La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2025/26

[Luzin]

Elche is also a club and let's say the truth, they really played well in that match against Real Madrid and if not that they played well, real Madrid would scored a lot of goals and secondly Elche was at home and some of these club don't joke with their home.

This is what makes the La Liga rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid even more exciting. Sometimes these two clubs make similar mistakes. They always drop points in games that don't seem like big games. I saw Elche play well, exploiting Madrid's high defensive line. This was a risk because Madrid was controlling the game and had to push up their defenders. Madrid's mistake was not being able to anticipate Elche's quick transitions, which made the Madrid defenders slow to return. As a result, Madrid looked dominant but weak in defense.

[barbara44]

Real Madrid's last three performances have been truly poor. They lost to Liverpool and drew their last two matches in Spain. Furthermore, their opponents weren't particularly strong. They drew against Elche and Rayo. Now, the four points they drop here could even cause them to drop in the title race in the coming weeks. Because you shouldn't be dropping four points against these teams. If you're Real Madrid, you should be able to beat them comfortably.

Here need to understand few things Real Madrid is not alone who is performing poorly too many other clubs facing this problem because clubs are treating players like robots instead of humans which are hurting them badly, and they are having decline in performance.

Workload and greediness are now on same level which are needed to be talked and have some good solution which will bring balance in performance of player Real Madrid is surely having better chance of coming back on their best and this will be happened quickly next game against Girona is going to be interesting because this will be fight between two teams one looking for coming out of danger zone and other is looking for keeping distance from opponents which are also not easy, but Real Madrid will be done and go through.

[MinMan]

In last 5 rounds, situation is changing and bringing new challenges for top teams Atlético Madrid have 15 points Villarreal 13 Barcelona 12 and Real Madrid 11 mean now difference of points at top is just 4 points which is interesting.

Pressure is mounting on Real Madrid and their performance is on decline which will surely encourage other teams to have their chances for replacing them at the top specially Atlético Madrid which is now having good rhythm and their performance have good change after poor start of their season. Barcelona is also doing impressive job even still it's not easy for them to have things on their control but now as we will go near half of the season many teams will be on their best this time title race is going to be challenging despite advantage is with Real Madrid.

[dollyamo]

Real Madrid's defense is indeed very strong this season, which has resulted in their team conceding the fewest goals. This contrasts with their attack, which has seen a significant lack of goals scored by their forwards. Although they are currently at the top, with yesterday's draw, they are now just one point away.
This will put significant pressure on them, as any further mistakes could potentially displace them from the top spot by Barcelona, who have been performing consistently in every match.

I don't understand how Barcelona could have recovered after a period like the one they had, I don't agree that Real Madrid's defense is strong, in fact this season they are demonstrating the complete opposite and this will weigh heavily in the final phase.

[Nheer]

Real Madrid's last three performances have been truly poor. They lost to Liverpool and drew their last two matches in Spain. Furthermore, their opponents weren't particularly strong. They drew against Elche and Rayo. Now, the four points they drop here could even cause them to drop in the title race in the coming weeks. Because you shouldn't be dropping four points against these teams. If you're Real Madrid, you should be able to beat them comfortably.

You are right, the four points they dropped could have help them maintain their lead towards winning the league but now that they lost four points now the title race is now strong and more competitive open for any team to challenge now. I was actually disappointed in Real Madrid because these opponents are teams they should have won against, as a team aspiring to win the league you can't afford to drop silly points like this. Let's just hope they will learn from their mistakes and improve their performance.

Here need to understand few things Real Madrid is not alone who is performing poorly too many other clubs facing this problem because clubs are treating players like robots instead of humans which are hurting them badly, and they are having decline in performance.

Playing a lot of competitions is not easy but I think the coach is the one to manage the players performance by not overworking them that's why it's important do have enough squad depth to be able to rest players in some matches. I expected Real Madrid to take advantage of the situation where everyone is having inconsistent performance.

