⚽ Sportsbet.io ⚽ Spanish La Liga ⚽ Football Pool Discussion Thread 2023/2024

[LTU_btc]

Now I'm sure that we are group of people who watch La Liga for the first time and pretend to show that we know this league well. From 20 people, NOBODY didn't backed Real Betis against Real Sociedad. It's kind of 50/50 games, so it's strange that at least few peoples didn't predicted Betis win.
I don't even talk about Real draw with Girona... I didn't watched game, what happened there?

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[slaman29]

Now I'm sure that we are group of people who watch La Liga for the first time and pretend to show that we know this league well. From 20 people, NOBODY didn't backed Real Betis against Real Sociedad. It's kind of 50/50 games, so it's strange that at least few peoples didn't predicted Betis win.
I don't even talk about Real draw with Girona... I didn't watched game, what happened there?

That's very sad for me, because I definitely am not watching La Liga for the first time or even the 5th time. I started watching when Ronaldinho was still king of Barca, that's how sad I feel being such a loser in this pool for season after season.

I didn't see Girona game but that was a nice surprise for sure. 2 VAR reviews that went against Real Madrid I believe, adding to pressure calls for refereeing in La Liga to be under investigation (but this time I think they were correct).

[Trofo]

Now I'm sure that we are group of people who watch La Liga for the first time and pretend to show that we know this league well. From 20 people, NOBODY didn't backed Real Betis against Real Sociedad. It's kind of 50/50 games, so it's strange that at least few peoples didn't predicted Betis win.
I don't even talk about Real draw with Girona... I didn't watched game, what happened there?

That's very sad for me, because I definitely am not watching La Liga for the first time or even the 5th time. I started watching when Ronaldinho was still king of Barca, that's how sad I feel being such a loser in this pool for season after season.

I didn't see Girona game but that was a nice surprise for sure. 2 VAR reviews that went against Real Madrid I believe, adding to pressure calls for refereeing in La Liga to be under investigation (but this time I think they were correct).

I can be very happy with my poor position than, I am at least not watching La Liga for the last two seasons Don't get me wrong I watch a game here and there, especially Classico or some other derby but most of my bets and watching time goes to Premier League.

I hate that La Liga changed their time tables to conform to Aisan or whatever markets. In previous seasons you knew you had PL in the afternoon and La Liga in the evening. I still remember those Classico matches at 10 or 11 PM. That was perfect for me, you finish with the day, put your wife and child to sleep and enjoy great football in complete peace. This year classico was at 16:15 my local time, did not get home for first half and rather watched Liverpool - City when they started at 17:00.

[slaman29]

I can be very happy with my poor position than, I am at least not watching La Liga for the last two seasons Don't get me wrong I watch a game here and there, especially Classico or some other derby but most of my bets and watching time goes to Premier League.

I hate that La Liga changed their time tables to conform to Aisan or whatever markets. In previous seasons you knew you had PL in the afternoon and La Liga in the evening. I still remember those Classico matches at 10 or 11 PM. That was perfect for me, you finish with the day, put your wife and child to sleep and enjoy great football in complete peace. This year classico was at 16:15 my local time, did not get home for first half and rather watched Liverpool - City when they started at 17:00.

It's still very late for us actually, for example 415 Barca time is 11.15pm my time. Most normal people can watch 1st half but if you have to be up by 5am like normal people then you will miss 1/2 hours of sleep every time your team plays IF they play early.

It used to be quite common and perfectly easy to watch replays, let's say you just go to sleep normally and work and come back and tune into replays (sports channels here do it the next day after 6pm but with social media and all that now it's impossible not to see the scores or hear everything about it that it's no longer fun to watch replays.

My older friends used to hardly watch even 1 match live a season and yet still support teams, and maybe if you're lucky you make it to final of some cup game that our TV stations will show. It's such a different world now but at least we get to see more live games now compared to before.

But for me, teams come first and local supporters. I would really hate the whole football movement moving to just fans or even when they do silly tournaments in Asia, I don't think that's right, it makes footballers tired and you can see they actually don't really enjoy it. For example La Liga wanting to play games in USA regularly is terrible for Spanish local fans. I hope FIFA never lets this happen.

[famososMuertos]

Now I'm sure that we are group of people who watch La Liga for the first time and pretend to show that we know this league well. From 20 people, NOBODY didn't backed Real Betis against Real Sociedad. It's kind of 50/50 games, so it's strange that at least few peoples didn't predicted Betis win.
I don't even talk about Real draw with Girona... I didn't watched game, what happened there?

+1
It is necessary to watch football, yes! but with the little time that there is, there's only time left for a few games...

