La Liga matchweek 24

therecklessone

Saturday, 21 February 2009

Barcelona v Espanyol, 19:00 Sky Sports Xtra
Real Madrid v Real Betis, 19:00 Sky Sports Xtra - Interactive
Sevilla v Atletico Madrid, 21:00
Villarreal v Sporting Gijon, 19:00 Sky Sports Xtra

Sunday, 22 February 2009

Deportivo La Coruna v Valencia, 20:00 Sky Sports 1
Getafe v Athletic Bilbao, 18:00
Mallorca v Racing Santander, 16:00
Osasuna v Numancia, 16:00
Recreativo Huelva v Almeria, 16:00
Valladolid v Malaga, 16:00

Mgoraf

Barca to hammer Espanyol I think. Deportivo to get something agaisnt Valencia too

dfx-

A hammering I think is wishful. Espanyol played well enough in the cup and played pretty well against Sevilla from what I saw.

Looking forward to that Depor match...though I don't like that ground..

redout

Barca lineup:
Valdés, Alves, Abidal, Piqué, Márquez, Touré, Keita, Xavi, Henry, Messi, Eto'o

Espanyol lineup:
Kameni, Sergio Sánchez, David García, Jarque, Pareja, Moisés Hurtado, Luis García, Nené, Ángel, De la Peña, Iván Alonso

redout

Real Madrid 1 - 0 Real Betis

Higuain

redout

Real Madrid 3 - 0 Real Betis

Higuain
Huntelaar 2


3 - 1

Oliviera


Very nearly 3 - 2 as Casillas plays a back pass from Diarra straight to Oliviera but he can only hit he post.


4 - 1 now and this game is certainly over

Raul

redout

Keita sent-off for Barca which is going to make things more difficult. Not the best of news with Real Madrid already assured victory imo as they are toying with Betis here at times.

cruiserweight

redout wrote: »

Keita sent-off for Barca which is going to make things more difficult. Not the best of news with Real Madrid already assured victory imo as they are playing with Betis here at times.

Brandishing loads of cards now, don't know how that was a red

redout

5 - 1 now and its not even half-time !

Raul with his second.

Two class goals from Raul tonight, really class.

redout

Fuk me.......

6 - 1

Sergio Ramos

Still not half-time yet !

cruiserweight

redout wrote: »

Fuk me.......

6 - 1

Sergio Ramos

Still not half-time yet !

Looks like I made the wrong choice watching the Barcelona game

Mgoraf

Fcking hell Real :O

redout

Have to say that Real Madrid are destroying Betis. Abismal defending going on out there.

An Citeog

redout wrote: »

5 - 1 now and its not even half-time !

Raul with his second.

Two class goals from Raul tonight, really class.

Just saw his 2 goals there. Absolutely class and a great way to break the Madrid record.

Red card for Keita in the other match was an absolute joke! The ref actually played advantage and then decided to send Keita off on the back of the Espanyol players' protests.

Busquets is on now for Henry. The ref booked him in the first half while he was sitting on the bench!:eek:

Mgoraf

1-0 Espanyol! de La Pena with free header at the back post.

redout

They way things stand at present Barca's 12 point lead from last week is now down to 7 ! Still win the league but.

Mgoraf

What a fcking finish! 2-0 Espanyol de la pena again!

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

An Citeog

0-2 Espanyol. De la Peña with his 2nd.

Valdes should be shot!

Adamcp898

Lovely finish from De La Pena

.............Valdes though

redout

An Citeog wrote: »

Busquets is on now for Henry. The ref booked him in the first half while he was sitting on the bench!:eek:

I am confused now as the ref just booked him on the pitch like 2mins ago also ?

That is why I am no fan of Valdes. Too many errors, although this season he hasnt been too bad.

2 - 0

De la Pena 2

arch_stanton

The ref was going to book Busquets on the bench but after much shouting and pointing he eventually gave the card to one of the Barca trainers.

An Citeog

redout wrote: »

I am confused now as the ref just booked him on the pitch like 2mins ago also ?

Was it not Xavi that he booked?

Touré makes it 1-2.

Edit: No, you're right. This ref is shocking!

Mgoraf

Yaya with a great goal. 2-1 now.

~Rebel~

oh, game on!