[abaeze]

Well, the thing is, Real Madrid has been very permissive with Xabi. I didn't think it was right to start Rodrigo in my opinion, the player isn't up to par. He needs to secure points, and for that, he needs to field a strong starting eleven, Vinicius and Valverde are essential in the team Yesterday, they didn't win entirely because of Xabi's mistakes.

Surely they will have made some choices about it and evidently they trust him, otherwise we remember they would not have taken him.
If i am not mistaken, Real Madrid is the team that has won the most Champions Leagues in all of Europe, so it's a team that sees far ahead.

Not only Xabi Alonso, but Real Madrid have been relatively patient with coaches in recent years. Xabi is a coach who Real Madrid sees as a big project for the future. So, despite the mistakes he has made at times and the risks to the team, they are giving him time because his tactical ideas have been very clear. I agree with you that Real Madrid is the strongest team I have ever seen and is currently at the top of the points table.

[bangjoe]

Real Madrid's defense is indeed very strong this season, which has resulted in their team conceding the fewest goals. This contrasts with their attack, which has seen a significant lack of goals scored by their forwards. Although they are currently at the top, with yesterday's draw, they are now just one point away.
This will put significant pressure on them, as any further mistakes could potentially displace them from the top spot by Barcelona, who have been performing consistently in every match.

I don't understand how Barcelona could have recovered after a period like the one they had, I don't agree that Real Madrid's defense is strong, in fact this season they are demonstrating the complete opposite and this will weigh heavily in the final phase.

Barcelona rose because they have competitive players and coaches, they have a chance to be much better if there are no obstacles, even though they have problems at the club but it cannot be hidden that they have good players.

Madrid is not that strong because they have too many dilemmas, it seems, both for the Champions League and in La Liga, their defense is one of the best even though it is sometimes very disappointing, I still remember how Atletico Madrid slaughtered Real Madrid with a very embarrassing score.

[slapper]

~

And during the first half down to when the second half started I was unsure if Madrid will be able to to win this guy's and Madrid were having a lot of openings but they still find it difficult to win score enough goals but I was impressed with the fact that they were able to draw it would have been very bad for them because it does not even make sense how would you say, mbappe had a lot of openings but could not deliver I wonder what would have happened in such a short while. And even the goal Aleix scored, would have been either defended or even caught by the goal keeper.

The game was now as if Madrid was playing against a top club and there defense was just to open and Elche were not even struggling much because Madrid would have won this game without stress. And if not for Bellingham that scored the equalizing goal in mind Elche have defeated Real Madrid which would have been a shame on them because Elche dragging with Real Madrid. And any mistake now Barcelona will take over and this are people we have been criticizing for bad performance and instability. Because we thought Real Madrid had a easy one this week.

I felt the same as you in that first half, it did not seem to be Real Madrid vs Elche, it seemed to be two teams who played at the same level and that is the frightening thing

Mbappe is the ideal example. He continued to be in good positions, of course, but it can be seen in the body language, he was always in a hurry to finish, cursing at the ref after the game. That is a guy pushing it rather than playing calmly. One night he takes two and we are talking of an easy win but at this moment the team does not look dominant, it looks tense

And Elche's goal from Aleix? That wasn't a lucky shot. Madrid were just being moved around, no one stepped out, everyone waiting for someone else to fix it. It is not that Madrid we know

It is cool at the time to have Bellingham save them once again but when the entire game plan always ends with the rescuing by Jude, it means something is wrong. It is a major warning sign with Barca being so close by, and one slip will see him catch you

[Xcode7]

Well, the thing is, Real Madrid has been very permissive with Xabi. I didn't think it was right to start Rodrigo in my opinion, the player isn't up to par. He needs to secure points, and for that, he needs to field a strong starting eleven, Vinicius and Valverde are essential in the team Yesterday, they didn't win entirely because of Xabi's mistakes.

Surely they will have made some choices about it and evidently they trust him, otherwise we remember they would not have taken him.
If i am not mistaken, Real Madrid is the team that has won the most Champions Leagues in all of Europe, so it's a team that sees far ahead.

