And that's what "a playmaker" means, even though he didn't register a goal nor an assist in that move the goal was 90% about him.
La Liga - 2014/15
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
Sounds like Messi had a blinder. If there's a few gifs going around...
Cait Sith will probably sort that.
He was fantastic, just a joy to watch when he's in this form. Messi against Kompany should be fun...
Useless Bilbao! Hope Madrid at least beat Barca when they play next and Barca lose a few more points so Atletico can win the thing again!
I'd noticed yesterday that game was on and thought I'd watch it, I have a soft spot for Athletic and I fancied it... but I totally forgot in the end!
A bit annoyed now, looks like it was a good game.Yeah, there was a 7-minute period in the second half that featured four goals, two from Athletic and two from Barça. First half was also excellent, great chances and saves on both sides.I'd noticed yesterday that game was on and thought I'd watch it, I have a soft spot for Athletic and I fancied it... but I totally forgot in the end!
15-19 in shots (6-10 on target)
This was class from the Athletic fans.
Athletic's fans are probably the classiest in the league. Once one of them threw a bottle and hit Alves on the head (in a Copa del Rey final and they were already behind), nearly all the fans pointed at who it was until they had him thrown out of the game.
I remember them applauding Giggs, too. In the Europa League game a few seasons back.
Yep. And Rooney's goal.
Thanks
Good time for the front 3 to start hitting their best form (Messi was playing his normal standard whole season anyways). Took some time to settle, but looks like Suarez is starting to work with the others. Was good to see that Suarez not resorting to his antics yesterday.
Suarez did look more active, faster and more like his buzzing older self. Even looked like he might have lost a bit of weight, at least to me.
Yup. They have very good fans. They certainly know how to get behind their team. Valencia and Sevilla fans can be very loud also amongst others and I remember Sporting Gijon fans were very noisy when their team was playing in the Primera División, especially during the first year that they got up. It was very hard to not have wanted them to stay up and they did. They are all a far cry from Real Madrid and Barcelona fans who are spoilt, fickle and whiny brats (and that is both sets of fans reputation in Spain also) who would sooner turn on their team and manager rather than get behind them. They are certainly put to shame by plenty of other fans in the league.
I generally rate Neymar, but I feel like he's really benefiting from Messi being on the opposite wing. The ball finally comes to his side after all the work is done and he's just gotta compose himself and finish a pass that slows down as it reaches him.
Oh he's benefiting big time. Messi has been absolutely magnificent this season and he's setting up chances for people left right and centre. Not to mention, as you say, Messi attracting players towards him all the time.
But Neymar himself has also been really good. He's no Messi of course, but I'm hugely impressed by him. From not being really convinced by his potential before this season (even after the world cup), based on this season, I now reckon he has the potential to be a future best in the world level player.
Media spun things to give the impression Suarez wasn't playing well, instead he's been fundamental to the teams recent form. Only thing lacking have been his goals but the team has been scoring well because of Luis, not in spite of
On one side, he benefits from his assists, on the other hand it means Neymar isn't played to his fullest potential which is on the hole, either as a false 9 or with a tall target man which he uses as a wall.
I'm a bit on the fence regarding assist stats at Barcelona. So much work is done before the last pass. Think the assist maker often gets too much credit. I'm sure Messi has a lot more key passes than any other player on that list but he only leads Suárez by one assist.
Good time for the front 3 to start hitting their best form (Messi was playing his normal standard whole season anyways). Took some time to settle, but looks like Suarez is starting to work with the others. Was good to see that Suarez not resorting to his antics yesterday.
That's a good point in general, nothing to do with Barça specifically. The really crucial pass (or just a pass that is harder to execute or spot) in the build-up to goals often happens before the actual assist (or in cases where there isn't really a traditional assist). Messi indeed has most key passes in entire La Liga (both in total and per game). Messi also has the most successful through balls per game of anyone in the top-5 European leagues, which is a far better indicator of the difficulty and context of a "dangerous" or "creative" pass -- as it is defined by WhoScored/Opta as "An attempted/accurate pass between opposition players in their defensive line to find an onrushing teammate (running through on goal)".
