La Liga Matchday 5

eZe^

Saturday, September 27, 2008
19:00 UK Real Betis v Real Madrid
19:00 UK Sporting Gijon v Villarreal
21:00 UK Espanyol v Barcelona

Sunday, September 28, 2008
16:00 UK Racing Santander v Mallorca
16:00 UK Almeria v Recreativo Huelva
16:00 UK Athletic Bilbao v Getafe
16:00 UK Numancia v Osasuna
18:00 UK Valencia v Deportivo La Coruña
16:00 UK Málaga v Valladolid
20:00 UK Atlético Madrid v Sevilla FC


Some excellent matches this weekend in La Liga. Madrid, Villareal and the Barcelona derby are on tonight. It'll be my first time watching Espanyol this season, it'll be interesting to see how Finnan performs.

Undoubtedly the game of the weekend is Atletico vs Sevilla, with Aguero/ Pongolle being on absolute fire, I can really see Atletico winning here. But it's always silly to write of Seville!

Valencia vs Deportivo will also be a very good game, we are spoiled for choice this weekend with some lovely games...

gimmick

Have my sister in laws 21st tonight so going to miss the pleasantness of this evenings fare :mad:

Espanyol by all accounts are looking good this season, and Barca, from what I have seen so far, are not. I think 2-1 Espanyol.

This is tempered by the fact that i just booked my flights for the weekend of Barca Depor in January!

Just watchin Barca Espanyol now, anyone else watchin? Last ever derby at the Olympic stadium.

Awful mistake by Valdes there. 1 nil Espanyol.


Valdes may have got a nudge there.

Red card for Néné. Seemed quite harsh tbh. Very similar to Rooneys infamous sending off against Porto in the Amsterdam tournament. Jumping for the ball and he seemed to brush off Busquets face. Barca have to kick on now and use the numerical advantage.


Can i just say, how fckin good is Andrés Iniesta? The guys is unbelievable. Great close control, great vision and serious energy.

eZe^

Game might be called off over the Boixos Nois firing flares into the Espanyol fans area. Its pretty crazy pitch side at the moment! Laporta is going crazy now too, hahaha good old La Liga.


Barca were pressuring, Iniesta has been immense, he is like a combination of Fabregas and Messi... Henry has been woeful again, we have given him his favoured position and he is sh*te, Eto'o shouldn't lose his place because of Henry.


Last game at the olympic stadium too! And we're back!! FFS! How many times have been two inches away from scoring, Espanyol's last ditch blocking has been immense.

eZe^

Hahaha, he was bound to score after I bad mouth him, still jammy as fu*k though... :pac:


I hope the Boixos Nois launch another flare on those Perico *****...

el rabitos

some match that.

peno in last minute (7th i think) of injury time for barca. 2 - 1

eZe^

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm jumping all over my house celebrating, haven't been so happy with a result like that in about 2 years...

YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!


Fckin delighted. Only bad thing is a jammy goal and a dodgy penalty were how Barca got the goals, seeing as Barca dominated the play, created chances and deserved to win i;d have preffered to score a well worked team goal but feck it I dont care! Barca take the last derby at the Olympic stadium! epic win!

That crowd trouble looked like it was gonna get bad but i think it was only the fans in the section that got pelted by the flares were trying to get out, that was all.

Barca are still suffering from a case of the Arsenals. They need to get the shooting boots on a bit more.

Iniesta is just frighteningly good.


eZe^ i'm lookin into goin over in maybe Feb or March next year for a game.....can't wait!

SantryRed

eZe^, very jammy win. :pac:

Yous would want to start putting teams away soon though.

eZe^

Hey Neil, if you're going to Barna in Feb/ March, there is loads of good games you can see. If you've never been, you can watch Barca destroy Sporting Gijon, there's also the Catalan derby, which I've yet to go to. But after last nights shenanigans, you know it'll be immense!

SantryRed wrote: »

eZe^, very jammy win. :pac:

Yous would want to start putting teams away soon though.

