Spanish First Division--LaLiga, 2019-2020

[AlanK]

Drawing for the calendar of LaLiga 2019-2020 is in progress. Five teams have requested NOT to play at home until after the International break in September due to work in progress on their respective stadiums--Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Villarreal, Valladolid, and Eibar. Good luck with that, RFEF

Drawing for the calendar of LaLiga2 will follow a bit later today--4 July 2019.

[AlanK]

"Teasers" from marca.com

First jornada, 17-18 August, offers Athletic-Barça and Celta-Real Madrid. First "Clásico"--on or about 27 October.

[AlanK]

LaLiga, 2019-2020

Jornada 1, (weekend of) August 18, 2019, now with dates and times added

Alavés-Levante Sunday 18 at 17:00
Athletic-Barça UPDATE--this game will reportedly open LaLiga on Friday 16 August Fri. 16 at 21:00
Atlético-Getafe First derby of the season Sun. at 21:00
Betis-Valladolid Mon. 19 August at 22:00 Sun. 21:00
Celta-Real Madrid Sat. 17:00
Espanyol-Sevilla Sun. 19:00
Leganés-Osasuna Sat. 21:00
Mallorca-Eibar Mon. 20:00 Sat. 20:00
Valencia-Real Sociedad Sat. 19:00
Villarreal-Granada Sun. 21:00

. . . but Rubiales says that no agreement has been reached to play on Mondays or Fridays. In other words, business as usual

[seso]

Alan, what is your opinion about Fabian Ruiz? Just 23 years old, but he already has 60 apps for Betis and 40 for Napoli!

[AlanK]

Alan, what is your opinion about Fabian Ruiz? Just 23 years old, but he already has 60 apps for Betis and 40 for Napoli!

This is what comes of watching "from afar"--I had no idea who Fabián Ruiz is until the U-21 which just ended. My opinion now is that he's a heck of a player--seemed too good to be true in the U-21 crucial games. How in the world did Betis let him get away to Nápoles--probably $$$.

[seso]

He has a 5-year contract with Napoli, so they will sell him 'well'!

[angel_87]

LaLiga, 2019-2020

Jornada 1, (weekend of) August 18, 2019, now with dates and times added

Alavés-Levante Sunday 18 at 17:00
Athletic-Barça UPDATE--this game will reportedly open LaLiga on Friday 16 August Fri. 16 at 21:00
Atlético-Getafe First derby of the season Sun. at 21:00
Betis-Valladolid Mon. 19 August at 22:00
Celta-Real Madrid Sat. 17:00
Espanyol-Sevilla Sun. 19:00
Leganés-Osasuna Sat. 21:00
Mallorca-Eibar Mon. 20:00
Valencia-Real Sociedad Sat. 19:00
Villarreal-Granada Sun. 21:00

. . . but Rubiales says that no agreement has been reached to play on Mondays or Fridays. In other words, business as usual

JORNADA 02
https://files.laliga.es/201907/w_900x70 ... 019-20.jpg

JORNADA 03
https://files.laliga.es/201907/w_900x70 ... 019-20.jpg

[AlanK]

LaLiga, 2019-2020

Jornada 1, (weekend of) August 18, 2019, now with dates and times added

Alavés-Levante Sunday 18 at 17:00
Athletic-Barça UPDATE--this game will reportedly open LaLiga on Friday 16 August Fri. 16 at 21:00
Atlético-Getafe First derby of the season Sun. at 21:00
Betis-Valladolid Mon. 19 August at 22:00
Celta-Real Madrid Sat. 17:00
Espanyol-Sevilla Sun. 19:00
Leganés-Osasuna Sat. 21:00
Mallorca-Eibar Mon. 20:00
Valencia-Real Sociedad Sat. 19:00
Villarreal-Granada Sun. 21:00

. . . but Rubiales says that no agreement has been reached to play on Mondays or Fridays. In other words, business as usual

As suggested in the quote, the Monday and Friday games were sort of up in the air. The court's decision is that NO GAMES WILL BE PLAYED ON MONDAYS NOR ON FRIDAYS

So three games have their dates and hours changed from Jornada 1, to wit

Athletic-Barça Sat. 17 Aug. @20:45
Mallorca-Eibar Sat. 17 Aug. @20:00
Betis-Valladolid Sun. 18 Aug. @20:45

Note that any of these games could still be rescheduled (. . . but not on Monday or Friday).

[subway14]

that kinda sux IMO, but at least it makes the teams more equal

[AlanK]

. . . and in a never-ending story, it looks as though legal action could change the suspension of Monday and Friday games in both LaLiga and LaLiga2 many contracts have been signed with providers world-wide promising that games will be played on these days, so we're headed into the court system, not just the fútbol powers' system, apparently on or about 7 August. Stay tuned . . .

