La Liga 2012/2013

Andersonisgod

Falcao is such a great finisher.

Song needs to GTFO, awful. A new centre back next season is a must.

miralize

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Falcao is such a great finisher.

Song needs to GTFO, awful. A new centre back next season is a must.

FYP

Andersonisgod

Down to 10 men, against the best defence in La Liga, at the Vicente Calderon, 1-0, Barcelona score. Sanchez poking it in. Terrific spirit.

miralize

1-2! Fortunate

Andersonisgod

10 man Barcelona, up against a buoyant Atletico Madrid side, are now 2-1. Tello creating huge problems leading to a scrappy Gabi OG. Incredible stuff.

Andersonisgod

A win which again shows the power and spirit of Barcelona, the deserving champions of Spain. A few changes, some smart moves in the Summer and I think they will return to being the force in European football.

I have to say though, Oliver Torres had a 15 minute cameo at the end and he was excellent, such technical ability, vision, and so clever for an 18 year old midfielder. When people say that Spain's time as the top nation in football is drawing to a close, you look at players coming through like Torres and realise that Spain's production line shows no signs of slowing down. I saw him over the Summer playing for Spain's victorious under 19 side, he was the standout player in that side, and that tournament, he didn't look out of place at all against the mighty Barcelona.

Jelle1880

I found this on another forum and thought it was a brilliant read on a pretty complex situation, it has to do with the possible from Falcao to Monaco.

You have probably all already seen that Falcao is destined for Monaco. There were a lot of rumors about a potential move to Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and others - so why does he end up moving to Monaco?
The answer is because of the complicated third-party ownership involved with Falcao. There was a very similar situation with Hulk when he moved to Zenit.
To explain this, we need to take a step back and first see how third party ownership works. Those in England would have previously seen this topic as it reached prominence when Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano signed for West Ham United. Here were two stars from Argentina signing for a club in London who were struggling to stay in the top flight. The controversy lead to West Ham paying compensation of £18M to Sheffield United, and lead the FA to ban third party ownership.
But third party ownership is still alive and well on the continent. It is most often applied with South American stars making the jump across the Atlantic to Europe. The way it works is that investment groups will purchase the registration rights of an upcoming player. This is sometimes done while the player is at a club, and sometimes as part of a transfer.
For eg. one scenario would be that a 16 year old star in South America would be approached by an agent and asked if he wants backing with marketing and making it big in Europe. These deals usually involve paying the player a better salary, hooking him up with a better agent, better management, sponsorship deals etc. If and when the player agrees, the third party owners will then go to the club he is registered to and negotiate to buy his registration rights - either all of or part of.
The player is then in the hands of the management and third party ownership group, who manage every aspect of his career from that point on. That usually involves paying him a larger salary on top of his club salary, placing him in clubs where he will get more exposure, etc.
The other way third-party ownership happens is that the investment group finances a transfer for a player. For eg. Porto want to sign a player from Brasil but don't have the funds, they would approach an investment group and have them stake 50-60% of the deal in return for the players registration rights.
The investment group make all of this upfront investment with the hope that at some point in the future the player proves himself, becomes a star, and can then exit at a very large valuation.
Some examples: Tevez and Mascherano were placed into West Ham by their investment group as a way of getting them more exposure. It worked out well in both cases as Liverpool purchased Mascherano (buying out the investment group and giving them a good return) and City eventually ended up buying out Tevez - albeit via Manchester United (who never owned the entirety of his transfer rights).
Back to Falcao. He was purchased by a third-party ownership group as part of his transfer to Porto. They bought 55% (likely more) of his transfer rights, supplemented his salary while he was paying at Porto and then moved him to Atletico for the purpose of getting him more exposure (likely with an eye on moving him eventually to Real Madrid). During the time Falcao was there, the investors were supplementing his wages again (infact paying most of them) and working on negotiating his big move which would see them cash out.
Porto's financials show the following for the Falcao transfer:

Sale of 60% of the economic rights of the player Bolatti to the entity Natland Financieringsmaatschappij B.V., on July 2009, by the amount of, approximately, 1,500,000 Euro, (transaction perform under the acquisition process of 40% of the registration of Falcao)

