While England has always laid claim to being the home of football, in the last few years the beautiful game has definitely taken a holiday home in sunny Spain. The two countries' footballing histories have a lot in common. Great league and cup competitions, big-spending clubs, world-renound players, and one glorious international tournament triumph followed by years of expectation and disappointment – that is until recently. During the last five years, Spanish football has truly made its mark on the game. The current period belongs, and will forever belong, to Spain. The international side … [Read more...]
Away-day syndrome: Why Barcelona have struggled on the road this season
A 1-1 draw meant Barcelona surrendered yet another valuable two points at the hands of their local rivals Espanyol on Monday night making it already their fifth draw of the domestic season with four of them being away from home. The gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the table has now stretched to a worrying five points for Pepe Guardiola's men and with games coming thick and fast and time seemingly running out for the Catalonians, we ask the much debated question; exactly why have Barcelona struggled to break teams down on the road this season? … [Read more...]
Versatility Allows Barcelona to be the Best
Attack minded in every sense of the word, we all know about the stunning capabilities of the strike force of Barcelona. Messi, Villa, Alexis, Pedro assisted by the more than capable Fabregas and Xavi score the majority and steal the plaudits in the process whilst the likes of Pique, Puyol, Abidal and Dani Alves stay out of the TV frame for 75% of the match. Various scoring and passing feats are challenged but this season another aspect of Barcelona has caught the attention of statisticians; their misly defence. Just the 8 goals have been scored past Victor Valdes as Barcelona pose the … [Read more...]
How to level the financial playing field in La Liga
The first thing you usually hear when someone mentions La Liga to you is the response: "oh, well, it's just Barcelona and Real Madrid competing every year for the title". And while those two teams are undoubtedly the best in the planet, most football fans would agree that La Liga is not the deepest league. Serie A and the English Premier league have more teams capable of doing well in Europe and going after world class players. Outside of Malaga and the Big Two, we don't see great players going into other teams. Instead we see players like Juan Mata, David Villa, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and … [Read more...]
Poker giants Bwin tip Real Madrid for La Liga glory
Read Madrid's fine start to the season continued last weekend as their 4-1 victory over rivals Atletico Madrid put them three points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over Barcelona. The majority of bookmakers now make Real Madrid 4/7 favorites to claim the La Liga title this season, including their sponsors online bookmakers and poker room Bwin who currently make them 11/21. … [Read more...]
Four things you need to get a result at the Nou Camp
The other month we wrote a comprehensive guide on how any team could shape their bunch of prima donna no-hopers into a force to be reckoned with by replicating Barcelona's sexy style of attacking football. After reading this guide and taking everything we've said on board, your team no matter what level should be ready to take on the world destroying every team in their wake with fluidity and over-whelming finesse. However, should your transformation fail despite your best efforts, what's the best thing to do when you find yourself on the next plane to Barcelona knowing you face … [Read more...]
La Liga dominates the 2011 Ballon D’or shortlist
The nominees for this year's prestigious Ballon d'or award was announced on Tuesday and the shortlist rather unsurprisingly was full of La Liga players including eight from Barcelona and five from Real Madrid. … [Read more...]
La Liga: The New SPL?
Okay. It took Revista de La Liga just thirty minutes on Tuesday to mention a topic that has very much become the elephant in the room of Spanish football recently - the domination of Barcelona and Real Madrid and the ever-growing gap between them and their fellow La Liga competitors in terms of finance, performance and control. … [Read more...]
What the Champions League Draw Served Up For the Spanish Sides
Valencia, Villarreal, Real Madrid and Barcelona all awaited the Champions League Group Stage draw eagerly today as the coverage unfolded as smoothly as ever in Monaco. As ever, a predictable pause ensued as last year's tournament was articulately recapped in a montage of highlights and commentary. It proved a mouthwatering supplement to this year's competition as much as it wasted time for equally keen viewers. … [Read more...]
Five bold predictions for the new La Liga season
The La Liga football season gets under way again on the 24th August this year in Spain and with plenty of activity in the transfer market in both directions, it will be interesting to see how the sides line up for their return to domestic football in just under a month's time. Below La Liga Blog makes five bold predictions plus their explanations as to why for this year's highly-anticipated La Liga campaign. … [Read more...]