In any case, 20 guys is not a very large sample and it shows that perhaps they analyze the cold numbers above the sensations or that perspective that you mention of following Betis for years and having the perception-intuition today "Betis wins," get the result right is the icing on the cake.

On Saturday I put him to win 1x0 but not because of this result that he obtained is that I see it that way even if he had lost or tied, I don't know, it's the beauty of soccer... and the cold reality of sports betting.

Disclaimer: only when you're not a Betis fan, there's forgiveness. 

[LTU_btc]

Probably you saw this weekend Gerard Pique will have last game in Barcelona. Such news is unexpected, considering that we didn't even reached middle of season and I'm wondering what's the reason behind such decision.
Few recent seasons weren't easy, I said lot of bad words about him, but after all, he is legend of Barcelona and he done a lot for the club.

I hate that La Liga changed their time tables to conform to Aisan or whatever markets. In previous seasons you knew you had PL in the afternoon and La Liga in the evening. I still remember those Classico matches at 10 or 11 PM. That was perfect for me, you finish with the day, put your wife and child to sleep and enjoy great football in complete peace. This year classico was at 16:15 my local time, did not get home for first half and rather watched Liverpool - City when they started at 17:00.

Personally, this change is good, probably because games for me starts one hour later than in your timezone. And when game ends something like 1 AM and I have to go to work next day, it's not that easy. And offcourse, referee have to add something like 10 minutes extra time, Spanish referees likes to do it.
And local fans who attend stadiums also don't like such late games. I remember that before pandemic there was some protests against Monday night football and league for some time didn't had games on Monday then.

[darxiaomi]

Probably you saw this weekend Gerard Pique will have last game in Barcelona. Such news is unexpected, considering that we didn't even reached middle of season and I'm wondering what's the reason behind such decision.
Few recent seasons weren't easy, I said lot of bad words about him, but after all, he is legend of Barcelona and he done a lot for the club.

I dont know from where are you, but Pique its involved in so many drama in the last time. The last one its his divorce from Shakira (the singer) and its an scandalous one.

Before this he is involved also in some really dirty things with the president of Spanish football federation, and if you seek in the web you can find phonecalls between them trying to make some business with Supercopa matches in Arabia Saudi.

Why is he involved in this?. Because for several year he is more a busines man than  a player, he have several companies, one for media other for managing events, and also he owned a club, i think its FC Andorra currently in LaLiga2.

So he its really busy in his head and time with this things, and Barcelona club also its not in his best time so.....

But i agree with you in one thing, nobody expect this so early, we can expect this after the season or at the middle, but not now, it was a surprise for alls.

[tomahawk9]

Probably you saw this weekend Gerard Pique will have last game in Barcelona. Such news is unexpected, considering that we didn't even reached middle of season and I'm wondering what's the reason behind such decision.
Few recent seasons weren't easy, I said lot of bad words about him, but after all, he is legend of Barcelona and he done a lot for the club.

Out of nowhere one of the best CB of the last decade decides to hang up his boots. Kinda weird to retire right in the middle of the season. I always thought he was gona go to the MLS and retire there. I guess he finally realized he can't recover from the massive drop off in performance he's had over the last few seasons.

Well, at least his last game will be against an easy opponent (Almeria) so maybe he'll play from the start and have a decent performance.

Pique's last match with Barca and Real Betis - Sevilla derby,, an eventful weekend in La Liga  

[Harkorede]

So, it's pretty much confirmed that this will be a two horse race between Real madrid and Barca, right? Sevilla are useless, Atletico are crap and the rest of the team have no chance against the top 2 because of their weak squads. Farmers league is back on the menu

The good thing in this one?. We are all screwed XD

Yeah what a pathetic round tbh... 5 games so far and the highest points in this round is 4.5 pts, and less than 2 points is the average in the pool? Wtf are we doing, lads? 😂 If I didn't know any better, i'd think we're a bunch of nba and badminton fans watching La Liga for the first time lol 🤣

I  really can't complain about the round result, because at least I was able to finish second place for the round but with just a mere 8.5 points.

Now I'm sure that we are group of people who watch La Liga for the first time and pretend to show that we know this league well. From 20 people, NOBODY didn't backed Real Betis against Real Sociedad. It's kind of 50/50 games, so it's strange that at least few peoples didn't predicted Betis win.
I don't even talk about Real draw with Girona... I didn't watched game, what happened there?

I really don't think it was down to those who watch or doesn't follow La Liga, It was just down to choosing a team, Real Sociedad were in a better form than Betis, and I had the impressing that the match wasn't going to end up as draw, so going with Real Sociedad wasn't much of a tough choice to make.

