Spanish Season--LaLiga 2017-2018

[subway14]

Got to see some (limited) highlights. Looks like Villarreal really happy to see Bakambu in form, two good goals early. Not sure what's happening to Malaga, but the superb 2nd goal there was very confidently taken.

Valencia game nuts. 2-0 up at half time, then 0-4 but could have been 4-4. Results owes to Valencia's killer corners, and Betis's less killer penalties. But then, the Betis comeback seemed to owe a bit to Valencia switching off, especially for the first two goals. "We're 4-0 up, we wont lose now..." Still, that's football for you! A game of football can accidentally break out in a match at any time!

marca.com published today a list of the worst starts in the history of LaLiga--there was one worse than Málaga's (Zaragoza back in the early 1950s) and four others basically equivalent--I.e. Zaragoza with no points after eight jornadas and four other teams with one point after eight. Only one team escaped the drop after such an awful start . . .

why not mention which one it was, now I had to search for the article myself

http://www.marca.com/futbol/malaga/2017 ... b45cf.html
Jaén was the 1 who survived

[AlanK]

Only one team escaped the drop after such an awful start . . .

why not mention which one it was, now I had to search for the article myself

http://www.marca.com/futbol/malaga/2017 ... b45cf.html
Jaén was the 1 who survived[/quote]

Not to speak of serving things up on a silver platter . . . Sorry to put you to the horridly difficult task of seeking this out. Jaén did that back near the beginning of recorded history--1956-57--eight years before I even knew that fútbol was played as a professional sport

[AlanK]

Day 1 of Jornada 9 is Saturday, 21 Oct.

13:00 Levante 1, Getafe 1 Two teams whose goal is to avoid relegation; thus far they've done a pretty decent job. Levante is in 12th place; they're 2-2-1 at home. Geta is two points back of Levante, but they've done very well considering their terribly difficult home schedule: they've played Sevilla (0-1), Barça (1-2), Villarreal (4-0 ), and Real Madrid (1-2); they were even with both Barça and Real at 80'+ At 59', Fayçal Fajr gives Geta the lead; Morales ties for Levante at 62'--1-1. 18,064 in the Ciutat de Valencia see the points divided.

16:15 Betis 2, Alavés 0 Betis tries to bounce back after the 3-6 home loss to Valencia. They're still in ninth place; could move up if they can beat next-to-last Alavés, which has only three points in eight games. At 13', Camarasa centers for Tony Sanabria to head in--1-0. 49,243 see Betis win; however, Alavés deserved a better fate. At 52', Adán saves from Pedraza. At 55', Munir puts the ball in the net--disallowed for a non-existent offside. At 64', Adán saves from Pedraza. At 75', Alexis Ruano of Alavés scores an own goal. Alavés can't win for losin' . . .

18:30 Valencia 4, Sevilla 0 Game of the Week. Valencia rose to second place with the 3-6 win in the Benito Villamarín; they're four points off the pace. They've scored more goals (21) than anybody except Barça, and they remain unbeaten on the season. Sevilla lost in Bilbao last weekend and got hammered by Spartak in Moscow in the CL on Tuesday. Still and all, they're in fifth place. At 43', Guedes scores with a solo job--avoids two defenders and scores with a howitzer shot from the top of the area--1-0 at the half. 44,307 in Mestalla--and it's been a loooong time since the people were singin' there like they were today. At 51', Zaza maneuvers to get his shot, from inside the area, just inside the far post--2-0. At 85', Santi Mina makes it 3-0 on the counter, and at 92', Gonçalo Guedes, player of the game, makes it 4-0 on the break. Too bad Guedes "belongs" to PSG--Valencia has already said they want to keep him when the current loan expires. Valencia assures themselves of second place after Jornada 9.

