La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2025/26

[laijsica]

Barcelona dropping points against weaker teams is not new. We have seen this many times in the past. Even in the previous season, Barcelona dropped points against weaker teams in several matches. On the other hand, we have seen Barcelona perform well against teams like Real Madrid, Atletico and Sociedad. Barcelona failed to win against Rayo Vallecano. There is no denying that Rayo's performance was incredible. They definitely earned points in this match. At the same time, I would like to say that if Hansi Flick wants to dominate La Liga, then every match will have to be considered very seriously. If he cannot continue his winning streak, it will not be possible for Barcelona to dominate La Liga.

You are right that Barcelona has history of struggling against weaker teams while playing well against strong rivals. However last match with Rayo Vallecano was 1-1 draw not loss for Barcelona. Your point about Hansi Flick needing to keep winning streak is very important because if Barcelona wants to win league they can not afford to lose points to any team. Flick challenge will be to make sure his team plays consistently well in every match.

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

[wakier]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

Strong club realize their opponents are weak, so they field second-string players without realizing that the weaker clubs have made changes in their game plan and also different players when entering a new season, so the strong clubs conclude they are still weak. Well, this is what often causes surprises when seeing strong clubs play weak clubs, meaning they have underestimated from the start without thinking the weaker club will make it difficult for them.
This is a lesson for strong clubs that they really need to pay attention to changes that occur in weak clubs to avoid making mistakes that can prevent them from getting full points.

[laijsica]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

Strong club realize their opponents are weak, so they field second-string players without realizing that the weaker clubs have made changes in their game plan and also different players when entering a new season, so the strong clubs conclude they are still weak. Well, this is what often causes surprises when seeing strong clubs play weak clubs, meaning they have underestimated from the start without thinking the weaker club will make it difficult for them.
This is a lesson for strong clubs that they really need to pay attention to changes that occur in weak clubs to avoid making mistakes that can prevent them from getting full points.

Exactly. Most of the time strong clubs field second string players against weak teams or rest their best players. That opportunity is used by the weak team players to attack the strong team and defeat them. But in the Barcelona and Vallecano match Barcelona second string team was not there. They took the field to face their opponents with the best players in the match. It is really surprising that clubs often do not learn from previous analyses. They soon realize the consequences of underestimating weak teams.

[Fuso.hp]

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.

Yeah, but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose that's the beauty of the game. For the fact that a team is more complete than the other doesn't mean that they won't lose and this game between Rayo Vallecano Vs Barcelona was an example of such a game, they played so well that one would wonder if this was Barcelona. The icing on the cake would have been completed had it been they won that match by scoring at least one more goal from their numerous shots on target.

Sometimes the results are unexpected but we have to accept them because that is the reality. You can't feel sorry for Barcelona but you can be happy because Barcelona won after losing. If Barcelona hadn't got that controversial penalty at that crucial moment of the match, Barcelona would have lost but they were lucky to finish the match with at least one point. Maybe the Barcelona fans who are there think that their team is the best team at the moment and they will not be defeated by any team in the league, this idea is wrong. No matter how strong a team is, at least in football, that team can never say that they will definitely leave the field with a victory and they will never be defeated.

[Cryptmuster]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

I doubt that Barcelona didn’t study Rayo Vallecano before this match, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rayo Vallecano have an excellent defense, and they should have expected that they would defend. But Barcelona didn’t try to force the game until the moment Rayo Vallecano equalized, and after that they were unlucky because they couldn’t adjust for the rest of the match. So in this game, the draw became possible only thanks to the hosts’ defense.

[Tamaperdana]

It's interesting to see the three big teams in the Spanish league this season. They are Madrid, Atletico, and Barcelona. Interestingly, Atletico has the largest budget at 176 million euros. Meanwhile, Madrid has 167.5 million euros and Barcelona has only spent a quarter of their combined budget, which is 27 million euros. Is Atletico ready to be the champion? I think there is a chance. All teams have that chance. Currently, Barcelona has already lost two points due to a draw with Rayo. But remember, there are still many matches left to play. There are still other possibilities that could unfold. 