We've got a Friday night fixture between Girona vs Athletic Bilbao, Girona have played consecutive draws against teams in the top 10 position, and the last being against Real Madrid, I believe that should be a morale booster for them ahead of the game, but are they worth the risk ?

[Trofo]

Probably you saw this weekend Gerard Pique will have last game in Barcelona. Such news is unexpected, considering that we didn't even reached middle of season and I'm wondering what's the reason behind such decision.
Few recent seasons weren't easy, I said lot of bad words about him, but after all, he is legend of Barcelona and he done a lot for the club.

Out of nowhere one of the best CB of the last decade decides to hang up his boots. Kinda weird to retire right in the middle of the season. I always thought he was gona go to the MLS and retire there. I guess he finally realized he can't recover from the massive drop off in performance he's had over the last few seasons.

Well, at least his last game will be against an easy opponent (Almeria) so maybe he'll play from the start and have a decent performance.

Pique's last match with Barca and Real Betis - Sevilla derby,, an eventful weekend in La Liga  

I don't think his mind is in football. You know he is pushing strong with his investments and other projects like Davis Cup and now there was something new. I read about it but already forgot what it was. So I guess he already knows he will not pursue football career and then it doesn't really make sense to sit on the bench or get booed for some mistakes. Not that he needs money.

[casperBGD]

~snip
I read about it but already forgot what it was. So I guess he already knows he will not pursue football career and then it doesn't really make sense to sit on the bench or get booed for some mistakes. Not that he needs money.

Pique was one of early adopters, investor and promoter for Sorare, it was in 2020, prior to NFT boom, so really early for non-crypto related person
and he is probably into other investments as well, and far from best form, so going into retirement should not be a surprise, although it is not usual to do that into middle of the season

in the end, plus for Barca, certainly

[Harkorede]

~snip
I read about it but already forgot what it was. So I guess he already knows he will not pursue football career and then it doesn't really make sense to sit on the bench or get booed for some mistakes. Not that he needs money.

Pique was one of early adopters, investor and promoter for Sorare, it was in 2020, prior to NFT boom, so really early for non-crypto related person
and he is probably into other investments as well, and far from best form, so going into retirement should not be a surprise, although it is not usual to do that into middle of the season

in the end, plus for Barca, certainly

Yeah, there are just so many controversies surrounding him right, from marriage issues and supposed children custody battles, and there is a couple other stuffs that he's got himself into, but the final straw is losing trust of the coach and fans, and subsequently getting abusive chants, it was just right about time for him to leave the team for good.

Girona have played consecutive draws against teams in the top 10 position, and the last being against Real Madrid, I believe that should be a morale booster for them ahead of the game, but are they worth the risk ?

And Girona did stun Athletic Bilbao, and no one from the pool gave Girona the shot, at least mentioning it here, I expected that should trigger some people's decision. Girona won the game credibly and in quite a fashion, they outplayed Bilbao tactically and created more scoring opportunities than Bilbao manage, all Bilbao can boast of to have done better over the course of the game, is having better possession of the ball.

[tomahawk9]

Girona 2 - 1 Bilbao

La Liga? More like La 50/50 coinflip Liga... Wtf is Girona doing beating a top 6 team? What's next? Relegation fodder like Almeria and Cadiz winning comfortably tomorrow? 

I don't think his mind is in football. You know he is pushing strong with his investments and other projects like Davis Cup and now there was something new. I read about it but already forgot what it was. So I guess he already knows he will not pursue football career and then it doesn't really make sense to sit on the bench or get booed for some mistakes. Not that he needs money.

I reckon he'll be the president of FC Barcelona within the next 5 years

[LTU_btc]

What's next? Relegation fodder like Almeria and Cadiz winning comfortably tomorrow? 

After so many upsets already, it would be difficult to impress me somehow. Comfortable Cadiz win tomorrow? Why not, considering that they're not playing against top team.

I dont know from where are you, but Pique its involved in so many drama in the last time. The last one its his divorce from Shakira (the singer) and its an scandalous one.

Before this he is involved also in some really dirty things with the president of Spanish football federation, and if you seek in the web you can find phonecalls between them trying to make some business with Supercopa matches in Arabia Saudi.

Why is he involved in this?. Because for several year he is more a busines man than  a player, he have several companies, one for media other for managing events, and also he owned a club, i think its FC Andorra currently in LaLiga2.

So he its really busy in his head and time with this things, and Barcelona club also its not in his best time so.....

But i agree with you in one thing, nobody expect this so early, we can expect this after the season or at the middle, but not now, it was a surprise for alls.

