions a good fight and if not for Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, they would have scored more.

Girona has already conceded 10 goals, ouch

And the Blanquivermells have scored just one goal, too poor. It shows that the club is totally in a bad shape. The club's manager, Míchel, would have to turn things around or risk being sacked. They managed to escape relegation last season and this season might be worse.

[Oluwa-btc]

For me, the penalty that was awarded to Barcelona was controversial because the contact between Pep Chavarria and Lamine Yamal was not much. I think both of them had an equal impact on each other. Barca got that goal because the VAR was not functioning. Rayo Vallecano gave the defending champions a good fight and if not for Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, they would have scored more.

Garcia is the reason why they could salvage a point out from the game trust me. I see the reason why Hansi Flick wanted him so bad. The comments of Pedri saying "We all ran for ourselves last season" bothers me, I really think he's referring to some attacking players not working hard on the pitch, and if that's Raphinha and Rashford they better buckle the fvck up. Winning the La Liga again is something I want to see at the end of the season.

[Adbitco]

In the Real Madrid Vs Mallorca game which officially ended 2 - 1 in favour of Real Madrid. There were incidents that happened during the game of which 3 Real Madrid goals were cancelled, out of the 3 goals cancelled, 2 were due to off side positing which was he right call. Few minutes after the restart in the second half, Guler happened to score a goal to put his team 3 - 1 but the ref cancelled the goal saying it was a handball of which wasn't according to the rules. This handball decision is one of the decisions that's been chosen as one decisions that the technical committee of referees will have to explain PUBLICLY next week. I guess we will why they ref decided to chop off the goal even though it was supposed to stand.

[pewboy]

Well, in theory, the bookmakers had predicted that Barcelona would win, even though Rayo Vallecano is difficult to beat at home, we are talking about a notable difference between the two teams in terms of player strength and coach strategies, it seems to me that Barcelona is not in such good shape.

The championship has just begun, meaning there are some initial difficulties to overcome, and it won't be easy to understand what will happen from now on. However, I agree with the bookmakers who predicted this. Rayo Vallecano isn't a very easy team to beat at home.

[len01]

Team	Point	GF	GS
Real Madrid	9	6	1
Athletic Bilbao	9	6	3
Villarreal	7	8	1
Barcellona	7	7	3
Espanyol	7	5	3
Getafe	6	4	4
Elche	5	4	2
Betis Siviglia	5	4	4
Valencia	4	4	2
Rayo Vallecano	4	4	3
Alaves	4	3	3
Siviglia	3	5	5
Osasuna	3	1	2
Celta Vigo	3	3	5
Real Oviedo	3	1	5
Real Sociedad	2	3	4
Atletico Madrid	2	3	4
Maiorca	1	2	6
Levante	0	3	7
Girona	0	1	10

Girona has already conceded 10 goals, ouch

Girona vs Rayo 1-3

Villarreal vs Girona 5-0

Girona vs Sevilla 0-2

2 matches played at home and 1 match played away, all with the same results. This looks very bad, but for me, it was bound to happen. In the 2023/2024 season, when Girona had a consistent performance, I always said this team was just lucky, and once the next season started, Girona would return to being a mediocre team. And now what I said has become reality, so you don’t need to be surprised by these results. There’s also a possibility that Girona could be relegated if they continue performing like this.

[Kaliandra]

Every team against Barcelona tries to show their best performance, and they also try to defend very well because they know that Barcelona is an attacking team and will create a lot of chances. Rayo Vallecano were lucky to play well in defense and, moreover, they were lucky to score a goal. Yes, you are right that sometimes such matches happen, and Barcelona expected to get an easy win here, but afterwards they couldn’t pull themselves together and score again. It’s disappointing to drop points at the very start of the league, but that happens too.

Yes, every team facing Barcelona seems to know what to do because they certainly want to win, even against a strong team. Each team typically employs a defensive strategy. Rayo also employed their defensive strategy to counter Barcelona's attacks. Rayo proved to be able to overwhelm Barcelona, ​​ultimately leading to a 1-1 draw.
In my opinion, if Barcelona wants to win, Flick must devise a good strategy to spread out the opposing defense or push forward so that Barcelona's attacking players can penetrate the opposing defense easily. However, Barcelona's lack of maximum points will undoubtedly be disappointing, but it can't be helped, as Barcelona was simply less than vigilant at the time. Hansi Flick must learn from this experience to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

[paco92x]

Unfortunately, the latest news is bad news for Barcelona, ​​as their left-back, Alejandro Balde, suffered a hamstring injury during the training. He's likely to be out for three to four weeks. This will certainly present a challenge for Barcelona's defense, especially at left-back. They may include Gerard Martín as their main LB or another alternative defender to strengthen their position.  