There is another section where it is disclosed that they sold another 5% option in Falcao, and another section where it is disclosed that there is an option for a third party to purchase a further 10%.
The same filing shows that Porto only owned 45% of Hulk.
What is more interesting is who is involved in the Falcao ownership. The group is called Doyen Sports and it was founded by Jorge Mendes (most famous as Ronaldo's agent, but an infamous player agent who is involved in a lot of third-party deals) and Peter Kenyon (former Chelsea chairman).
On their website they have a page for Falcao and you can also see the other players listed. Falcao, like Hulk, ended up in a situation where there was so much invested in him that it would take a lot of money for the investors to see a return (known as being highly leveraged). They were paying his salary for a few seasons, had floated Atleti some money to keep them alive (they got some shirt sponsorship in return) and had made the initial investment when he first transferred.
Falcao ends up moving to Atletico in a 40M move - despite Atleti the previous season stating that they had to clear players out because of their 220M euro tax bill with the Spanish government. What this ended up being is a 20 + 20M deal. 20M never gets paid because its just the third-party owners paying themselves, and of the other 20M only 16M is owed by Atleti, who take an option of paying in two 8M installments (they were late on the first one, to the point of Porto suing). End situation is that around 60% of the rights are with the Doylen group. It also appears that while Falcao was at Atletico that Doylen took an option for a larger stake in him since Atleti were late on their payments. Something weird happen which involved Doylen taking a sponsorship. Either way, they had the majority stake and Atletico had no say or control of the player. For all purposes it was nothing more than a loan with Atletico having a small stake in his registration rights.
The president of Atletico Madrid continuously insisted that they own all the rights to Falcao, but this simply isn't true.
Falcao is on a wage of 10M euro per year, and the return the investors wanted is 60M euro in transfer fee. This narrows down the list of potential clubs that can buy you out to very few. Atletico had no say in where Falcao goes, they had an option in the winter transfer window, but that expired. The owners needed their return and they were going to get it one way or the other.
The list can be narrowed down to PSG, Monaco, Real Madrid, Chelsea and City. City aren't making large investments any longer, PSG have their fix of strikers. Of the remaining three, it is apparent that Real Madrid didn't want to pay up the 60M + 50M in contracts for Falcao (for whatever reason). Apparently Chelsea matched the 60M clause but to pay Falcao the 10M per season in wages would involve a total gross salary of 300k+ per week, which just isn't manageable. Chelsea also have the issue of not being allowed to directly purchase a player from a third-party owner (apparently this is what turned ManU off a move) so it would have required a two-step sale with Falcao going to one club outright and then to Chelsea. Apparently with the David Luiz transfer on the same day he moved to Chelsea Benfica bought out the entirety of his rights from third-party owners (so you can summize that Chelsea gave them the money to buy out that deal so that they could purchase 100% of Luiz directly from Benfica, thus avoiding the third-party rule in England).
With all of these factors you end up with only one target: Monaco. They have the 60M to pay out the investors, they have the funds to pay his wages of 10M per year and better yet they have no income tax so they don't have to supplement the gross.
So in the end Falcao is moved around Europe by his investors with the only goal of making a return for them. He has little to no say in his final destination because of a deal he agreed to years ago while he was still in South America.

It's a system that in the UK rightly has been made illegal, it's kind of sad to see how other players have no say in where they go.

Turtwig

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I found this on another forum and thought it was a brilliant read on a pretty complex situation, it has to do with the possible from Falcao to Monaco.



It's a system that in the UK rightly has been made illegal, it's kind of sad to see how other players have no say in where they go.

That's rather horrible. I never really was a fan of the idea of club's buying players, but that is surely borderline slavery and owning a person?

elefant

Sociedad doing a Devon Lough. They've shat the pants after a brilliant season.

carlop

elefant wrote: »

Sociedad doing a Devon Lough. They've shat the pants after a brilliant season.

It's quite remarkable really. Once the hype began to build they've gone and choked. Tough three games left too against Real Madrid, away to Sevilla and then a potential cracker on the last day against Depor.

Great news for Valencia though.

gimmick

It is probably a good thing for them, strange and all as that sounds. A bit of european expeirnce in the UEFA cup will do them a bit better than going in at th deep end of the CL and getting hockied each week.

Bateman

gimmick wrote: »

going in at th deep end of the CL and getting hockied each week.

