La Liga Superthread 2016/17

MD1990

GavRedKing wrote: »

Ronaldo hit the post from 3 yards at 0-0.

His overall play again was sub-par.

The free kick was well hit but he was really poor.

I honestly can't remember his last good game in terms of general play.
He scored at hatrick in the Club World Cup last month but had a poor game.
I don't think many Real fans even think he is as good as Messi now.
Messi is now light years ahead of him.

Andersonisgod

MD1990 wrote: »

I honestly can't remember his last good game in terms of general play.
He scored at hatrick in the Club World Cup last month but had a poor game.
I don't think many Real fans even think he is as good as Messi now.
Messi is now light years ahead of him.

He clearly was last year too but two team trophies glossed over that but whatever.

GavRedKing

MD1990 wrote: »

I honestly can't remember his last good game in terms of general play.
He scored at hatrick in the Club World Cup last month but had a poor game.
I don't think many Real fans even think he is as good as Messi now.
Messi is now light years ahead of him.

He is 32 in a few weeks, age is probably finally catching up with him, it was going to happen at some stage.

Now, hes not going to fall off the face of the planet and score 5-10 goals a year, he'll probably still have 30 goals seasons but I think its fair to assume the heights of his power have come and gone.

It will happen Messi too in the next 3 years but given Messis technique and footballing ability outside of scoring goals, I think it wont be as detrimental to Messi in the long term, IMO.

Andersonisgod

GavRedKing wrote: »

He is 32 in a few weeks, age is probably finally catching up with him, it was going to happen at some stage.

Now, hes not going to fall off the face of the planet and score 5-10 goals a year, he'll probably still have 30 goals seasons but I think its fair to assume the heights of his power have come and gone.

It will happen Messi too in the next 3 years but given Messis technique and footballing ability outside of scoring goals, I think it wont be as detrimental to Messi in the long term, IMO.

I think Cruyff spoke brilliantly sometime in 2015 about how Messi has developed and adapted his game, using his experience and talent to become an even better player now than he was in the year where he was breaking the goalscoring record. I do think that right now Messi is not only the most complete he has ever been, but also he is the most complete player maybe anyone has ever seen.

MD1990

I think when Messi retires he will be seen as the greatest player of all time.

I also think despite playing so many games he will have brillant longevity. Doesn't cover many KM's per game picks his moments but everything he does with the ball is perfect.

Corholio

A manager talking about only possibly winning 3 trophies when they still have the chance to win 3 trophies....controversial.

Poor Barca run of form in the past has been explained away by injuries so only fair to mention a team without Bale, Pepe, Modric, Varane, Carvajal, Marcelo etc. The back four tonight must be the weakest Real back four they have fielded in a top game in years. No doubt about Ronaldo off form though of course, him and Benzema kept getting in each others way as well. Definitely a problem in that respect.

Turtwig

Yeah things need to be kept in perspective but even in their unbeaten run Madrid weren't playing particularly well either. They had some moments but they also had some really poor ones.

Sociadad could very well beat barca tomorrow. Busquets is a huge loss, iniesta even bigger! Rakitic has had muscular problems all season. I doubt Enrique really wants to play him in quick succession but he may have no choice. The croatian held the spine together against eibar. Andre Gomes has yet to look assured. Sociadad are a very decent side.

How awesome would be if both barca and Madrid were eliminated?

inforfun

Pretty clear Real doesnt like playing teams that play the "Bielsa" way.
5x recently, 2 losses, 2 draws and 1 win
Both draws were when they equalised in the last minute otherwise it would have been 4 losses.

Andersonisgod

Goal! 1-0! Umtiti presses Prieto in ths opposition half, wins the ball and a flowing move ends with Suarez slotting the ball into the bottom corner. The kid is in great form right now.

Andersonisgod

And here comes the ref!!

Andersonisgod

Goal Messi! 2-0 and no more than Sociedad deserve for their behaviour. Big assist to Cillisen who made an incredible save and the direct counter attack led to that penalty.

LuckyGent88

Some second half so far.

Andersonisgod

5-2 some great Barcelona goals. Denis Suarez is clicking in the best possible way and Messi has done 2 ridiculous assists that, if anyone else did them, everyone would be raving about them but it's Messi so it's expected. The best ever and you can see how much Denis appreciated the genius of the Argentine in that move.

Turtwig

If suarez did that elbow in the epl how long would his ban be?

dfx-

very good second half. Lovely delay in the assist by Messi for the fifth. With all the suffering at the Anoeta over the years, it's always nice to hammer them when there's been a chance.:)

Would want to avoid Celta in the next round

Andersonisgod

That pass from Messi is just ridiculous, Neymar fails to finish. Forgetting the goals and all the rest for a second, I don't think I've ever seen a better playmaker than Messi. He sees things no other player sees, he delivers these Playstation passes in a way no other player can.

Burial.

Barcelona playing awful

GavRedKing

Barca need to win here to apply pressure to real who have a tricky game themselves tonight

LuckyGent88

Looks like I tuned in at the wrong time. Disaster for barca if they don't win this, never mind draw.

Bret Hart

Pathetic by Ter Stegen. 1-0 Betis.

GavRedKing

I'd love to see Sevilla win it, it was funny last year to see everyone write them off because they were playing an english side in a European final, like the last 2 years of winning it meant nothing.

theyve a good chance at the title and theyve to play Real and Barca down the home stretch too.

Andersonisgod

How often in Spain do you see those type of challenges on the keeper blown for a free out? 9 out of 10.

Now Barça have the ball in the goal but it's not been given.

Andersonisgod

The replay shows the ball is about a foot over the line. Welcome to the great robbery.