Source: Alejandro Balde has suffered a 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲

This is really a big blow for Barcelona. I'm quite a fan of Balde, and as you mentioned, he's out for all of September. Barca have a decent LaLiga schedule, but the real issue is the Champions League. They’ve got a tough start — an away game against Newcastle and a home match against PSG.

The problem is that they can only rely on Gerard Martín. He’s okay, but definitely just a backup — nothing more. I’m sure opponents will look to exploit that weakness in the upcoming games.

[verdinio]

For me, the penalty that was awarded to Barcelona was controversial because the contact between Pep Chavarria and Lamine Yamal was not much. I think both of them had an equal impact on each other. Barca got that goal because the VAR was not functioning. Rayo Vallecano gave the defending champions a good fight and if not for Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, they would have scored more.

Garcia is the reason why they could salvage a point out from the game trust me. I see the reason why Hansi Flick wanted him so bad. The comments of Pedri saying "We all ran for ourselves last season" bothers me, I really think he's referring to some attacking players not working hard on the pitch, and if that's Raphinha and Rashford they better buckle the fvck up. Winning the La Liga again is something I want to see at the end of the season.

I'm honestly starting to feel a bit disliked by this team. They're certainly strong and full of talent, but they behave like prima donnas, and honestly, I wouldn't mind if Rashford took their starting spot. Some players put on too much airs. If they want to win they have to shut up and pedal

[Gallar]

Yes, since Antony joined Betis on loan, I've felt that he's a better fit for Betis than Manchester United. As we know, he wasn't given much playing time at Manchester United, while at Betis, the coach trusted him to play regularly. So, with that in mind, I think Antony is better off joining Betis. It seems like Antony doesn't have any burdens when playing for Betis. Hopefully, he'll be able to put on another great performance this season. Furthermore, Betis isn't just signing Antony permanently this season. After seeing the transfer market, Betis also signed Natan, a center-back from Napoli, permanently. What makes it even more interesting is that Natan is also Brazilian, like Antony. So, is this a coincidence? Is this really Betis' plan for Antony to have a teammate from the same country as him? Because after I saw the squad list from the Betis team, there were no players from Brazil other than Antony and Natan.

Real Betis know they without Antony is nothing, see the result of past four matches, they only won one match. The thing is they met weak teams, if they're struggle against weak teams, it would be a big problem when they met strong teams.

In the end, Manchester United lose in negotiation, they demand high price just because they sign a lot of money, but they didn't realize if they don't even want Antony at all in Manchester United. Hence, they accept to sell for 22 Million Euros, what's the point to keep Antony and still paying his salary right? Real Betis is only waiting, if they don't let Antony to leave this year, Manchester United will get nothing because his contract end in the next year.

Yes, you're absolutely right. Betis's forward line has been extremely weak since Antony left. They're certainly aware of this, which is why they're so bold as to sign Antony now. But Betis' strategy to acquire Antony is truly masterful. They're essentially waiting for Manchester United to give up. As you said, Manchester United no longer needs Antony, so not selling him now would be a significant loss for Manchester United. So, in essence, Betis excels in this regard, as they've been able to capitalize on the situation very well.

Source

Betis will also face Levante in their upcoming match. I think this match would be a perfect opening for Antony, who has just rejoined Betis. I think if Levante were their opponent, it would be easy for Betis to beat them. Levante's performance has been poor so far. They've only lost in their last three matches. With that in mind, I think Betis can definitely beat this team. And if they win, I think it will be very good for Betis' confidence to be restored again.

[Sim_card]

Dropping points like this is now considered normal in the long-running Spanish league, as it's one of the toughest leagues in the world. Even Barcelona can drop points in such matches. They've fallen behind Real Madrid, but that's not a problem because they faced similar difficulties last year, but Barcelona won the championship at the end of the year. If they can maintain a similar dominance in their matches against Real Madrid as they did last year, they could overtake them. However, Real Madrid isn't the Real Madrid they were last year; they appear to be more organized and have a stronger defense. Barcelona could also drop points against them.

From my observations in Barcelona three matches that they have played, it shows that they might have difficulty this season in winning more matches to defend the title. I feel that's Real Madrid turn to win the Laliga title this season because that's how they have been rotating it since four years ago. Whenever, it's Madrid turn to win it, Barcelona performance will not be consistent which they have started with this season.