That tends not to happen in fairness. Plenty of impressive debutant teams in recent seasons. Malaga, BATE Borisov etc.

carlop

gimmick wrote: »

It is probably a good thing for them, strange and all as that sounds. A bit of european expeirnce in the UEFA cup will do them a bit better than going in at th deep end of the CL and getting hockied each week.

You have a point, especially when you look at Sampdoria a couple of years ago (finished 4th, lost in the CL qualifiers and got relegated) but for La Real the priority is hanging on to their players, and Champions League football, or the possibility of it, will be a big help.

missingtime

A sense of anticlimax but Barcelona still deserve their La Liga title

Tito Vilanova did not see his team win the league. It was coming up to midnight on Saturday and across the city, out near the airport at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, the final whistle was about to go on the title race. But the end had effectively come months before and it had come, at least in part, like this: with Real Madrid conceding a goal from a set piece and limply dropping points away.

Helenio Herrera, Barcelona's coach between 1958 and 1960, famously once claimed that his team would win their next match without getting off the bus. This weekend, Barcelona won the league without getting on it.

Real knew that if they did not beat Espanyol on Saturday, Barcelona would clinch La Liga with four games to spare. Barcelona knew it too but Vilanova was not watching. He did not see Christian Stuani put Espanyol into the lead or Gonzalo Higuaín equalise; no nerves, no tension, and better things to do. "I was just about to go to sleep after preparing our game [against Atlético Madrid the following day], when I looked at the internet to see the score," he said. "I saw that they were 1-1, so I put the telly on for the last three minutes. They didn't show the game, really, they just kept focusing on the bench. So I didn't see it."

The whistle went and Barcelona were champions, just as everyone has known they would be since before Christmas. Vilanova and his wife Montse said congratulations. And then Tito went off to bed.

So it was that Barcelona arrived in Madrid on Sunday already champions, were given a guard of honour by Atlético and played out a game that felt more like a friendly. Radamel Falcao scored the first. Lionel Messi then walked off the pitch and headed silently down the tunnel, injured. And in his absence, with Barcelona down to 10 men, Alexis Sánchez equalised before Gabi scored an own goal to give Barcelona victory. There were embraces and cheers; four or five players turned and applauded the couple of hundred Barcelona fans high in the stand above.

And that was pretty much that. There will be an open-top bus through the streets of Barcelona on Monday, starting by the port, heading up Laietana, along Aragó and finishing at the stadium. On Saturday night, after Real's draw, Dani Alves posted a picture of himself with a bottle of cava and after the win over Atlético on Sunday there were more photos: Andrés Iniesta with Sánchez, modesty covered by the shirt draped across his lap; the squad on the bus, heading across the runway to their plane home; players in the dressing room, raising a finger for each title won: six for Iniesta, four for Sergio Busquets, one for Cesc Fábregas. There were T-shirts, too, "champions" written on them. But there was something just a little flat about it all.

Barcelona's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta had already complained that the title had come to be a little "clandestine" and on Sunday morning, it was not on the cover of the Madrid papers. Conveniently, they had other sports to hide behind, AS wedging its tongue in its cheek to declare knowingly: "Basketball to the rescue." When it turned out that basketball did not come to the rescue, Real Madrid losing the Euroleague final to Olympiakos, Fernando Alonso and Rafael Nadal did. Formula One was the cover this morning. Anything but Barça.

Now, that was perhaps inevitable – these are, after all, avowedly pro-Madrid papers and the Catalan ones certainly did carry title winning front pages – but there was something about the feeling left by this title that went further than a little rivalry. On page five of the Catalan daily Sport, the headline on Josep-Maria Casanovas's column insists: "this should be celebrated properly." On page six, the headline on Joan Vehils's column insists: "this should be celebrated in style." It was as if they were trying to convince themselves – and everybody else.

A poll asked whether fans valued the league title success – 93% said yes. That sounds like a ringing endorsement until you turn it on its head: 7% of Barcelona fans attach no value to the title? Really?

Under the stands at the Calderón, Vilanova said: "I have no doubt that we are the best team in Spain this season … and by some distance." The fact that he was even asked was significant. Perhaps it is natural that a league title which José Mourinho ceded before Christmas should have less impact than one won dramatically at the end of the season. This is a title everyone knew Barcelona would win for a long time. Perhaps if the season had been the other way round, Barcelona pulling away from Real at the end rather than leaving them in the distance at the start, it might be different.