[AlanK]

And today we're SUPPOSED to find out whether or not LaLiga and LaLiga2 will have games on Mondays and Fridays.

Update: we will find out the answer "Monday at the latest" That is, four days before Athletic-Barça is supposed to be played on Friday, 16 August. (Source: as.com)

[AlanK]

Marca.com says that the decision reached about whether there will be fútbol played in LaLiga on Mondays and Fridays is as follows

There WILL be fútbol on Fridays; there will NOT be fútbol on Mondays.

SO the kickoff of LaLiga will be Friday, 16 August at 21:00 CET. Unless, of course, they change this yet again

. . . and the games that were scheduled for Mon. 19 August have been changed as follows

Mallorca-Eibar Sat. 17 Aug. 20:00

Betis-Valladolid Sun. 18 Aug. 21:00

In addition, Sunday's schedule now (as of Sat. 10 Aug.) has Atlético-Getafe listed at 22:00 on Sun. 18 Aug.

[AlanK]

Update on LaLiga's scheduling--on laliga.es, it is announced that the decision reached--fútbol on Fridays, not on Mondays--will be appealed, and that LaLiga "guarantees" that broadcasters will have available "ten non-overlapping games" per jornada.

My comment Well, they're sure not offering that in Jornada 1: one game is Saturday at 20:00, two games are Saturday at 21:00, one game are Sunday at 21:00 and one game at 22:00 AS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED.

And a quick update: it looks as though subsequent jornadas will adhere to what's been promised. Stay tuned

. . . and as.com tells us that there is a threat to "paralyze the first Jornada of LaLiga"--i.e. things may NOT start when they're supposed to next weekend.

[AlanK]

Update on LaLiga's scheduling

According to marca.com, there will be "overlapping" or coinciding games in Jornadas 1, 2, and 3, with the promised lack of "overlapping" or coinciding of games finally missing in Jornada 4.

Is this the last word Almost surely not

[AlanK]

Leagues are kicking off everywhere--and it's still five days until LaLiga gets off the mark. Assuming no more changes due to court action, Jornada 1 in LaLiga looks like this

Fri. 16 Aug. 21:00 CET Athletic 1, Barça 0 Full time. Athletic finished last season even on points, at 53, with the lowest team to qualify for the EL. Their goal will be to get back into Europe. Last season for Aduriz. Iñaki Williams headed for big things Barça had a great season except for two devastating losses--to Liverpool in the semis of the CL, and to Valencia in the Final of the Copa del Rey. They may be missing Messi in this first game--yesterday's trident of Griezmann, Suárez, and Dembélé are likely starters if Messi can't make it. De Jong has been great in the preseason. Will Riqui Puig get playing time with the A team
Update: Messi, Vidal, and Arthur are not making the trip to Bilbao.
San Mamés is packed--47,693 on hand (capacity 53,289). Aleñà and Sergi Roberto start in midfield instead of Busi and Raki. Athletic looks a bit better in the early going, but Barça looks better as the game goes on. Ter Stegen makes one excellent save. Suárez hits a post, then goes out replaced by Rafinha when Suárez injures a calf. Rafinha subsequently hits the crossbar--goalie got a touch on it. Will the deadlock be broken in the second half Barça looked sharper at the start of the second half; Rakitic started the second half in place of Aleñà. Game bogged down after awhile, and looked like a 0-0 until Ander Capa centered at 89' and--who else--Aritz Aduriz, on as a sub for Iñaki Williams at 88', comes up with a falling volley (half-chilena, perhaps) that gives Ter Stegen no chance--1-0, and the vascos go home very happy. Barça with a lot of control, but without Messi from the get-go and without Suárez for 53 minutes, the scoring punch wasn't there, although the blaugrana hit the woodwork three times.

Sat. 17 Aug.

No kickoff times of 13:00 until September

17:00 Celta 1, Real Madrid 3 Both hope to improve greatly on last season. Celta finished one place above the drop. Real won nothing; was in the CL, LaLiga, and the Copa. Can Zidane put them back together again Crazy game in Balaídos At 12', Bale assists Benzema--0-1. At 45'+1', Celta scores after a giveaway by Real, but goal is disallowed for offside. Challenge to one and all--find a replay of this and see if you can figure out the call. At 56', VAR red card for Modric of Real Madrid. At 61', Kroos scores from distance--0-2. At 80', Lucas Vázquez ices the cake--0-3. At 91', Iker Losada gets the goal of honor for Celta--1-3 the final. Att. 23,566.