Matchday 23 - 14 Feb - Feeling the lurve?
I wasn't around much last week, but La Liga rolls on and the top of it looks like:
Real Madrid - 54
Barcelona - 53
Atletico - 50
Valencia - 44
Sevilla - 42
Villarea - 41
Barca are flying, there's even talk of a treble in the air - and no wonder with the form that Messi (in particular) is in.
Atletico are finding their form and winning the derby 4-0 says that they're going to be a team to beat from hereon in.
Meanwhile Real Madrid are not only in poor form, several of their players are in the gossip press doghouse, of which more later...
Friday
Almeria V Real Sociedad (7:45 pm - all times UK)
Sat 14 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid v Deportivo de La Coruña 17:00
Sevilla v Córdoba 15:00
Granada CF v Ath Bilbao 19:00
Málaga v Espanyol 21:00
Sun 15 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Valencia v Getafe 11:00
Barcelona v Levante 16:00
Rayo Vallecano v Villarreal 18:00
Celta de Vigo v Atl Madrid 20:00
Mon 16 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Eibar v Elche 19:45
Starting with Real Madrid then. Ronaldo had his 30th birthday last week, like all good pros he didn't celebrate on the day, instead he arranged his birthday party for the night immediately after a game, when there was no training next day. It didn't involve drugs or an orgy (as far as we know). So far, so good? Not really. The party took place last Saturday, a few hours after Real Madrid lost 4-0 to Atletico. Not surprisingly the photos/videos etc have escaped onto the internet and onto the football gossip shows - he forgot to confiscate the phones.
Quite how the Bernabeu is going to respond to the derby defeat or the partygoers, we wait and see.
The top 3, top 6 even, ought to win their games this weekend. Real Madrid will be playing with one eye on the CL match against Schalke, but no one will want to risk dropping points.
The Neymar/Messi partnership looks better with every game and Suarez is starting to find his feet. It's hard to see 18th place Levante as anything other than cannon fodder at the Camp Nou. The only clouds on the horizon seem to be the off-field rows with the courts and the taxman, but the team seem to have managed to tune all of the diversions out for now.
For Atletico, Griezmann is starting to look like the player everyone hoped he could become. Godin's back in training (he has a broken nose) wearing a mask and says that "he could" play on Sunday. Koke's injured. Miranda has made a few comments to a reporter that suggest he's for sale, "I'm an Atletico player, for now."
Real Madrid - 54
Barcelona - 53
Atletico - 50
Valencia - 44
Sevilla - 42
Villarea - 41
Barca are flying, there's even talk of a treble in the air - and no wonder with the form that Messi (in particular) is in.
Atletico are finding their form and winning the derby 4-0 says that they're going to be a team to beat from hereon in.
Meanwhile Real Madrid are not only in poor form, several of their players are in the gossip press doghouse, of which more later...
Friday
Almeria V Real Sociedad (7:45 pm - all times UK)
Sat 14 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid v Deportivo de La Coruña 17:00
Sevilla v Córdoba 15:00
Granada CF v Ath Bilbao 19:00
Málaga v Espanyol 21:00
Sun 15 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Valencia v Getafe 11:00
Barcelona v Levante 16:00
Rayo Vallecano v Villarreal 18:00
Celta de Vigo v Atl Madrid 20:00
Mon 16 Feb 2015 - Spanish La Liga
Eibar v Elche 19:45
Starting with Real Madrid then. Ronaldo had his 30th birthday last week, like all good pros he didn't celebrate on the day, instead he arranged his birthday party for the night immediately after a game, when there was no training next day. It didn't involve drugs or an orgy (as far as we know). So far, so good? Not really. The party took place last Saturday, a few hours after Real Madrid lost 4-0 to Atletico. Not surprisingly the photos/videos etc have escaped onto the internet and onto the football gossip shows - he forgot to confiscate the phones.
Quite how the Bernabeu is going to respond to the derby defeat or the partygoers, we wait and see.