Agreed, but jammy wins are exactly what Barca haven't been doing the past 2 years (aswell as winning away), and recently Espanyol have been our bogey team, it was the same against Betis... Even if we look a little toothless, at least we are picking up points. We have Atletico next in the league at the Camp Nou, if we win that could give us a serious confidence boost and we may go on a streak. Although Kun Aguero is looking like the best striker in the world at the moment, and Pongolle is looking a class act, they really are a top top team this season.

Lets hope Sevilla smash the sh*t out of them tonight... :pac::pac::pac:


We were absolutely atrocious, but I still LOVE it! I think the penalty was dubious, aswell as their goal, Garcia elbow smashes Valdes. We have pissed off many Espanyol and Madrid fans last night... Success? I think so... :pac::pac::pac:


Oh, and Iniesta is actually amazing. He can pass like Xavi, hold the ball under pressure like Fabregas, and dribble like Messi. He is also as pale as a ghost, which means he may turn invisible if he wore a Madrid shirt. All positives, what a man! I'm still buzzing from last night...


Anyone remember this? Hahahaha, the music makes it perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvNBkbg3pE

He was untouchable for 3 seasons, up there with Zidane, Ronaldo at their peak.

gimmick

I'm going get in on the Iniesta appreciation here. Without doubt the most under rated footballer in the world at the moment. A pleasure to watch.

Only saw last nights game in the background, but my little dance when the peno was scored was met with very funny looks. Its a ground out jammy result like that turns seasons, so hopefully that is the case for Barca.

eZe^

eZe^ wrote: »

Hey Neil, if you're going to Barna in Feb/ March, there is loads of good games you can see. If you've never been, you can watch Barca destroy Sporting Gijon, there's also the Catalan derby, which I've yet to go to. But after last nights shenanigans, you know it'll be immense!

Yea i'll have to see when I can get off for a weekend, I'm in college some weekends hence i can't commit until I get my timetable in a few weeks.

If I did happen to be going over for the Catalan derby do ya think it would be difficult to get tickets for? Also what part of the City should I stay in?!

eZe^ wrote:

Agreed, but jammy wins are exactly what Barca haven't been doing the past 2 years (aswell as winning away), and recently Espanyol have been our bogey team, it was the same against Betis... Even if we look a little toothless, at least we are picking up points.

+ 1. Barca have struggled to pick up points in the last few years. Under Rijkaard after 06 I wouldn't have seen them coming back from 1 nil down away to Espanyol to win the game and I wouldn't have seen them recovering from having a 2 goal lead clawed back like they did midweek. They may be still have their problems but at least Pep has instilled a determination about this team. If it all clicks they could be really really good.

eZe^ wrote:

We were absolutely atrocious, but I still LOVE it! I think the penalty was dubious, aswell as their goal, Garcia elbow smashes Valdes. We have pissed off many Espanyol and Madrid fans last night... Success? I think so... :pac::pac::pac:

I don't think Barca were atrocious, I think it was more lacking cutting edge in that they were dominating possession with little penetration, which has been a problem for about a season and a half.

eZe^ wrote:

Oh, and Iniesta is actually amazing. He can pass like Xavi, hold the ball under pressure like Fabregas, and dribble like Messi. He is also as pale as a ghost, which means he may turn invisible if he wore a Madrid shirt. All positives, what a man! I'm still buzzing from last night..

He's phenomenal He also has great balance but what I like most about him is he has the Engine and drive of a Rooney or a Gerrard to go with all the skills and attributes. He looks like a tough bastard! He's also the 4th captain! He doesn't seem phased by any challenges either. Great player. And yea he's pasty, pity he's already played for Spain, with skin like that he has to have an Irish grandmother! :pac:

eZe^ wrote:

Anyone remember this? Hahahaha, the music makes it perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvNBkbg3pE

He was untouchable for 3 seasons, up there with Zidane, Ronaldo at their peak.

He was absolutely and unquestionably the best player in the world for 2 years but unfortunately he won;t be remembered as being up there in the VERY top echelon of players (unless he rekindkles the spark at Milan) because of how badly he went off the rails. He'll be remembered as a great player, but he could have been remembered as the very best.

Hilarious video, it;s always funny when highly ratedEnglish players are made to look foolish....he did the same thing to Frank Lampard at the Bridge a few years ago. Great stuff!