19:00 Valencia 1, Real Sociedad 1 Valencia came on strong last season to qualify for the CL. They lost fewer games in LaLiga than anybody except Barça and Atleti. Inconsistency left them scrambling for that CL spot at the season's end. La Real finished one game back of the last EL spot. They had the worst home record among the top 13 teams in LaLiga. Big crowd in Mestalla. Goalies hold sway through the first half--Moyá for the visitors, Cillessen for the home team in his first official appearance for his new team. Whatta way to avoid winning a game At 58', Valencia takes the lead as Wass assists Gameiro, who smashes it in--although it takes five minutes for the VAR consultation to decide there was no offside--1-0. At 93', penalty in favor of Valencia, as Cheryshev is fouled in the area. Gameiro can put the game on ice, but he fires over. At 98', free kick for la Real after a foul just outside the area. Coquelin is called for a handball on the fk--penalty which is converted at 101' by Oyarzábal--1-1, and they ain't happy in Mestalla Att. 41,846.

20:00 Mallorca 2, Eibar 1 Mallorca returns to the First Division after finishing fifth in LaLiga2 and winning the promotion playoffs. Their goal is to avoid relegation. As is that of Eibar, which finished 12th, avoiding end-of-season anxiety. Dani Rodríguez gives Mallorca the lead at 4'--1-0. Paulo Oliveira ties for Eibar at 57'--1-1. However, Paulo Oliveira puts one into his own net at 75', which is the decider in favor of Mallorca--2-1. Att. 15,127.

21:00 Leganés 0, Osasuna 1 Lega stays in First Division seemingly with smoke and mirrors--they were fairly tough at home, beating Barça and tying Atlético, Real Madrid, and Valencia. Osasuna won promotion by 13 points over third-place Málaga; staying up is their very clear goal. Chimi Avila, who did such great things for Huesca last season, gives Osasuna the win with a goal at 75'--0-1. Att. 10,020.

21:00 Villarreal 4, Granada 4 The Yellow Submarine looked like relegation fodder for much of the season. They ended up a seemingly comfortable 14th, seven points above the drop. Granada was second in LaLiga2, winning direct promotion by five points over their greatest rival, Málaga. Definitely best game of the day PK converted by Cazorla at 35'; 1-0. PK converted by Fede Vico at 45'+2'--1-1. At 53', Moi Gómez gives the Submarine the lead--2-1; Darwin Machís ties for Granada at 62'. The Submarine then goes ahead by two--Gerard Moreno at 65' and Chukwueze at 73' make it 4-2. Granada comes back to tie: Roberto Soldado (remember him ) heads in a corner at 75'--4-3; and at 81', Soldado heads another corner; his header is headed in by Antonio Puertas--4-4. Wow Att. 14,753.

After the first full day of the new season, Real Madrid leads the league on GD over Mallorca, Athletic, and Osasuna.

Sun. 18 Aug.

17:00 Alavés 1, Levante 0 Alavés spent much of last season in CL or EL spots; they tailed off at the end to finish three points shy of the last EL spot, a comfortable 13 points above the drop. A repetition this season would be wonderful for them. Levante finished 15th, seven points above the drop. Staying up is everything for them 12,029 in Mendizorroza see Alavés get off to a good start. At 54', corner by Aleix Vidal. Goalie seems to save Joselu's header, and then Maripán heads in--but replays show ball went all the way in after Joselu's shot--1-0 for Alavés.

19:00 Espanyol 0, Sevilla 2 Full time. Espanyol was unbeaten in their last NINE games in LaLiga last season, with a record of 5-4-0--this got them the last EL spot thanks to H2H against Athletic. Sevilla flirted with the CL spots, but ended up two points shy of fourth-place Valencia. At 44', Sergio Reguilón puts in a rebound to give Sevilla the advantage--1-0. Possible penalty for Espanyol turned down by VAR at 54'. At 86', Espanyol defense goes to sleep on a throw-in, and Nolito takes advantage to score--0-2. 19,832 in Cornellà-El Prat.

21:00 Betis 1, Valladolid 2 Betis had an excellent shot at an EL spot last season, but four losses and a tie in Jornadas 32-36 left them too far adrift to save themselves even finishing the season with two wins. They figure to be tough this season. Valladolid is very happy not to have dropped, and will aspire to the same this season. At 8', Joel Robles of Betis sees a red card. Scoreless first half in the Benito Villamarín. 51,497 on hand see the home team lose: Sergi Guardiola gives Valladolid the lead at 62'--0-1; Loren Morón ties at 68'--1-1; Oscar Plano scores the winner at 89'--1-2 the final.

21:00 Atlético 1, Getafe 0 Atleti finished second in LaLiga last season, 11 points shy of Barça but eight points above arch-rival Real Madrid. Will Joao Félix make the fans at the Metropolitano forget Griezmann Geta almost made it into the last CL spot, missing by two points (and H2H against Valencia). Will an EL campaign, their third sally into Europe in their history, stretch them too far Will Bordalás continue to work magic as coach 55,099 in the Nuevo Metropolitano see Alvaro Morata score the winner at 23'--1-0. Subsequently, Jorge Molina of Geta sees a direct red at 38', and Renan Lodi of Atleti sees a second yellow at 42'.