The sense that Real abdicated contributes too – right down to Barcelona not have to play to claim the title – and leaves people with the doubt, in a championship reduced to two teams, as to whether Barça won the league or Madrid lost it. It is a doubt that also lingers because when it comes to the head-to-heads, it is hard to avoid the sensation that the balance of power has shifted Real's way: since the 2-2 draw in October, Real have knocked Barcelona out of the Copa del Rey and defeated them in the league with a weakened team, albeit in a match that felt largely insignificant. Just as last year, there was a sense that Real's title would lack something if they took the crown without beating Barcelona, so that same debate is posed once again this time round (with some inevitably switching trenches).

This season has been conditioned by that Copa del Rey semi-final defeat and, above all, the Champions League semi-final. Barcelona have reached six Champions League semi-finals in a row, more than anyone else ever, but they conceded seven goals to Bayern Munich. Seven. So many goals leave quite a mark, the sheer dominance of Bayern, the completeness of their destruction, cannot fail to leave scars. When Vilanova was asked by Gazetta dello Sport's Filippo Ricci for his valuation of the season on Sunday night, there was something telling about the fact that he requested a little clarification: "In the league, you mean, or the season [as a whole]?"

But then continued: "Any season in which you win the league is a successful season."

He is right, of course. As he insisted, when it comes to the league, Barcelona have been the best side … and by some distance. Between those two Sport columns, there was room for one more article, a double page spread. The headline ran: "A good league sure deserves a party." There it was again, that sense of trying to convince everyone, possibly even of protesting too much, and yet Sport was right too. This is a league title that almost defies analysis, and appears to defy celebration too. And that is unfair.

There has been a sense of vulnerability, a little lack of drama, but this has been an extremely good league campaign. Barcelona stand 10 points clear of Real, with a game in hand. They are on 91 points; if they win their last three games they will equal the 100-point record Real set last season – a record universally lauded. But now, that 100-point mark, an all-time record, is being held up as a minimum, as if a title without equalling their rivals Real is worthless. In fact, it would be astonishing.

That 100-point total provides an objective for the last three games, a point to be proven; the chance to equal their rivals, adding value to this season. It is a target that comes at the end of a season in which, for almost six months, there has not been a target. It is perhaps even more impressive that Barcelona have won 29 of their 35 games when you consider that, given their lead, they did not really need to. They have scored 107 goals: the joint second highest total in history, with three games left. They have scored in every single game: Messi scored consecutively against every team in the division and has 46 in total. The stats in Spain always leave a doubt, not least because every season those figures grow bigger while the rest of the league shrinks, but they remain impressive.

Mourinho recently claimed to have ended Barcelona's hegemony but they have the title back. His team broke their run and Barça have broken back. If there is a hegemony, it is Barcelona's. This is their fourth league in five years. Over the last 10 years, they have six to Madrid's three. It is not purely coincidental. For Xavi, this was a seventh league title; for eight members of the squad, it was their first. It was also the first under a new coach, after the departure of Pep Guardiola. For others it will be their last. Barcelona cannot allow the title to blind them to their flaws; nor though can they allow their flaws to blind them to this success or to the things that they do well, and there are many of them.

This is also a title that has been achieved despite injuries and illness, with their coach absent because he has cancer. As Javier Mascherano put it bluntly but effectively: "He's not in New York on holiday." Think about the implications of that for a moment. This remains a remarkable achievement; "if Tito gets well and we win nothing," it doesn't matter, the president Sandro Rosell had said. Instead, they won the league. Vilanova suggested that no other club would have come through it so well.

While Vilanova was talking, you could hear the fans outside singing but they were the Atlético fans. There was no conga line in the car park en route from dressing room to bus. The players came through one by one and mostly in silence. There was little in the way of screaming and shouting, little show yet of the satisfaction they must surely have felt. Outside perhaps 200 fans gathered to cheer them off, singing: "Champions! Champions!" But it was all quite low key.