Not only Xabi Alonso, but Real Madrid have been relatively patient with coaches in recent years. Xabi is a coach who Real Madrid sees as a big project for the future. So, despite the mistakes he has made at times and the risks to the team, they are giving him time because his tactical ideas have been very clear. I agree with you that Real Madrid is the strongest team I have ever seen and is currently at the top of the points table.

Xabi Alonso is a great coach and he's proven it, Regarding the poor results in the last three matches, I think there's something else we don't understand, but that doesn't mean it's entirely Xabi Alonso's fault.
I don't think bringing Rodrygo on from the start was a big mistake, as Elche isn't a tough opponent, but I see the error in the Real Madrid players' seemingly lack of trust in each other in the game.

[Volgastallion]

Im happy to see Atletico Madrid is recovering and fast, they start to cut more points to the two powerfull teams and if they keep in this track they can be again considered a contender for this season, the start was super bad but right now they are again on his normal level.

Only 4 points from the top position.

Hat off to the Villarreal performance, in third place and only 3 points behind Real Madrid, lets see how much they can hold this pace.

[Zanab247]

In last 5 rounds, situation is changing and bringing new challenges for top teams Atlético Madrid have 15 points Villarreal 13 Barcelona 12 and Real Madrid 11 mean now difference of points at top is just 4 points which is interesting.

Pressure is mounting on Real Madrid and their performance is on decline which will surely encourage other teams to have their chances for replacing them at the top specially Atlético Madrid which is now having good rhythm and their performance have good change after poor start of their season. Barcelona is also doing impressive job even still it's not easy for them to have things on their control but now as we will go near half of the season many teams will be on their best this time title race is going to be challenging despite advantage is with Real Madrid.

Real Madrid is the one causing the pressure to themselves, because they have the opportunity to win that game to top Barcelona with 3 points in the la Liga league table but they miss used the opportunity to draw the game 2:2 to share point. I guess people will use this champion league game to know if Real Madrid will improve in this next game in the la Liga league game, because they will be playing with small club today in the champion league, and Real Madrid need to beat their opponent to create fear in the mind of their next opponent in the la Liga league.

Even though the tournament is going to change, it will not pass Real Madrid and Barcelona, because this is the only two clubs that have performed well in this season to secured high points in the la Liga league table.

[Ryu_Ar1]

Snip-
Fran Garcia and Tren were moved up a bit to new positions where they would be involved in attack and defense at the same time but this made Carreras' role more focused in their defense.

It was also interesting to see Jude return to his starting position as the second striker in this match to help support Mbappe and Rodrygo as the finishing executors.
This is a risky formation for Madrid as Xabi rarely uses this kind of formation in Madrid but if it goes well and they get the 3 points then of course this could be a good thing as their experiment was successful.

Madrid used three central defender against Elche I don't think new tactical but Madrid have leave by several central defender due injury from Eder Militao, Tchouaméni and Rudiger. Have several players at left winger position make Alonso playing Frans Garcia and Trent at left and right position, but this tactician so far not working yet until 53th minutes Madrid have conceded one goal. Several fatal mistake for this formation when put Vinicius Jr at the bench and Madrid less attempt to make shot on target.

Currently until 53th minutes Madrid still loss 1-0, if can scoring goals or winning the match Madrid have drop to 2nd standings because yesterday Barcelona success winning the match. Have 40 minutes left will Madrid success come back for winning the match or Elche defend their winning score until the end games.

This formation was ultimately not very effective and Madrid failed to get the 3 points in this week's match which makes their position at the top of the table less comfortable for now.

Carreras wasn't very visible in this match and even when we look at how he defended it wasn't very impressive either which leaves his position hanging in the balance.
On the one hand, the players also looked a lot more selfish as they seemed to try too hard to be released but ended up not doing too well.

Fortunately, Jude managed to score an equalizer which allowed them to still get 1 point which keeps them in the same position even though they are not as comfortable as before because Barcelona managed to catch up with their current point gap.