Mgoraf

Etoo subbed :S

redout

Alves should have been off for that. How in the name of god can you do that to another player ? Did he think he was the Gardai....

redout

First Barca defeat since Shaktar in the champions league on December 9th, no ?

First league defeat since August 31st to Numancia.

The lead is now 7.

Real starting to believe ?

No chance Barca will blow this.

An Citeog

redout wrote: »

Alves should have been off for that. How in the name of god can you do that to another player ? Did he think he was the Gardai....

Alonso stuck his hand in his face, deserved a lot more than a little arm twist.

Game finished 2-1 for Espanyol. The ref ruined the game with a ridiculous sending off. Messi was shocking tonight. Guess he is human after all!:pac:

kinaldo

An Citeog wrote: »

Just saw his 2 goals there. Absolutely class and a great way to break the Madrid record.

Except that he already broke it last week... legend.

Madrid are starting to click just at the right time. They're also in the winning habit, making it 10 wins in a row (9 in la liga) under Ramos and 10 goals in their last 2. Not good news for Liverpool, and Magic Juande has already got 1 over Benitez this season.

He could even win the league if they keep going. Barca have to go to their old bogey team next week (Atl. Madrid) and still have to visit the Bernabeu...

Muchas gracias a De la Peñá

redout

Dont blow this out of proportion brother. It was a Valdes error that ultimately cost Barca and not Espanyol superior play. I will eat my hat if Real win the league. Barca level has dropped since Xmas no doubt but I wont be long before they start destroying teams again.

kinaldo

redout wrote: »

Dont blow this out of proportion brother. It was a Valdes error that ultimately cost Barca and not Espanyol superior play. I will eat my hat if Real win the league. Barca level has dropped since Xmas no doubt but I wont be long before they start destroying teams again.

Casillas has probably done the most to win the last two league titles for Real, while Valdes could lose Barca this one. They say a top goalkeeper is worth up to 10 points or more a season, so why they don't replace Valdes already is a mystery to me.

Just be thankful van Nistelrooy is out for the season.

An Citeog

kinaldo wrote: »

Except that he already broke it last week... legend.

My bad, thought he was still stuck on one behind the record.:o They were 2 top class finishes anyway.

redout wrote: »

Dont blow this out of proportion brother. It was a Valdes error that ultimately cost Barca and not Espanyol superior play. I will eat my hat if Real win the league. Barca level has dropped since Xmas no doubt but I wont be long before they start destroying teams again.

The league is far from over and Real are quietly closing the gap on Barça. There's no doubt it's Barça's to lose but there's still a long way to go. A win at Atletico next week is needed to get them back on track.

redout

kinaldo wrote: »

Casillas has probably done the most to win the last two league titles for Real, while Valdes could lose Barca this one. They say a top goalkeeper is worth up to 10 points or more a season, so why they don't replace Valdes already is a mystery to me.

Just be thankful van Nistelrooy is out for the season.

I agree with what you said about Valdes and have said it on here before. But I do have to give him some credit as this year he has been pretty solid but yes I feel he is liable to make more than his fair share of clangers. Last season in la liga I thought he was quite poor and showed poor decision making at times. As for Casillas he had a woeful spell of form in the three months leading up to Xmas although he has picked himself up he is still liable to clangers himself. If you watched last night Real v Betis game you would have seen him play a back pass he recieved shockingly to the feet of Oliviera on the edge of the box who unfortunately could only manage to hit the post when presented with this gift from Casillas.

Mgoraf

FT Mallorca 1 - 0 Racing Santander

FT Osasuna 2 - 0 Numancia

FT Recreativo Huelva 1 - 1 Almeria

FT Valladolid 1 - 3 Malaga

redout

Valencia 1 - 0 Deportivo

Villa with his 19th in 23 league appearances.

He looked a mile off-side and the linesman flagged long before the goal but the ref has overruled it.

Mgoraf

It came off De Guzman or something?

redout

Mgoraf wrote: »

It came off De Guzman or something?

Did it ? I was watching on mute so didnt hear what they said just saw it. Either way David Villa is class. I so want him at Man Utd. I think he is definitely moving from Valencia this summer.

Mgoraf

Well according to the commentator on GolTV it did.