At 9.51pm, a plain, green bus with blackened windows pulled out from behind the Calderón and slipped on to the motorway and round to the airport. "We have celebrated more than people think," Gerard Piqué said. They will deservedly celebrate some more on Monday. They will board another bus. This one will have markings of the team, champions for the 22nd time. It will also have an open top.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/may/13/barcelona-title-anti-climax

Good read imo.

Andersonisgod

I don't know if anybody here saw it but I really enjoyed Joan Laporta's interview in Revista De La Liga last night. Interesting to hear his insight on Rijkaard's appointment, the 4 pillars on which he ran, the esteem he holds for Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, the decision to appoint Pep and the opinion that Rosell didn't do enough to keep Guardiola. Also posdibilities that didn't occur like Joan choosing Guardiola over Mourinho and why the Mourinho appointment wouldn't have fit (by the way how many other clubs would take the risky decision to appoint a manager with only 1 years experience in the 4th division of Spain over the biggest name coach on the planet?) getting Ronaldinho over Beckham.

What came across most of all though is his devotion, and his directors devotion, to the Cruyff philosophy. A stern belief that Cruyff's philosophy is how Barcelona should play, his signings and appointments all reflected that belief.

dfx-

He does always come across well, in that excellent Barcelona documentary of the season he took over and chopped the deadwood wages of Rochemback/Kluivert/Saviola's wages (one of my favourite players of the time), Rustu etc and then rooted out the eccentricities of the Gaspart rule with the special suites and the like.

But you do have to remember that as eZe^ is happy to admit, he's chairman of a Spanish club so by definition is potentially a shady character.

Andersonisgod

1-0 Pedro! Pressure leads to a mistake, Xavi picks the right option and Barcelona are ahead. The celebration begins.

miralize

Andersonisgod wrote: »

1-0 Pedro! Pressure leads to a mistake, Xavi picks the right option and Barcelona are ahead. The celebration begins.

The parade was on Monday...

Andersonisgod

2-0 to Barcelona, Valiente own goal.

Andersonisgod

miralize wrote: »

The parade was on Monday...

Yes I know but the on pitch football celebration is underway.

Jelle1880

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Yes I know but the on pitch football celebration is underway.

Weird sense of celebrating then, since this is boring as hell.

miralize

Commentators put it well, its like a testimonial..

Andersonisgod

Right so the footballing celebrations never really took off but whatever, a fine, controlled performance, a title secured, a trophy to be lifted and a Summer to contemplate, plan and execute an assault on all fronts next season.

Andersonisgod

By the way, lovely touch from Puyol letting Abidal and Vilanova lift the trophy. Classy.

batistuta9

Andersonisgod wrote: »

By the way, lovely touch from Puyol letting Abidal and Vilanova lift the trophy. Classy.

hardy classy unless he's usually a self absorbed soulless bastard

miralize

batistuta9 wrote: »

hardy classy unless he's usually a self absorbed soulless bastard

Classy is classy. Just because he's a decent person generally, doesn't take away from it...

batistuta9

miralize wrote: »

Classy is classy. Just because he's a decent person generally, doesn't take away from it...

i wouldn't call letting two men who've suffered with serious health problems lift the trophy ahead of him classy, a nice gesture, yes.

CSF

batistuta9 wrote: »

i wouldn't call letting two men who've suffered with serious health problems lift the trophy ahead of him classy, a nice gesture, yes.

Weird post.

batistuta9

CSF wrote: »

Weird post.

not really, as i said above i wouldn't call it classy for the reasons involved - you'd nearly be expecting it tbh, that's why i called it a nice gesture
though you could say it's splitting hairs on what you define as classy

as a hypothetical example staying with barca & there were no issues with abidal + vilanova & both would be staying:
valdes has confirmed he's leaving, puyol lets him lift the trophy as a sign of appreciation, of what he's given to the team/club nearly all his life
i'd call that classy

the original post by Andersonisgod just came across as more of his exaggeration of all things barca

MD1990

batistuta9 wrote: »

i wouldn't call letting two men who've suffered with serious health problems lift the trophy ahead of him classy, a nice gesture, yes.