20:45 Barça 2, Málaga 0 Mismatch of the Week Barça is atop the league, 21 points ahead of last-place Málaga, which not only hasn't won a game this season, they're zero for the road--no points, no goals scored. And yet . . . and yet Málaga has driven Barça crazy during the years of Luis Enrique's tenure at Barça; they've done better against Barça than just about anybody, and their 2-0 win in the Rosaleda last April cost Barça the league title. Barça SHOULD win going away . . . And indeed, what is it about Barça with Málaga Barça has played a very poor first half as far as control of the ball in creating scoring chances goes. They scored at 2' . . . or not, as Thunder_PT points out below, the ball crossed the end line completely before Digné centered for Deulofeu to put it in--1-0, but we're still waiting for the linesman to wake up Barça is very fortunate that Málaga had almost zero offense in the first half. Hope Barça returns in the second half . . . 74,397 in the Camp Nou see . . . virus UEFA Lack of concentration The "Málaga jinx" (Linguistic thread: "jinx" = "gafe" in Spanish) At any rate, this game was painful viewing. At 56', Iniesta scores his first goal in the league in a couple of years to make it 2-0, assisted by Messi. At 67', Digné saves . . . with his face I can understand that it was hard to get "up" for this game after CL on Wednesday . . . but gee whiz Barça assures themselves a four-point lead over second-place Valencia.

[Thunder_PT]

What a goal by Gonçalo Guedes! This guy is becoming a very serious case, still U21 eligible, great future ahead!

[AlanK]

What a goal by Gonçalo Guedes! This guy is becoming a very serious case, still U21 eligible, great future ahead!

Absolutely outstanding

[Thunder_PT]

What a goal by Gonçalo Guedes! This guy is becoming a very serious case, still U21 eligible, great future ahead!

Absolutely outstanding

He scored another and assisted 1 more. Fantastic Guedes and fantastic Valencia!


Meanwhile, Barcelona scored right from the start, but the ball had clearly gone out before the assist. As if we needed more arguments to implement VAR..

[JohnHarts]

What a goal by Gonçalo Guedes! This guy is becoming a very serious case, still U21 eligible, great future ahead!

Absolutely outstanding

He scored another and assisted 1 more. Fantastic Guedes and fantastic Valencia!

As a Valencia fan, it's a bittersweet experience seeing him playing so well, knowing that each game like this pushes his value for PSG to levels beyond our buying power. As with Isco, who we let go too cheaply, we screwed up on Guedes as we had the option to buy for 25m but dithered and PSG nipped in. At that time we had other spending priorities and our fans at the time were suspicious of cash being spent on another "Mendes prospect" having had our fingers burnt before. The only way I could see him being with us next season would be if we managed to prolong his loan, since PSG will have Neymar and Mbappe in the same position. It's a slim chance but not impossible as our respective owners are friends and it would be mutually beneficial (he gets more game time with us and his value increases.)

Zaza received the award for La Liga player of the month for September before the game. Late last year West Ham fans were deriding him as a rubbish waste of money, this season he's scored the same number of goals as the entire West Ham team.

[AlanK]

Day 2 of Jornada 9 is tomorrow, Sunday 22 Oct.

12:00 Villarreal 4, Las Palmas 0 The Yellow Submarine comes off the EL games against Slavia P. on Thursday. Going into this game, they're in ninth place, as Betis passed them on Saturday. Las Palmas is in the drop on GD; a tie could be enough for them to rise above the drop.
Scoreless first half. At 48', Bakambú gives Villarreal the lead--1-0. At 65', Mario Gaspar makes it 2-0. at 67', Ximo Navarro puts one into his own net--3-0. Sansone finishes it off at 90'--4-0. 16,606 in the Madrigal see Villarreal climb to fifth place, at least until later today. Las Palmas will remain in the drop.

16:15 Game of the Day: Celta 0, Atlético 1 Celta is tenth going in. Wildfires (result of arson in the area) could cause a change of venue or a postponement. Atleti is having a rough time--tie at home vs Barça; tie on the road at Qarabag. They're fourth going in, and would probably stay fourth even with a loss, but they would lose ground, presumably to all of the top three. First 25' were all Celta, but then Atleti came to life. At 18', Oblak saves from Sergi Gómez in Celta's best scoring chance. At 26' comes Atleti's first dangerous attack. At 28', Sergio Alvarez saves from Griezmann. After the ensuing corner, Gameiro scores for Atleti--0-1; Atleti fairly comfortable for the rest of the half, with Oblak vacuuming up everything that comes his way. 12.978 in Balaídos see Atleti hang on to win and assure themselves of at least fourth place after Jornada 9. Oblak continued to swoop up everything that came his way; at 52' he made his toughest save, from Iago Aspas.