[Webetcoins]

Real Madrid defense is still lagging behind, much work is needed to be done. I know that their defenders are on injury but they need good substitutes to cover up the porosity in the defense when their key players ain't on the pitch. I know that Real Madrid don't buy players in January transfer window and that will affect them if the injured players ain't back from injury.

After having good start of their season suddenly Rea Madrid have few internal issues which are hurting them badly players against coach is surely never been good for any team. Few players are feeling like Xabi Alonso is not ideal but management is standing with him which is this case. Few changes are essential like Rodrygo and Vinícius Jr which are surely going to have huge impact on performance and team depth, but currently both are not in good list of coach Xabi Alonso in last three games they are having 2 draws and 1 lost now they are going to entertain Olympiacos Piraeus which is an easy game on papers.

[Razmirraz]

Elche is also a club and let's say the truth, they really played well in that match against Real Madrid and if not that they played well, real Madrid would scored a lot of goals and secondly Elche was at home and some of these club don't joke with their home.

This is what makes the La Liga rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid even more exciting. Sometimes these two clubs make similar mistakes. They always drop points in games that don't seem like big games. I saw Elche play well, exploiting Madrid's high defensive line. This was a risk because Madrid was controlling the game and had to push up their defenders. Madrid's mistake was not being able to anticipate Elche's quick transitions, which made the Madrid defenders slow to return. As a result, Madrid looked dominant but weak in defense.

Elche was very fortunate because Real Madrid players were too busy attacking that they left a gap in the defense line, and they managed to take advantage of this opportunity to score a goal. Real Madrid certainly had a hard time because Elche also played very well, the two goals scored by Real Madrid players were a natural thing because the quality of the two teams was very different. A draw is a huge advantage for Elche, but not for Real Madrid as dropping two points gives Barcelona a better chance of overtaking them at the top of the table.

[Adbitco]

I really don't know what is wrong with real Madrid, they are not playing as I expect them to be playing honestly if they continue this way they will miss out from the la Liga title race, they should try to correct every mistake and come back to form because if they don't they will lose out on the champions League and the la Liga title, Real Madrid should try as much as possible to make their defense very strong because what I'm seeing is that there defense is very loose and that is why they are always scoring them.
Just like you said the la Liga title race is to open for both Barcelona and Real Madrid however any mistake from one of the club is a lost, Real Madrid still has the chance to correct there mistakes right now so they can remain on top of the table till the end of the season and lift the la Liga title.

That is there business, at the end of the season is still them that will suffer from it, because if they continue like this Barcelona will take over and will remain there just as it happened last season. I'm sure if it was Barcelona that needed to win just after Real Madrid had won the previous day and they get a team like Elche, Barcelona would have made sure they beat the hell out of Elche so as to remain were they are. I was watching the game and imagining if it was Barcelona that was playing against Elche and needed this win.

[colinistheman]

Elche was very fortunate because Real Madrid players were too busy attacking that they left a gap in the defense line, and they managed to take advantage of this opportunity to score a goal. Real Madrid certainly had a hard time because Elche also played very well, the two goals scored by Real Madrid players were a natural thing because the quality of the two teams was very different. A draw is a huge advantage for Elche, but not for Real Madrid as dropping two points gives Barcelona a better chance of overtaking them at the top of the table.

I wouldn't say Elche were lucky. Elche played very well in this  match. I would say Real madrid  were lucky. Otherwise they  would have lost this match. Bellingham's goal at the last minute saved Madrid from defeat.

Elche did not play defensively in this match. From the beginning of the match we saw that Elche's players  were very confident. A total of 15 shots were made by elche's players. Even though Elche didn't play defensively, Madrid's players couldn't find the weakness in Elche's defense. This was Madrid's main failure. Real madrid definitely needed to perform better. If Mbappe , Bellingham and vinicius were in the starting XI, maybe Madrid could have played better.

[snipie]

I don't understand how Barcelona could have recovered after a period like the one they had, I don't agree that Real Madrid's defense is strong, in fact this season they are demonstrating the complete opposite and this will weigh heavily in the final phase.

