Espanyol were reduced to ten men, but still managed a 1-0 victory over Granada at the Cornella-El Prat stadium last night. Espanyol are an enigmatic team this season. Their defence is solid, but they just don't score enough goals. In an unusually tight Primera Division, they must have been looking over their shoulders. Friday's three points lifts them up to 8th place. Javier Aguirre will be sleeping sounder at night from now on. Things didn't start well for the Barcelona side. Defender Victor Alvarez was dismissed after half an hour for a reckless challenge on Granada striker El-Arabi. … [Read more...]
Liverpool Player Linked With Granada
Liverpool's young Portuguese defender Tiago Ilori is being linked with a transfer window move to La Liga with Granada. I understand that the move will initially be a loan until the end of the season with the option to make this permanent before the start of the next season. Ilori had been talked of as one for the future at Anfield, when Brendan Rodgers signed him at the beginning of the 2013-14 season for a fee of £7M. He has composure on the ball and likes to play the ball from the back rather than looking for the long ball forward. With Jamie Carragher having retired from the game, it had … [Read more...]
La Liga team of the week – round 15
The La liga title race came to life, once again, over the weekend as champions and leaders Barcelona finally fell to that inevitable defeat that had been lurking since their talisman, Lionel Messi got injured. Real Madrid’s 4-0 victory earlier on Saturday means the Whites are now only 3 points behind their eternal rivals as well as city rivals, Atletico Madrid. Time for us to reel-out our Team of the week, honouring those players who have impressed during the past round of matches. Sevilla’s Portugese goalkeeper Beto wins our heart in goal after producing crucial and timely saves to give his … [Read more...]
Time for LFP to tackle racism
Another racism row flared up during the Seville derby on Sunday evening as 'supporters' (a loosely used term) of Betis turned on their own player, Paulao, apparently racially abusing the Brazilian centre-back. It is not the first time racism has been seen in Spanish football and it has been happening without sufficient punishment for too long. The incident at Betis needs to be Spain's watershed moment and the country should rally and appreciate that the issue of racism in football has to be addressed. … [Read more...]
The Battle against the Drop – who will stay up?
It has become a yearly occurrence for the bottom of Spain's premier division to take us until the final day to find out who has the privilege of hosting Real Madrid and Barcelona again in the next campaign, usually providing much greater excitement than the title race. This year is no different as Barcelona have all but sealed the league championship from Real Madrid, boasting a massive 13 point gap, whilst at the foot of the table six teams are battling for another season in the top flight. Athletic Bilbao are just about safe by our predictions so the three relegation spots are most likely to … [Read more...]
Opening La Liga weekend in threat of strike action for second year in a row
A dispute between 13 La Liga clubs and their broadcasting partners is putting the first round of matches at risk. Should an agreement not be reached then strike action could postpone the opening round of fixtures for the second season in succession. Clubs are unhappy with a number of factors with 11pm kick-off times causing the greatest amount of fuss. Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, Betis, Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Getafe, Granada, Mallorca, Osasuna, Vallecano, Soceidad, Sevilla and Zaragoza all attended a meeting in Madrid today demanding changes to agreements between themselves and two media … [Read more...]
Rayo Vallecano Season Preview
As the scoreboard at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas ticked beyond the ninety minute mark a wild cheer could be heard even amongst the celebratory Madridistas in the Spanish capital. Fans burst onto the pitch sporadically but soon continuously, screaming their emotions to the sky as the final game of the season effectively ended with the decisive final kick. Rayo Vallecano fans roared in triumph with their hero Raul Tamudo, yet it could all have been so different. Winning a game deep into injury time ranks highest in football fan euphoria … [Read more...]
Granada Season Preview
Events surrounding Watford FC have been encapsulating during the summer break as Giampaolo Pozzo's takeover of the club kicks off. Having already fired one manager in Sean Dyche and replaced him with compatriot Gianfranco Zola it looks to be the beginning of a busy summer at Vicarage Road. As the Italian businessman's latest development roars into life another of Pozzo's ventures, Granada CF, ponder the implications of the magnate's actions and how it can work to their advantage. … [Read more...]
Modric speculation continues – The latest La Liga transfer news
Today we have scoured online Spanish newspaper Marca.com to bring you the latest ongoing news in the Spanish transfer market. With speculation still looming on the whereabouts of Luka Modric, Bruno Soriano and Filippo Inzaghi next season, there is plenty of juicy transfer gossip for us to sink our teeth into. … [Read more...]
Malaga March Forwards
Santi Cazorla and Joaquin doubles secured 3 routine points for Malaga as they overwhelmed a hapless Granada 4-0 in the Eastern Andalucian derby. A defeat to fellow rivals Sevilla on the opening day spelt trouble for Malaga but they are now officially up and running. Could this be the beginning of something? Judging by last nights performance it becomes hard to tell due to the quality of the opposition. It'd be like getting carried away after a victory over Swansea City! Nevertheless, Manuel Pellegrini's men ran out convincing winners against a team who look to be in for the long run already. … [Read more...]