wtf

batistuta9

MD1990 wrote: »

wtf

see the post above yours, depends on what you call classy

Andersonisgod

batistuta9 wrote: »

not really, as i said above i wouldn't call it classy for the reasons involved - you'd nearly be expecting it tbh, that's why i called it a nice gesture
though you could say it's splitting hairs on what you define as classy

as a hypothetical example staying with barca & there were no issues with abidal + vilanova & both would be staying:
valdes has confirmed he's leaving, puyol lets him lift the trophy as a sign of appreciation, of what he's given to the team/club nearly all his life
i'd call that classy

the original post by Andersonisgod just came across as more of his exaggeration of all things barca

This comes across as you searching for anything to have a go at Barcelona for. As club captain it's not something he had to do, I'm sure it was discussed among the squad and agreed upon. Had he left Valdes lift it I feel confident you, and more, would be here saying that he should have let Tito or Abidal lift it because being alive is more important than moving to a different football club. Honestly you can't win with some people?

How was it an exaggeration? I simply commented that it happened, I thought it was a nice touch by the club captain and the squad as a whole, I thought it was a classy move. I'm not sure how anyone could fine extreme levels of hyperbole in my post in question.

batistuta9

Andersonisgod wrote: »

This comes across as you searching for anything to have a go at Barcelona for. As club captain it's not something he had to do, I'm sure it was discussed among the squad and agreed upon. Had he left Valdes lift it I feel confident you, and more, would be here saying that he should have let Tito or Abidal lift it because being alive is more important than moving to a different football club. Honestly you can't win with some people?

How was it an exaggeration? I simply commented that it happened, I thought it was a nice touch by the club captain and the squad as a whole, I thought it was a classy move. I'm not sure how anyone could fine extreme levels of hyperbole in my post in question.

it's not though, i've nothing against them.

the valdes example i gave was hypothetical, even stating there was no health issues with abidal + vilanova in that hypothetical scenario

you're intelligent enough to post 400 words on a 1-2 so i'm sure you couldn't have mistaken what i wrote for the hypothetical example as to be what i thought should have been done

so your can't win with some people? comment doesn't even apply

you would define what happened as classy, i wouldn't (even gave an example of what i'd define as classy), that why i said it seemed like you were exaggerating - all there is to it

getting away from that
you say it's not something he had to do & they would've probably discussed it with the squad/club, so did or would you have ever though that this mightn't happened?

i'd bet you'd have nearly been expecting it? right or wrong

mike65

Just confirmed Jose is gonski - next stop Stamford Bridge and party like its 2004

Andersonisgod

batistuta9 wrote: »

it's not though, i've nothing against them.

the valdes example i gave was hypothetical, even stating there was no health issues with abidal + vilanova in that hypothetical scenario

you're intelligent enough to post 400 words on a 1-2 so i'm sure you couldn't have mistaken what i wrote for the hypothetical example as to be what i thought should have been done

so your can't win with some people? comment doesn't even apply

you would define what happened as classy, i wouldn't (even gave an example of what i'd define as classy), that why i said it seemed like you were exaggerating - all there is to it

getting away from that
you say it's not something he had to do & they would've probably discussed it with the squad/club, so did or would you have ever though that this mightn't happened?

i'd bet you'd have nearly been expecting it? right or wrong

Just taking away everything you said in this comment, the general summary seems to be that, in your opinion, for something to be classy it must involve the element of surprise?

If I'm at a wedding and I rise and say a few nice words about the groom and bride is it classy because I've made a nice gesture to the couple or is it classy because nobody expected it to happen?

So the word "classy" is now an exaggeration. When club captain and legend Carles Puyol invites two men who have been at the club for a very long time and played big parts in the squads great successes to lift the league title we can no longer call that a classy move? I'm not looking for Puyol to be given a Noble prize here, I just thought it was a classy gesture, that's it, end of story. Infact given the kind of character Puyol is, I doubt he wanted any attention on his gesture, he would have wanted the attention to be on Tito and Abidal and the squad as a whole rather than on him, which is what makes this argument so ridiculous, and almost a tad insulting.

batistuta9

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Just taking away everything you said in this comment, the general summary seems to be that, in your opinion, for something to be classy it must involve the element of surprise?

no.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

If I'm at a wedding and I rise and say a few nice words about the groom and bride is it classy because I've made a nice gesture to the couple or is it classy because nobody expected it to happen?

neither of those scenarios would i define as classy

Andersonisgod wrote: »