Yeah, there is lot of things around him outside the pitch and recent time wasn't easy for him, what reflected on the pitch. But I expected that he will will leave after season or maybe during Wolrd Cup break.

[boltz]

Derby de Sevilla on Sunday boys! 

Betis vs Sevilla is one hell of derby with entire city picking a side until the game is over. I do hope Betis will get that victory over Sevilla who are having a rough start of the season and Betis should take advantage on this and get those 3 points and consolidate their 5th position in LaLiga even further.  Meanwhile , Sevilla is on relegation spot , being nr 18th in LaLiga ,with one of the most catastrophic start of the season in history of this team...so pretty rough for them but they will look to get points in this derby for sure but I have doubts they will get any.

[buwaytress]

Didn't know about Pique, can't really be bothered with what players do after they hang up their boots, really. It's weird for me to really follow the drama around them, not that I can hide from it anymore these days with everything pushed in front of my face thanks to work (bleh!).

Girona 2 - 1 Bilbao

La Liga? More like La 50/50 coinflip Liga... Wtf is Girona doing beating a top 6 team? What's next? Relegation fodder like Almeria and Cadiz winning comfortably tomorrow? 

Was just saying it's impossible to separate teams like these. Coin flip and pure lottery. I went for Bilbao win because I'm dumb, I thought, hey they beat Villareal.

All 3 goals in 11 minutes too...

[famososMuertos]

Pique is rich from birth, one of those few successful players who is not middle class or who was very poor, who took soccer as their true vocation and not life decision.

Girona 2 - 1 Bilbao

La Liga? More like La 50/50 coinflip Liga... Wtf is Girona doing beating a top 6 team? What's next? Relegation fodder like Almeria and Cadiz winning comfortably tomorrow?  
../Q/...,
I reckon he'll be the president of FC Barcelona within the next 5 years

It's the kind of results that makes you review the predictions for the day ahead. 

 Would Pique be the first player to play for Barcelona and become president?  In case it happens.

 That's very doable but it would give him an extra 5 years or maybe 50-something years of old.

[LTU_btc]

Barca 2:0 Almeria and last game for Pique. Result don't reflect game, Barca wasted many chances, Almeria goalkeeper also performed amazing. That Lewandowski missed penalty - oops. It was just terrible, but shit happens sometimes even for him. Pique final game was solid. And when he got substituted was very emotional.
Sevilla derby tomorrow, any thoughts about it? It seems that change of manager didn't gave much positive impact for Sevilla. It's not that Betis is obvious favorite, but I can't remember Sevilla rated before derby so bad.

[Trofo]

Derby de Sevilla on Sunday boys! 

Betis vs Sevilla is one hell of derby with entire city picking a side until the game is over. I do hope Betis will get that victory over Sevilla who are having a rough start of the season and Betis should take advantage on this and get those 3 points and consolidate their 5th position in LaLiga even further.  Meanwhile , Sevilla is on relegation spot , being nr 18th in LaLiga ,with one of the most catastrophic start of the season in history of this team...so pretty rough for them but they will look to get points in this derby for sure but I have doubts they will get any.

I am looking forward to this one and I can't see how Betis could lose in this match. That being said it is a derby and derby games have a knack for going in the wrong direction over one bad start or something.

In other games I believe Atletico Madrid has to bounce back and win against Espanyol. Espanyol is especially bad when playing away from home and Atletico has to win games like this if they plan on playing CL next season, let alone challenge for the title. To be fair I think that title challenge boat has sailed for them, Barca and Real, both with 10+ points at this point of the season should be too much to overcome.

[buwaytress]

Sevilla derby tomorrow, any thoughts about it? It seems that change of manager didn't gave much positive impact for Sevilla. It's not that Betis is obvious favorite, but I can't remember Sevilla rated before derby so bad.

And yet not quite enough to make me place bets on them. Was really hesitant on adding Atletico to my acca which I am just about to put down, and glad I didn't as they look stuck as hell.

On the other hand, I did put Villareal in, again, nothing to share here unless I hit.

In other games I believe Atletico Madrid has to bounce back and win against Espanyol. Espanyol is especially bad when playing away from home and Atletico has to win games like this if they plan on playing CL next season, let alone challenge for the title. To be fair I think that title challenge boat has sailed for them, Barca and Real, both with 10+ points at this point of the season should be too much to overcome.

I've to keep predicting them to win most games, but they're really letting themselves down. Coughed up for Griezmann, wondering what's happening with Joao Felix, but problem now at second half if they're playing against 10-men Espanyol. Worst thing to happen at home at Metropolitano IMO.