I don't trust a lot Barcelona, they are still having bad moments. Their recent advancement was done thankfully to Real Madrid missing 4 points in just two games, otherwise the points difference will be 5 points between these two teams.
Some Barcelona players will regain their previous performance after being injured for a while which might boost the team and pose challenge to Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso might not continue training Real Madrid for long time if the results will be bad by the end of the season.

[fuguebtc]

Elche is also a club and let's say the truth, they really played well in that match against Real Madrid and if not that they played well, real Madrid would scored a lot of goals and secondly Elche was at home and some of these club don't joke with their home.

This is what makes the La Liga rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid even more exciting. Sometimes these two clubs make similar mistakes. They always drop points in games that don't seem like big games. I saw Elche play well, exploiting Madrid's high defensive line. This was a risk because Madrid was controlling the game and had to push up their defenders. Madrid's mistake was not being able to anticipate Elche's quick transitions, which made the Madrid defenders slow to return. As a result, Madrid looked dominant but weak in defense.

Elche is a team at the bottom of the points table. And Elche has not been able to win a match for a long time. That is probably why Xabi Alonso did not take this match seriously. Vinicius was kept on the bench by manager Alonso even though he was fully fit. He gave Rodrygo a chance. But Rodrygo disappointed the fans. Rodrygo managed to take 4 shots in 56 minutes. But there was no strong attack.

However, it cannot be denied that Elche played exceptionally well in this match. Probably no one expected Elche to play so well against a strong opponent like Madrid. We thought that Elche would play defensively and try to draw the match. But the scenario of the match was completely opposite.

Real Madrid will have to play more carefully when they face a weak opponent. Real Madrid have lost points in two consecutive matches. If Madrid fails to win the next match, they will also lose the top spot in the table.

[Donneski]

I don't understand how Barcelona could have recovered after a period like the one they had, I don't agree that Real Madrid's defense is strong, in fact this season they are demonstrating the complete opposite and this will weigh heavily in the final phase.

I don't trust a lot Barcelona, they are still having bad moments. Their recent advancement was done thankfully to Real Madrid missing 4 points in just two games, otherwise the points difference will be 5 points between these two teams.
Some Barcelona players will regain their previous performance after being injured for a while which might boost the team and pose challenge to Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso might not continue training Real Madrid for long time if the results will be bad by the end of the season.

The reason why many of us are now seeing Barcelona as a top performing team is because Real Madrid failed to win their last two games against Rayo Vallecano and Elche which on paper, they were supposed to easily win. Barcelona might be getting good results recently but I don't think they've faced a top team and performed exceptionally well that should force us to see them as a team to beat. Real Madrid's manager Xabi Alonso honestly needs to up his game and make his team more formidable than they've been since the start of the season. They have all the needed quality of players to conquer Spain and the entire Europe.

[silpersurfer]

I felt the same as you in that first half, it did not seem to be Real Madrid vs Elche, it seemed to be two teams who played at the same level and that is the frightening thing

Mbappe is the ideal example. He continued to be in good positions, of course, but it can be seen in the body language, he was always in a hurry to finish, cursing at the ref after the game. That is a guy pushing it rather than playing calmly. One night he takes two and we are talking of an easy win but at this moment the team does not look dominant, it looks tense

And Elche's goal from Aleix? That wasn't a lucky shot. Madrid were just being moved around, no one stepped out, everyone waiting for someone else to fix it. It is not that Madrid we know

It is cool at the time to have Bellingham save them once again but when the entire game plan always ends with the rescuing by Jude, it means something is wrong. It is a major warning sign with Barca being so close by, and one slip will see him catch you

Iñaki Pena remains a nightmare for Kylian Mbappé, and to date, Mbappé has never scored against him, even during his time at Barcelona. Fortunately, in this match, Mbappé provided an assist, which contributed to Real Madrid's goal.

Facing Elche should have been an opportunity for Real Madrid to strengthen their position at the top of the standings, but in reality, they had to settle for a point. They deserved a draw in this match. Fortunately, they must really get back on track in their next matches, because if they draw again, or worse, lose, their position at the top of the standings will be threatened at any time by Barcelona.