So the word "classy" is now an exaggeration. When club captain and legend Carles Puyol invites two men who have been at the club for a very long time and played big parts in the squads great successes to lift the league title we can no longer call that a classy move? I'm not looking for Puyol to be given a Noble prize here, I just thought it was a classy gesture, that's it, end of story. Infact given the kind of character Puyol is, I doubt he wanted any attention on his gesture, he would have wanted the attention to be on Tito and Abidal and the squad as a whole rather than on him, which is what makes this argument so ridiculous, and almost a tad insulting.

any adjective can be an exaggeration.
North Americans can be particularly guilty of this though it's increasing noticeable in ireland & Britain recently too

short answers as i've no intentions of getting in to a debate on our interpretations of a word & going any further OT than we have

---

a question for you, who do you think will finish 4th sociedad or valencia

CSF

I reckon Sociedad messed it up with the late goal against Granada myself, hard to see Sociedad taking more than 3 points from their last 2 fixtures.

Andersonisgod

batistuta9 wrote: »

no.



neither of those scenarios would i define as classy



any adjective can be an exaggeration.
North Americans can be particularly guilty of this though it's increasing noticeable in ireland & Britain recently too

short answers as i've no intentions of getting in to a debate on our interpretations of a word & going any further OT than we have

---

a question for you, who do you think will finish 4th sociedad or valencia

Valencia, Sociedad seem to be bottling it at just the wrong time, though maybe their win at Sevilla might get them back on track. I'm not sure who I'd rather see get 4th, Valencia are a good bet to reach at least the last 16 and maybe even the quarter finals and that's always a good thing for Spanish football but it would be interesting to see how Sociedad and their players do in the Champions League, could they do another Malaga on it.

batistuta9

CSF wrote: »

I reckon Sociedad messed it up with the late goal against Granada myself, hard to see Sociedad taking more than 3 points from their last 2 fixtures.

if they don't get beat by Real this w'kend they'll still have a good chance, valencia go to sevilla on the last week

4 points could do it for them with the H2H

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Valencia, Sociedad seem to be bottling it at just the wrong time, though maybe their win at Sevilla might get them back on track. I'm not sure who I'd rather see get 4th, Valencia are a good bet to reach at least the last 16 and maybe even the quarter finals and that's always a good thing for Spanish football but it would be interesting to see how Sociedad and their players do in the Champions League, could they do another Malaga on it.

the CL was one of the reasons i was asking

if sociedad get 4th they'll be non seeded in the playoff round & a possible opponent for arsenal, the one at this stage i'd prefer after pacos from portugal of who'd be a guaranteed possible opponent

if they do make it, sociedad would have arsenal, milan & schalke as possible opponents, with the other 2 dependant on who gets through

valencia would be a seeded team in the playoff round if they make it

Andersonisgod

Magic from Alexis Sanchez. 1-0 Barcelona.

klose

Lopez having a great game in goal for Madrid , will he go cheap in the summer and bring back iker or will they hold onto him i wonder

messinkiapina

Is La Liga finishing very late this season, or is this the norm? I always thought that all the major leagues in Europe had finished before the CL final.

JPA

messinkiapina wrote: »

Is La Liga finishing very late this season, or is this the norm? I always thought that all the major leagues in Europe had finished before the CL final.

If there's no international tournament they stretch it out more.

elefant

It just keeps getting better for Valencia!

Since the awful loss to Sociedad everything is going Los Che's way :D
Couldn't have seen this a few weeks ago.

Headshot

Am I the only one who doesnt rate Khedira what so ever?

Very limited player.

missingtime

Sid Lowe just mentioned this on twitter:

Sid Lowe ‏@sidlowe

What a way to mark last ever game at San Mames....Iker Muniain sent off

Anyone know where he is off to?

Headshot

Headshot wrote: »

Am I the only one who doesnt rate Khedira what so ever?

Very limited player.

lol

I knew that was coming but doesnt really change my mind

CSF

missingtime wrote: »

Sid Lowe just mentioned this on twitter:



Anyone know where he is off to?

It is the whole teams last game at San Mames.

missingtime

CSF wrote: »

It is the whole teams last game at San Mames.

Ahhh...right. Didnt know that.

JPA

missingtime wrote: »

Sid Lowe just mentioned this on twitter:



Anyone know where he is off to?

The stadium is closing!