Yeah I'd love him at Utd too. Don't think he wants to move to England though

therecklessone

kinaldo wrote: »

Magic Juande has already got 1 over Benitez this season.

No he hasn't, unless you're counting getting £2.3m for Robbie Keane...;)

Edit:

Hey, where did the 1 go...

£21.3m I meant.

Mgoraf

Villa sent off. Very harsh 2nd yellow.

Mgoraf

Piscu heads home the equaliser! 1-1.

kinaldo

therecklessone wrote: »

No he hasn't, unless you're counting getting £2.3m for Robbie Keane...;)

Indeed, right on both counts.

Morf

Llorente returns from injury to score in a 1-1 draw for Athletic.

eZe^

kinaldo wrote: »

He could even win the league if they keep going. Barca have to go to their old bogey team next week (Atl. Madrid) and still have to visit the Bernabeu...

Muchas gracias a De la Peñá

Ah yes, the bogey team who we've beaten 6-1, 6-0, 3-1 and lost 4-2 in the past two seasons in the league. As well as beating them 5-2 this year in the Copa Del Rey. Real bogey team....

kinaldo wrote: »

Casillas has probably done the most to win the last two league titles for Real, while Valdes could lose Barca this one. They say a top goalkeeper is worth up to 10 points or more a season, so why they don't replace Valdes already is a mystery to me.

This is what annoys me, Valdes has been excellent for 23 games this season in the league, infact he has been better than Iker on a whole this season, and nobody will acknowledge all the good he does. But the first time he makes a major blunder people denounce his skill like there's no tomorrow. Valdes may cost Barca about 5 points a season, but he also worth about 15, he is a fantastic goal keeper. He is just below the highest category of keepers (Buffon, Casillas). Barca won't be able to get one of the best keepers in the world (they are all unavailable), so why spend 20 million on a keeper that isn't even a real improvement.

An Citeog wrote: »

The league is far from over and Real are quietly closing the gap on Barça. There's no doubt it's Barça's to lose but there's still a long way to go. A win at Atletico next week is needed to get them back on track.

To be fair, as bad as Barca played in that game, there's no doubt that Keita's red wasn't a red, and Abidal going out so early effected Guardiola's tactics. It's hardly Barca cracking under pressure.

redout wrote: »

I agree with what you said about Valdes and have said it on here before. But I do have to give him some credit as this year he has been pretty solid but yes I feel he is liable to make more than his fair share of clangers. Last season in la liga I thought he was quite poor and showed poor decision making at times. As for Casillas he had a woeful spell of form in the three months leading up to Xmas although he has picked himself up he is still liable to clangers himself. If you watched last night Real v Betis game you would have seen him play a back pass he recieved shockingly to the feet of Oliviera on the edge of the box who unfortunately could only manage to hit the post when presented with this gift from Casillas.

This season Valdes has been excellent, his shot stopping is amazing, it's just his decision making on occasion causes him to f*ck up. The only reason he has this stigma is because his f*ck ups look alot stupider than a normal keepers, despite the fact he makes those blunders alot less than most other keepers.

Mgoraf wrote: »

FT Mallorca 1 - 0 Racing Santander

FT Osasuna 2 - 0 Numancia

FT Recreativo Huelva 1 - 1 Almeria

FT Valladolid 1 - 3 Malaga

Huge result for Mallorca against Racing. I'd like to see Mallorca stay up tbh.

kinaldo

eZe^ wrote: »

Ah yes, the bogey team who we've beaten 6-1, 6-0, 3-1 and lost 4-2 in the past two seasons in the league. As well as beating them 5-2 this year in the Copa Del Rey. Real bogey team....

Relax there, I said old bogey team.

redout

Might be there bogey again as there will be no Iniesta, Abidal, Keita suspended I think and so is Pique no ? I read today that Barca I think are lodging an appeal against the red for Keita and Pique yellow so if they get overturned then them two should play against Atletico on sunday but I wouldnt hold my breath. Luis Garcia is also injured for Atletico. I am going to the match lads but am a bit pissed with all these players missing to be honest.

dfx-

Espanyol must be thinking what they've done. They win at the Nou Camp and yet both Osasuna and Mallorca also win their games:D

gimmick

Well they are probably thinking thank God they aint further adrift

Surely Keitas red will be overturned. Joke of a decision.