18:30 Leganés 1, Athletic 0 Interesting game, to say the least. Lega is seventh going in; a win would lift them to fifth. No team in LaLiga has conceded fewer goals--just three in eight games; just one on the road. Athletic has looked wretched in the EL, with two ties and one loss in three games; in the league they need to win this one to avoid falling lower than 11th place. No television coverage here. Beauvue gives Lega the lead at 54'. Lega holds on to win 11,454 in Butarque. This means that they will finish Jornada 9 in fifth place with 17 points, one point ahead of Villarreal, Betis, and Sevilla (la Real Sociedad could join the group at 16 points on Monday). At the moment, they are even on points with Real Madrid, who still have to play their game next up here . . .

20:45 Real Madrid 3, Eibar 0 Real is third after Saturday's games; probably have to win to stay there. Eibar is one point above the drop; with a GD of minus 14, they'll fall into the drop should either Las Palmas or Girona manage to get a point. At 2', Dmitrovic saves from Isco. At 6', Casilla makes a save. At 18', Oliveira of Eibar heads the ball into his own net--1-0. At 28', Marco Asensio scores from Isco--2-0; see to appreciate 66,189 in the Bernabéu see Real win "sin despeinarse"--i.e. without mussing their hair. Dmitrovic makes good saves for Eibar at 49' and 66'; Marcelo scores at 82'. Real will stay third, five points back of Barça and one back of Valencia.

[AlanK]

Day 3 of Jornada 9 is Monday, 23 Oct.

20:00 Real Sociedad 1, Espanyol 1 La Real would finish the jornada in sixth place with a three-goal win; a one-goal win is enough for seventh place. A tie or loss would leave them ninth. A win would elevate Espanyol to 10th place; a loss or a tie would leave them no better than 13th. Espanyol played a good, solid first half; Leo Baptistao scored with a header at 9'. La Real dominated possession and created a couple of good chances, but never really seemed to put it together except for one flurry part way through. Can la Real put it together in the second half 18,515 in Anoeta see la Real put it together enough to tie, but not to win. At 69', Januzaj breaks down the left wing, cuts in beating the defender, and makes the pass of death to Illaramendi, who scores--1-1. At 91', Januzaj almoest sets up another one, but no joy. Illaramendi sees a second yellow at 92'.

21:00 Dépor 1, Girona 2 Dépor c ould rise to 13th place with a win; a loss would leave them 16th. Girona is above the drop on GD; a win would lift them to 15th place. Aday puts Girona ahead with a pk at 25'. 17,463 in Riazor see a very exciting second half--not high quality, but two teams that badly needed points went all out, to the extent that Girona picked up a total of EIGHT yellow cards (but no second yellows ). At 50', Gil Manzano whistles a penalty that to be kind we'll call "riguroso" against Ramalho of Girona; Lucas Pérez converts for Dépor at 51'--1-1. At 70', Uzoho, Dépor's goalie, saves the bacon, but he can't do it again at 71', as Portu receives a headed pass that leaves him alone in front of Uzoho; Portu makes no mistake--1-2. The end is fast and furious; Gerona holds on to win for the first time ever on the road in First Division; their second win of the season lifts them ahead of Dépor into 15th place.

[AlanK]

The top and the drop after Jornada 9

1. Barça----------------25 points; +26-3 Next at Athletic.
2. Valencia-------------21 points; +25-10 At Alavés.
3, Real Madrid----------20 points; +18-7 At Girona.
4. Atlético-------------19 points; +14-5 Hosts Villarreal.
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5. Leganés -------17 points; +8-3 At Sevilla.
6. Villarreal------------16 points; +15-10 At Atlético.
7. Betis---------------16 points; +20-18 At Espanyol.
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8. Sevilla--------------16 points; +9-8 Hosts Leganés.
9. Real Sociedad--------14 points; +19-17 Hosts Espanyol Monday; then at Getafe.
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17. Eibar----------------7 points; +3-20 Hosts Levante.
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18. Las Palmas-----------6 points; +7-22 Hosts Dépor.
19. Alavés---------------3 points; +3-14 Hosts Valencia.
20. Málaga--------------1 points; +4-20 Hosts Celta.

[Michael S Collins]

Saw the Saturday highlights - Valencia look a really good side again, first time in a while.

[AlanK]

Time for . . . no, not Jornada 10, it's time for the Copa del Rey, dieciseisavos de final; Tuesday brings us six first legs (second legs on or about 29 Nov.)