You're right that Atletico Madrid spent a significant amount of money in this transfer window. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Atletico Madrid perform well in the three La Liga matches they've played so far. So, with that in mind, I think Atletico Madrid's chances of winning La Liga are probably not as good as Barcelona or Real Madrid's. The proof is that in the three matches they've played so far, they haven't managed to win a single one. I think, with the quality players Atletico Madrid currently have, their performance is quite poor.

So, if Atletico Madrid still can't improve their performance in future matches, I think it will be a huge loss for Atletico Madrid. Speaking of Real Madrid, I think they're probably the most consistent team in terms of performance compared to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. So, with that in mind, I think it's only natural that Real Madrid has the greatest potential to win La Liga. As for Barcelona, ​​I think while they haven't made many signings in this transfer window, their performance has been quite good. While it's true that Barcelona drew against Rayo, they're still the favorites to win La Liga again this season.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Sometimes the results are unexpected but we have to accept them because that is the reality. You can't feel sorry for Barcelona but you can be happy because Barcelona won after losing. If Barcelona hadn't got that controversial penalty at that crucial moment of the match, Barcelona would have lost but they were lucky to finish the match with at least one point. Maybe the Barcelona fans who are there think that their team is the best team at the moment and they will not be defeated by any team in the league, this idea is wrong. No matter how strong a team is, at least in football, that team can never say that they will definitely leave the field with a victory and they will never be defeated.

Football matches nowadays are full of surprises the best teams you expect to win most times are the teams struggling to get a draw that is what happened in the case of Rayo and FC Barcelona in the game Barcelona was already favoured but when the game started everything changed as Rayo was too powerful for them to defeat. Barcelona struggled to control the game they were not in full control and the defense of Rayo made it impossible for them to penetrate but finally Barcelona as awarded a penalty for them to bounce back in the game. Fans should understand that Barcelona will not win all the time and last season is not the new season where they were too strong to be defeated by other opponents this is a new season the unexpected will happen to any bug team that is how the game has always been.

[Barikui1]

Football matches nowadays are full of surprises the best teams you expect to win most times are the teams struggling to get a draw that is what happened in the case of Rayo and FC Barcelona in the game Barcelona was already favoured but when the game started everything changed as Rayo was too powerful for them to defeat. Barcelona struggled to control the game they were not in full control and the defense of Rayo made it impossible for them to penetrate but finally Barcelona as awarded a penalty for them to bounce back in the game. Fans should understand that Barcelona will not win all the time and last season is not the new season where they were too strong to be defeated by other opponents this is a new season the unexpected will happen to any bug team that is how the game has always been.

I watched the game between Rayo vallocano vs Barcelona live, I was really disappointed with what I saw in the game because this Rayo vallocano side outplayed Barcelona so much, especially in the second half of the game, and to be frank, Barcelona was very lucky to go home with a single point because it was a game they would have lost 5-1 or 6-1 if Rayo vallocano was not wasteful in front of goal, that's why I really don't see this Barcelona team going very far in the uefa champions league because their defense and midfield is just too weak to withstand a team that knows how to play and keeps the ball but are very physical in midfield, so they really need to improve in those areas because they might not be lucky in snatching a single point next time if they continue with such a performance like that.

[Velvet78]

There is still a chance for Sørloth to leave the team soon. Some Turkish teams are still interested in him as far as I have heard. The transfer window closes on September 12th there so let's see...

He is still keen on leaving Atletico Madrid as he wants to play at least as much as Alvarez. Honestly I would have also done the same if I were him.    They have started the season really horrible and who knows how they will end up.

[Frankolala]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

I doubt that Barcelona didn’t study Rayo Vallecano before this match, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rayo Vallecano have an excellent defense, and they should have expected that they would defend. But Barcelona didn’t try to force the game until the moment Rayo Vallecano equalized, and after that they were unlucky because they couldn’t adjust for the rest of the match. So in this game, the draw became possible only thanks to the hosts’ defense.

Flick need to work more on the team for stable their performance. Barcelona scored two goals before Rayo, I don't see any reason why Barcelona will be so lose that they allowed Rayo to break into their defense easily and equalized the goals when Barca knows that Rayo has a solid defense and would be a problem for them to breakthrough. Barca messed up.

[Xcode7]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

I doubt that Barcelona didn’t study Rayo Vallecano before this match, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rayo Vallecano have an excellent defense, and they should have expected that they would defend. But Barcelona didn’t try to force the game until the moment Rayo Vallecano equalized, and after that they were unlucky because they couldn’t adjust for the rest of the match. So in this game, the draw became possible only thanks to the hosts’ defense.

