Reports of La Liga's Death were Greatly Exaggerated

We could, and some might say should have had 3 Spanish teams in the CL semis this year.

We owe old man Bill an apology after all the shit we talked at the start of the season.

When the draw is made next season

Premface pundits: the favourites for the CL are Bayern, QSG, and the english team

Wash rinse repeat

Bayern just got booted out by the 7th placed team who have one of the lowest goals for in the league

QSG and Chelsea kicked out by a team of geriatrics and toddlers

And City, well the less said the better

farfan wrote:We could, and some might say should have had 3 Spanish teams in the CL semis this year.

We owe old man Bill an apology after all the shit we talked at the start of the season.

Shoot, you beat me to it. I have been plotting to start this thread all season long!

Bill smug right now, but rightfully so.

La liga never really “declined”, PL just has insane spending power. They’re not that far away quality wise, if at all

This thread is going to age like the typical Goallegacy thread when Pool faces City in the final.

Just for the record I would very much be happy to see both English sides get trashed by the La Liga sides.

Blue wrote:This thread is going to age like the typical Goallegacy thread

Too late for that. La Liga clubs have already exceeded expectations this year.

Inb4 another all English final.

An all English final is the expectation but I don't think anyone but Old man Bill thought they'll be 2 Spanish clubs in the semis. Shit, one team would have still been a bit of a surprise.

Counter argument: a barca team with no stars, in transition, doing so badly they fired their coach mid season, led by a bunch of teenagers and bottom table rejects is comfortably in 2nd place

How about the strength of EPL teams other than City and Pool? Those teams in positions 3-8 are no better than positions 2- 7 in liga! As much as the decline of la liga has been overly stated, the opposite is true in the hype of EPL. For sure the best teams are head and shoulders above everyone else, but that doesn’t make the EPL to be better!

Being level on points with Sevilla for 2nd is considered comfortably?

uhm the 3rd place team in EPL almost just pulled off a great comeback win against your beloved Real Madrid, and they also happen to be last year's champions of the competition. But yea you can make that argument for the rest of 4 to 8.

As for the topic of this thread... we have to take into context what we have seen this season. Beyond Real Madrid, who will always be a threat in Europe because of Flo Perez... should we really be placing any stock into Atletico Madrid's scum football style? Is it sustainable? How long will Simeone still coach there? As soon as he leaves, Atletico might likely fall back into midtable mediocrity. As for Villarreal, we spoke about this in the Unai Emery thread... The guy is a cup specialist through the means of playing dead counter-attacking football. Now I'm not here to criticise they way these teams play and their tactics and approaches, but just to point out these aren't dominating or progressive styles. So when the question is "the death of La Liga" we probably shouldn't place too much stock into the type of teams Atletico and Villarreal are, and what they have done this season.
Barcelona might make a Pep 2.0 European resurgence soon through Xavi and their youth system, and then if they stay competitive their money situation might also improve again. So that's a plus for La Liga.

As for the EPL, we all know the money will always be there and that's why they are more likely than any other league besides the money of Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern to stay dominant for now and going forward.

Doc wrote:Being level on points with Sevilla for 2nd is considered comfortably?

They're barely slinking their way to 2nd with last minute winners and Paella pot-shots from 20 yards out

Luckily Xavi managed to turn this dross group to Firenze's FUT team by signing Adama, Auba and Ferran in Jan, but there's a lot of glaring weaknesses in that team. Starting with that crap backline:

-Mingueza
-Lenglet
-Eric Garcia
-Umtiti

None of which are even Segunda level, let alone La Liga, but i guess thats what happens when you fatten up a player with a large paycheck, they become extrinsic - Not to mention a certain dogshite keeper who's highly rated because he's German.

Which is funny when you see reports of Barca wanting Lewandowski or Haaland. These Cules are desperately wanting to replace Messi as a star player, they're clamoring for a big name to usher in a new era for them. They're signing hysterical deals like Spotify (which permits them to put a song each month on the front of their shirt, the possibilities) and taking out loans left and right in order to steady the ship.

I will be here in the summer when Barca sign Cavani on a free transfer, alongside Kessie and Christensen. Ain't no way these debt-ridden rats are splashing.

There is a reason la liga has been the highest ranked league for years now. It’s not solely based on RMad and Barca, it’s because of the consistency of Europe results, which is teams in 3 - 7 positions (and teams in those positions regularly change). In other words, beyond the top 2 or 3, there is a lot of competition and those teams do exceptionally well in Europe competitions and those teams are just as good as anything in EPL, again beyond the top 2 or 3.

If the GL theme had been the decline of RMad, Barca and Atleti, I would have agreed with it! There is no doubt, all three have had issues this year and the talent level is not top of class right now. However, all three have made improvements since September, especially Barca. I’m expecting RMad to get back to that top level, this summer while Barca with it’s dire finances will take another year at least, but they are already showing they can be competitive even with the handicap. As to Atleti, they never have been a consistent top club, just one of the positions 3-7.

