The Spanish Primera División, also known as La Liga has some of the best players in the world. These teams play some of the best football there is and it is a joy to watch. La Liga is one of the most popular football leagues in the world as well, coming in closely behind the English Premier League. There are 20 teams in the division and it generally ends up with four teams being the main challengers. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia, with only 2 of those teams being entrenched in history. Real Madrid has won the championship 33 times and Barcelona has won it 24 times. … [Read more...]
Competition & El Clasico Preview
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid Date: 23/12/2017 Kick-off: 12:00 PM GMT The biggest rivalry in world football takes place this Saturday as Real Madrid and Barcelona clash at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish capital. Real Madrid are in desperate need of all three points at home as they head into the final La Liga game in 2017 with an 11-point deficit with only one game in hand on their rivals. Avoiding defeat would be a huge step towards Ernesto Valverde winning his first La Liga title in his debut season at Barcelona. Barcelona News The Catalan club have won two straight in … [Read more...]
Will Gareth Bale start El Clasico?
Real Madrid host Barcelona at lunchtime on Saturday in what is the most watched derby in league football across the globe. This weekend’s game has additional importance to the hosts as they are currently 11 points behind their rivals in La Liga with only one game in hand. Zinedine Zidane’s were busy winning the FIFA Club World Cup over in the United Arab Emirates last weekend with a 1-0 win over Gremio in the final. They played two games over in Asia whilst Barcelona were only in action once domestically during the same time span. Real Madrid did head over to the UAE after a 5-0 … [Read more...]
Just who are Girona?
Who? Aren’t they Italian? That is the response we have mostly been getting when we rave about Girona and their antics in their debut La Liga season. The Spanish minnows deserve plenty of credit in the footballing world than perhaps they have been receiving for their heroic exploits in their first ever five months in Spain’s top flight. Sixteen games in and little Girona sit seventh in the table after six wins and five draws leaving Pablo Machín’s band of unfancied warriors above the likes of Spanish heavyweights Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. A superb home win over Real Madrid … [Read more...]
The Rise of Valencia: La Liga’s Sleeping Giant
It's hard to believe that just under two years ago Spanish giants Valencia were in free fall, in relative crisis. Things were so farcical at one point that owner Peter Lim turned to friend and well-respected Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, despite his distinct lack of management experience, and appointed him manager until the season's end. The ill-thought through experiment didn't last long needless to say. Just shy of four months in fact, after only three wins from his 16 league matches in charge. How things have changed in Spain's third largest city. After consecutive 12th and 13th placed … [Read more...]
GVC Holdings Have Further Expanded Their Sponsorship Presence In La Liga
Gambling giant GVC Holdings has enjoyed a productive 2017 extending their sponsorship agreements with some of the biggest clubs in the Spanish top-flight. As well as a subsidiary partnership with Atletico Madrid, they are now the official gambling partner of Valencia, Sevilla, and Villareal. These additions to their already impressive partnership portfolio across the majority of top European leagues further emphasize the prominence of Bwin as one of the most closely connected gambling companies to the world's most popular sport. The timing couldn't be better either, with the business recording … [Read more...]
Barcelona’s La Liga Future Unknown after Catalan Independence
Earlier this month Catalan leaders signed a declaration of independence that would see the region become separate to Spain and could lead to Barcelona being kicked out of La Liga. Catalonians voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Spain, and president of the league Javier Tebas has insisted that if this political shift is realised, he would not allow the Catalan team to compete in the competition. While speaking with the press he said that if a rebellion succeeds, they would make plans to continue life in La Liga without the Spanish giant. His … [Read more...]
Barcelona Righting Last Season’s Wrongs with Early Dominance
The 2017/18 season is proving to be quite the reversal in form for one of Spain’s giants. Barcelona had a somewhat substandard 2016/17 with only a Copa Del Rey to show for their efforts whilst their arch rivals Real Madrid took a mighty La Liga and Champions League double. However, after being left in the shadow of Real Madrid’s achievements, Barcelona have picked themselves up and find themselves quietly going about their business in a fashion unexpected for a club of such magnitude as the Catalans find themselves. Seven games in to the new season and seven wins have followed for … [Read more...]
Can Atletico Madrid Topple Barcelona this weekend?
The stand out fixture of Spain’s top flight this weekend can be none other than Barcelona’s trip to Atletico’s brand-new Wanda Metropolitano. So far in the league things have been going well for the Madrid outfit in their new home with wins over Malaga and Sevilla on home turf already in the bank, however, now they face the stiffest visiting opponent of all in Barcelona. Seven matches in to the new season and Barce head coach Ernesto Valverde has guided his side to seven straight wins and five points clear at the top. However, what will be of more importance to the Barce faithful is … [Read more...]
Can Ousmane Dembele replace Neymar?
Barcelona were powerless to prevent Neymar moving for a world record transfer fee €222 million to Paris Saint-Germain during the summer transfer window. What followed was the Catalan club struggling to negotiate with Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho before settling on a €105 million deal to sign Ousmane Dembele for Borussia Dortmund. The French international had only shone in the German Bundesliga for one season after his move from Rennes, and had only made his professional debut two years before becoming the second most expensive player in the world at the age of 20. Whilst the … [Read more...]