[Olatundespo]

Football matches nowadays are full of surprises the best teams you expect to win most times are the teams struggling to get a draw that is what happened in the case of Rayo and FC Barcelona in the game Barcelona was already favoured but when the game started everything changed as Rayo was too powerful for them to defeat. Barcelona struggled to control the game they were not in full control and the defense of Rayo made it impossible for them to penetrate but finally Barcelona as awarded a penalty for them to bounce back in the game. Fans should understand that Barcelona will not win all the time and last season is not the new season where they were too strong to be defeated by other opponents this is a new season the unexpected will happen to any bug team that is how the game has always been.

I watched the game between Rayo vallocano vs Barcelona live, I was really disappointed with what I saw in the game because this Rayo vallocano side outplayed Barcelona so much, especially in the second half of the game, and to be frank, Barcelona was very lucky to go home with a single point because it was a game they would have lost 5-1 or 6-1 if Rayo vallocano was not wasteful in front of goal, that's why I really don't see this Barcelona team going very far in the uefa champions league because their defense and midfield is just too weak to withstand a team that knows how to play and keeps the ball but are very physical in midfield, so they really need to improve in those areas because they might not be lucky in snatching a single point next time if they continue with such a performance like that.

I also watched their match live and bet on Barcelona I was almost 100% sure that Barcelona would definitely win against Rayo Vallecano. But I should have thought that sometimes the best teams can lose to weak teams or draw. I shouldn't have been so confident in Barcelona. Whether it was expected or unexpected Rayo Vallecano played great and drew I think it is equivalent to a win for them because to draw with a strong team like Barcelona must have been a result of their best performance.

I agree with you that Barcelona had a high chance of losing this match but they are lucky that they could go home with a point. You can't predict the next matches based on one match they played badly in this match maybe they will do better in the next matches and it is almost certain that they will play more better in the next matches.

[joniboini]

I agree with you that Barcelona had a high chance of losing this match but they are lucky that they could go home with a point. You can't predict the next matches based on one match they played badly in this match maybe they will do better in the next matches and it is almost certain that they will play more better in the next matches.

Based on some podcasts that I've listened to, it seems like some pundits believe in the narrative that Flick's second season is usually not good for various reasons. One of the pundits claimed that Barcelona's high-line/offside trap is a good thing if other clubs can't figure it out, but once they solve that issue, Barca can concede a lot of attacks. It doesn't help that some players got injury, or the pitch condition isn't good, and so on. Let's see if Barca can improve and find their best gameplan asap.

[paco92x]

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

Really an odd situation for Girona. They haven't had that difficult of a fixture list so far, yet having a -9 goal difference and 3 losses is extremely poor at this point. Villarreal away is difficult, but Rayo and Sevilla are teams you should be taking 4, maybe even 6 points from. I know there was a red card in the first game, but that's no excuse.

The next game is against Celta away, so if they lose that, it could be 4 losses in 4 matches — maybe a reason to start considering a replacement for Míchel.

[m4r1o]

Exactly. Most of the time strong clubs field second string players against weak teams or rest their best players. That opportunity is used by the weak team players to attack the strong team and defeat them. But in the Barcelona and Vallecano match Barcelona second string team was not there. They took the field to face their opponents with the best players in the match. It is really surprising that clubs often do not learn from previous analyses. They soon realize the consequences of underestimating weak teams.

No, you should never underestimate, i am telling you, coming from Italy and i see a very difficult championship, lately Cremonese, which is a theoretically weak team, has slapped the bigger teams in the face.
No, never underestimate your opponent.

[KTChampions]

Football matches nowadays are full of surprises the best teams you expect to win most times are the teams struggling to get a draw that is what happened in the case of Rayo and FC Barcelona in the game Barcelona was already favoured but when the game started everything changed as Rayo was too powerful for them to defeat. Barcelona struggled to control the game they were not in full control and the defense of Rayo made it impossible for them to penetrate but finally Barcelona as awarded a penalty for them to bounce back in the game. Fans should understand that Barcelona will not win all the time and last season is not the new season where they were too strong to be defeated by other opponents this is a new season the unexpected will happen to any bug team that is how the game has always been.