So as to this current CL, I agree completely with you that it will likely be a City - Pool final. But I would never discount RMad in a CL semi nor final. No other club can come anywhere close to their track record. Besides we have already exceeded expectations.

Kaladin wrote:

Doc wrote:Being level on points with Sevilla for 2nd is considered comfortably?

They're barely slinking their way to 2nd with last minute winners and Paella pot-shots from 20 yards out

Luckily Xavi managed to turn this dross group to Firenze's FUT team by signing Adama, Auba and Ferran in Jan, but there's a lot of glaring weaknesses in that team. Starting with that crap backline:

-Mingueza
-Lenglet
-Eric Garcia
-Umtiti

None of which are even Segunda level, let alone La Liga, but i guess thats what happens when you fatten up a player with a large paycheck, they become extrinsic - Not to mention a certain dogshite keeper who's highly rated because he's German.

Which is funny when you see reports of Barca wanting Lewandowski or Haaland. These Cules are desperately wanting to replace Messi as a star player, they're clamoring for a big name to usher in a new era for them. They're signing hysterical deals like Spotify (which permits them to put a song each month on the front of their shirt, the possibilities) and taking out loans left and right in order to steady the ship.

I will be here in the summer when Barca sign Cavani on a free transfer, alongside Kessie and Christensen. Ain't no way these debt-ridden rats are splashing.

OK and your point is??? That la liga is competitive or not?

It definitely is not what I would call "comfortably 2nd".

Looks like Barça saw this thread and decided to offer a solid counterargument.

Barca have always been perennial underachievers in Europe

LaLiga had a high coefficient because of Sevilla and Real Madrid. Barca brought minimal contributions

GL Jinx

A simple innocent post might have bad accuracy and leave you wondering whether this magic is a thing or not. But a thread? The Jinx will not have mercy.

I mean whatever Barca fans say now you will bounce off as excuse but the expectation to win trophies after taking over midseason is a massive expectation. It's "only" EL but try winning trophies with a 17 and 19-year as focal points in midfield.

Deep down everyone knew we were overachieveing in this unbeaten run. This is a team in deep rebuild process, not put together at all to be winning trophies, many "key" players are young and inexperienced.

Safe to say, without winter signings we would be in a much uglier situation.

Nishankly wrote:GL Jinx

A simple innocent post might have bad accuracy and leave you wondering whether this magic is a thing or not. But a thread? The Jinx will not have mercy.

Jinx!! A pathetic Barca loss has nothing to do with this thread!

Just because Barca is in a down period, does not indicate in any fashion a demise of la liga. You so called EPL fans have severely overhyped your league and severely written off la liga. The actual results clearly demonstrate the facts!

Why don’t you ask where are the Germans, the French, the Italians, the Portuguese?

Don't let them take your shine Bill. La Liga got their two teams in the CL semis and it was two more than anyone even thought would have happened this year.

Europa belongs to Moysie though.

futbol_bill wrote:

Nishankly wrote:GL Jinx

A simple innocent post might have bad accuracy and leave you wondering whether this magic is a thing or not. But a thread? The Jinx will not have mercy.

Jinx!! A pathetic Barca loss has nothing to do with this thread!

Just because Barca is in a down period, does not indicate in any fashion a demise of la liga. You so called EPL fans have severely overhyped your league and severely written off la liga. The actual results clearly demonstrate the facts!

Why don’t you ask where are the Germans, the French, the Italians, the Portuguese?

I would like nothing more than PL teams getting destroyed in Europe other than Liverpool as most other PL fans so I cannot relate to your camaraderie with your fellow Spanish fans which is extremely convenient when time calls. In the PL, we like to see each other lose rather than hand hold for "League" erections. Premfaces do not even need CL wins to talk about the PL, this argument should have died with Spanish teams winning basically the last 14 but it still remains, so the question is back to you why lol?

I have seen some of his pressers and he is a very smart guy. Tries to explain in detail what the tactics were etc. Doesn't get drawn into verbal back and forth with other managers

futbol_bill wrote:There is a reason la liga has been the highest ranked league for years now. It’s not solely based on RMad and Barca, it’s because of the consistency of Europe results, which is teams in 3 - 7 positions (and teams in those positions regularly change). In other words, beyond the top 2 or 3, there is a lot of competition and those teams do exceptionally well in Europe competitions and those teams are just as good as anything in EPL, again beyond the top 2 or 3.

If the GL theme had been the decline of RMad, Barca and Atleti, I would have agreed with it! There is no doubt, all three have had issues this year and the talent level is not top of class right now. However, all three have made improvements since September, especially Barca. I’m expecting RMad to get back to that top level, this summer while Barca with it’s dire finances will take another year at least, but they are already showing they can be competitive even with the handicap. As to Atleti, they never have been a consistent top club, just one of the positions 3-7.

So as to this current CL, I agree completely with you that it will likely be a City - Pool final. But I would never discount RMad in a CL semi nor final. No other club can come anywhere close to their track record. Besides we have already exceeded expectations.