19:30 Numancia 2, Málaga 1 Full time. Recio gives Málaga the lead at 21'. Second-Division Numancia scores twice at 90'(+) to beat Málaga. Nacho scores the 1-1; Alberto Escasi hits the winner.

19:30 Cartagena 0, Sevilla 3 Full time. Sarabia scores for Sevilla at 25'. Joaquín Correa makes it 0-2 at 35'. Muriel scores at 51'--0-3.

20:30 Getafe 0, Alavés 1 Full time. Christian Santos gives Alavés the lead at 87'--0-1.

20:30 Zaragoza 0, Valencia 2 Full time. Rodrigo scores for Valencia at 81'--0-1. Parejo makes it 0-2 with a pk at 90'.

21:30 Cádiz 1, Betis 2 Full time. Sergio León gives Betis the lead at 6'; Alex Fernández ties for Cádiz at 21'. Sergio León with it with his second of the game at 54'.

21:30 Murcia 0, Barça 3 Full time. At 40', Alcácer comes close with a header, saved by the goalie. At 44', Deulofeu assists Alcácer, who this time puts the header in--0-1. Barça starts Cillessen; Semedo, Vermaelen, Mascherano, Digné; Gomes, Denis Suárez, Aleñá; Arnaiz, Alcácer, Deulofeu. At 52', Deulofeu makes it 0-2 with a solo effort. At 56', Arnaiz makes it 0-3 with a shot from the edge of the area.

Wednesday and Thursday will each bring us five more first legs.

[AlanK]

Copa del Rey, dieciseisavos de final, first leg; games of Wed. 25 Oct.

19:00 Formentera 1, Athletic 1 Full time. Liñán makes it 1-0 at 60', Raúl García ties for Athletic at 63'.

20:30 Valladolid 1, Leganés 2 Full time. Diego Rico puts Lega ahead at 46'--0-1; Cotán ties at 52'--1-1; Beauvue hits the winner at 88'.

20:30 Ponferradina 1, Villarreal 0 Full time. Cidoncha gives Ponfe the lead at 37'.

21:30 Elche 1, Atlético 1 Full time. Thomas Partey gives Atleti the lead with a header at 17'. Pla ties with a pk at 52'. Atleti's (mostly) B team can't handle Elche.

21:30 Eibar 1, Celta 2 Full time. Cabral makes it 0-1 at 4'; Sergi Enrich ties for Eibar at 18'--1-1; Guidetti makes it 1-2 at 44'.

[AlanK]

Copa del Rey, dieciseisavos de final, first leg, games of Thurs. 26 Oct.

19:30 Lleida 0, Real Sociedad 1 Full time. Sergio Canales scores at 32' for la Real.

20:30 Dépor 1, Las Palmas 4 Full time. Momo scores for the Canaries at 8'--0-1. And Momo makes it 0-2 at 16'. Lucas Pérez cuts the margin to 1-2 at 59', but Calleri makes it 1-3 at 81' and 1-4 at 90'.

20:30 Girona 0, Levante 2 Full time. Boateng gives Levante the lead at 40'. Doukoure makes it 0-2 at 61'.

21:30 Tenerife 0, Espanyol 0 in progress. Game started with a half-hour delay because of problems with the lights.

21:30 Fuenlabrada 0, Real Madrid 2 Full time. Llorente of Real hits the crossbar at 44'--best scoring chance for either team in the first half. Real scores twice on penalty kicks in the second half--at 62', Marco Asensio converts--foul was outside the area--0-1; at 80', Lucas Vázquez converts--0-2.

[AlanK]

Thoughts on the first leg of dieciseisavos of the Copa del Rey, in which all teams below First Division must play a First Division team

The First Division teams use this round to rest most of their top players. Disappointing for the fans of the lower-division teams, who host all of the first legs--you get to play Barça, but you can be pretty sure that Messi won't be there. This system really isn't working out too well. At any rate, there were 12 matchups between First Division teams and lower division teams. The lower division teams won two games, tied three, and lost seven; they scored seven goals and conceded 18. The winners from lower-division teams were Ponferradina (second division "B" over Villarreal, and Numancia (second division "A" over Málaga, in each case by one goal. The ties were Formentera (second division "B") against Athletic, Elche (second division "B" against Atlético, and Tenerife (second division "A" against Espanyol.