Have you forgotten the fact that Barcelona scored 100% of the points in the previous games? In fact, they scored 7 points out of 9. If you take Real together, the two favorites of the tournament scored 16 points out of 18 possible in the first three rounds. Is that not enough? As for me, everything is going quite predictably. The only thing that can be surprised is Atletico's results - they only scored 2 points. But temporary slumps happen to everyone and I think they will return to the top 4 later.

[Joy- maker]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

Strong club realize their opponents are weak, so they field second-string players without realizing that the weaker clubs have made changes in their game plan and also different players when entering a new season, so the strong clubs conclude they are still weak. Well, this is what often causes surprises when seeing strong clubs play weak clubs, meaning they have underestimated from the start without thinking the weaker club will make it difficult for them.
This is a lesson for strong clubs that they really need to pay attention to changes that occur in weak clubs to avoid making mistakes that can prevent them from getting full points.

Exactly. Most of the time strong clubs field second string players against weak teams or rest their best players. That opportunity is used by the weak team players to attack the strong team and defeat them. But in the Barcelona and Vallecano match Barcelona second string team was not there. They took the field to face their opponents with the best players in the match. It is really surprising that clubs often do not learn from previous analyses. They soon realize the consequences of underestimating weak teams.

this is where strong teams get it wrongly, they always underestimate weak teams without trying to know if the weak teams have made just adjustments, because weak teams will not remain weak forever the management must definitely look for a way to improve the team performance for another season. So the earlier all this strong teams wake up the better for them.

[Adbitco]

Anthony has never been a bad player, but I guess he could not fit into the Manchester United team or his price tag really affected his form. When he went to Betis he really played better and also improved the team and now that he has finally made the move permanent, I believe we will see a better Anthony and that will also improve Betis. Hopefully they can secure a Champions League spot, because they have started the league well.

I agree with you on this, Anthony at Ajax was an excellent player, where he and other you g talents dazzled the Eredivisie which attracted notable clubs about him. I could still remember that Manchester United paid a huge amount for his services, for someone who wasn't good and isn't an English man, the clubs from that league can't pay that amount for his services. I said this part because, England is only good at hyping their own.

[Emylion]

There are many teams that perform well against strong teams and perform poorly against less strong teams. Sometimes strong teams do not know the past analysis of weak teams and their players in detail so during training, the match situation goes against them due to not knowing the strengths of the opposing team players. If they were aware of other strong teams and their players in advance and practices their strategies to counter them in advance it would be easier to play against them. The same situation was seen in the case of Barcelona, ​​​​they performed poorly against Rayo Vallecano. But despite being a weak team played very well because the Vallecano players were aware of Barca strengths and went to the field after studying the players of the opposing team.

Strong club realize their opponents are weak, so they field second-string players without realizing that the weaker clubs have made changes in their game plan and also different players when entering a new season, so the strong clubs conclude they are still weak. Well, this is what often causes surprises when seeing strong clubs play weak clubs, meaning they have underestimated from the start without thinking the weaker club will make it difficult for them.
This is a lesson for strong clubs that they really need to pay attention to changes that occur in weak clubs to avoid making mistakes that can prevent them from getting full points.

If Rayo Vallecano should get a point from Barcelona I think they should be thanking their star because it's a miracle to them, Barcelona has got what it takes to beat any team there in the Spanish LA Liga but dropping a point won't make them lose focus on the aim as I'm seeing them to have the mindset of defending the league title in this season.

[Roseline492]

I doubt that Barcelona didn’t study Rayo Vallecano before this match, but that doesn’t change the fact that Rayo Vallecano have an excellent defense, and they should have expected that they would defend. But Barcelona didn’t try to force the game until the moment Rayo Vallecano equalized, and after that they were unlucky because they couldn’t adjust for the rest of the match. So in this game, the draw became possible only thanks to the hosts’ defense.

There was no need studying them since they were not equality with those other two clubs they recently won because I take Levante to be performing than Rayo as well as Mallorca so it wasn't a game they have to make Barcelona started studying them but unfortunately the troubling of the match hamper there progress and instead of there usually point it became too unusual for them and they couldn't win through just a goal but the league is free for them because neither of this two team that is topping in disguising will remain at that extreme because nowhere has locked for Barcelona.