Bret Hart

Two amazing goal line clearances by Betis.

LuckyGent88

Another chance blown by betis

GavRedKing

Why dont they have goal line technology in Spain

Andersonisgod

Bret Hart wrote: »

Two amazing goal line clearances by Betis.

Except one wasn't.

GavRedKing

Barca not winning here puts them in a really bad place.

I've no doubt that Real will drop more points towards the end of the season but can Barca turn around the defect and make up the game in hand too all the while leap frogging Sevilla?

I seriously doubt it, the team lacks any great depth and Neymar has regressed so much in the last few months its frightening.

LuckyGent88

Equaliser. Lovely from Messi after initially loosing it

Andersonisgod

Goal! Goal Barcelona! It's Messi to Suarez! If only this league wasn't trash, Barcelona would be leading.

Andersonisgod

He calls full time despite a goal being scored and there being a head injury in extra time. Senor Hernandez Hernandez will have secured favour this afternoon with Florentino Perez.

irishguitarlad

Great game by betis whilst missing 7 starters. Ceballos was brilliant. Barca however have serious problems in their team and miss xavi and iniesta something incredible.

The Talking Bread

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He calls full time despite a goal being scored and there being a head injury in extra time. Senor Hernandez Hernandez will have secured favour this afternoon with Florentino Perez.

They shouldn't be relying on an extra 120 seconds to beat Betis. And you say that they would be leading if the off the line goal was given. Yes.........because the game would have played out exactly the same way and they would have scored again of course.

Burial.

That missed over the line call is disastrous. Not acceptable any more in the game.

Andersonisgod

The Talking Bread wrote: »

They shouldn't be relying on an extra 120 seconds to beat Betis. And you say that they would be leading if the off the line goal was given. Yes.........because the game would have played out exactly the same way and they would have scored again of course.

You don't think that, with about 15 minutes left that Barcelona wouldn't press ferociously for the winner? Just like they did in the 2 minutes after their equaliser? Shouldn't Barcelona be given the chance to chase the winner after rightly scoring a goal?

The Talking Bread

Andersonisgod wrote: »

You don't think that, with about 15 minutes left that Barcelona wouldn't press ferociously for the winner? Just like they did in the 2 minutes after their equaliser? Shouldn't Barcelona be given the chance to chase the winner after rightly scoring a goal?

Of course they would have? That doesn't mean they would have scored or that Betis wouldn't have scored a breakaway goal or that Messi wouldn't have got sent off or.............

They had almost 100 minutes to score two goals against a team that was hammered by 5 goals by RM, need to be more clinical than that

Andersonisgod

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Of course they would have? That doesn't mean they would have scored or that Betis wouldn't have scored a breakaway goal or that Messi wouldn't have got sent off or.............

They had almost 100 minutes to score two goals against a team that was hammered by 5 goals by RM, need to be more clinical than that

Should Barcelona have played better? Sure. Sure referees have the right to punish a poor Barcelona performance by chalking off legitimate goals? Absolutely not. By the way, Betis were out on their feet at the end, 15 minutes to find a winner is hardly beyond the realms of possibility.

Simply put, there is no justifying the disgraceful officiating in this league.

LuckyGent88

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Should Barcelona have played better? Sure. Sure referees have the right to punish a poor Barcelona performance by chalking off legitimate goals? Absolutely not. By the way, Betis were out on their feet at the end, 15 minutes to find a winner is hardly beyond the realms of possibility.

Simply put, there is no justifying the disgraceful officiating in this league.

Betis missed a glorious one on one chance in that period as well. Also hit the post twice today. Draw was a fair result but I do think if that goal was given, barca would have went on to win it.

I'm still stunned to find out they don't have goal line technology in Spain. Shocking. Is England the only country that has it????

Neymar's form is worrying. Has been very poor by his standards. Iniesta is missed badly.

HalloweenJack

Another week, another poor decision in La Liga. Something needs to be looked at, lots of poor decisions lately and no word from the top.

I don't want to have a go at referees cos its an incredibly tough job but new ideas need to be looked at. In Spain, at least. Seems they don't want to change.

@LuckyGent88

Pathetic from La Liga to claim they won't bring in goal line technology because it's 'too expensive'.

@LuckyGent88: Germany, France & Italy have it too.

Turtwig

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Betis missed a glorious one on one chance in that period as well. Also hit the post twice today. Draw was a fair result but I do think if that goal was given, barca would have went on to win it.

I'm still stunned to find out they don't have goal line technology in Spain. Shocking. Is England the only country that has it????

Neymar's form is worrying. Has been very poor by his standards. Iniesta is missed badly.

Has to surely be an argument to let Turan play alongside Messi and Suarez?

LuckyGent88

Real go a goal up through Kovacic. Ronny with the assist.

Bridge93

3-0, 4 points clear and a game in hand

Johner

Las Palmas 2-1 up at home to 10 man Valencia. Las Palmas are such an enjoyable side to watch, they play some lovely football.

Johner

The Prince gets his goal, 3-1. Really shocking defending by Mangala.

Andersonisgod

Goal! My lord it's genius from Suarez! He's only gone and taken on the entire Atletico defence and won!

Andersonisgod

Goal! Messi! It's 2-0 and he is the greatest of all time.

Andersonisgod

Fairly disgusting, cynical foul on Neymar by Koke to go along with the rest of the disgusting, cynical kicking of Neymar tonight.

GavRedKing

That Messi fella is a bit of alright isnt he?

Andersonisgod

GavRedKing wrote: »

That Messi fella is a bit of alright isnt he?

Love when Barcelona are on song like they are tonight. There's nothing better in football than this.