The top 3, top 6 even, ought to win their games this weekend. Real Madrid will be playing with one eye on the CL match against Schalke, but no one will want to risk dropping points.
The Neymar/Messi partnership looks better with every game and Suarez is starting to find his feet. It's hard to see 18th place Levante as anything other than cannon fodder at the Camp Nou. The only clouds on the horizon seem to be the off-field rows with the courts and the taxman, but the team seem to have managed to tune all of the diversions out for now.
For Atletico, Griezmann is starting to look like the player everyone hoped he could become. Godin's back in training (he has a broken nose) wearing a mask and says that "he could" play on Sunday. Koke's injured. Miranda has made a few comments to a reporter that suggest he's for sale, "I'm an Atletico player, for now."
Bilbao have annoucned that the President and the entire board have resigned. What's going on @jojojo?
There are elections for the club presidency at the end of March. The resignation of the current board allows the club to be run by a committee who can keep it on tickover until the elections are done, basically to insure the elections are impartial. Urrutia announced the elections back in December and said that he will run for the presidency again - it'll be a 4 year term if he wins.
It's odd timing, usually elections happen in the closed season. At a guess it's to get a mandate to hire a new manager, sell/buy some players and it's happening now because the board have basically written this season off and want to use the closed season to do business. Whether there's an internal motive (like making it hard for another candidate to get the signatures and the financial guarantees in place) I don't know.
Halftime in Almeria and Real Sociedad are lucky to only be losing 2-1.
2-2 Canales
Expected lineups for Real Madrid-Deportivo (EDIT: now confirmed):
Real Madrid:
Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo; Illarramendi, Kroos, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Bench: Navas, Carvajal, Derik, Silva, Medrán, Chicharito, Jesé
Deportivo:
Fabricio; Laure, M. Pablo, Lopo, Luisinho; Borges, Bergantiños; Cuenca, Pérez, Cavaleiro; Oriol Riera.
Bench: Gómez, López, Canella, Costa, Domínguez, Medunjanin, Wilk.
Should be an easy win for Los Blancos despite all their injuries. Good to see Manuel Pablo still plays for Depor. I thought he was retired by now.
Real Madrid:
Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo; Illarramendi, Kroos, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Bench: Navas, Carvajal, Derik, Silva, Medrán, Chicharito, Jesé
Deportivo:
Fabricio; Laure, M. Pablo, Lopo, Luisinho; Borges, Bergantiños; Cuenca, Pérez, Cavaleiro; Oriol Riera.
Bench: Gómez, López, Canella, Costa, Domínguez, Medunjanin, Wilk.
Should be an easy win for Los Blancos despite all their injuries. Good to see Manuel Pablo still plays for Depor. I thought he was retired by now.
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So that's where he is.
Sevilla currently leading Cordoba 2-0, so the first of the top 6 matches is running to form.
Sevilla win 3-0
Next up:
Casillas; Arbeloa, Nacho, Varane; Marcelo; Kroos, Illarra, Isco; Bale, Cristiano y Benzema
Vs
Fabricio; Laure, Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Luisinho; Bergantiños, Borges; Cuenca, Lucas Pérez, Cavaleiro; Oriol Riera
Next up:
Casillas; Arbeloa, Nacho, Varane; Marcelo; Kroos, Illarra, Isco; Bale, Cristiano y Benzema
Vs
Fabricio; Laure, Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Luisinho; Bergantiños, Borges; Cuenca, Lucas Pérez, Cavaleiro; Oriol Riera
Ronaldo hits the bar, Benzema can't get hold of the rebound.
This guy on Bein Sport...
You missed out on a good pun there after his trip to a bar last weekend
Poor, poor Depor... they don't stand a chance, they got hit for 8 at Riazor for goodness sake and RM need a response after the derby embarrassment.
and RM need a response after the derby embarrassment.Another shot hits the bar.
What a save from Fabrício! 
Bale's screamer tipped onto the bar
Bale's screamer tipped onto the barBale off the crossbar.
How have Depor not conceded yet? this is gonna be a tragic score line
this is gonna be a tragic score lineBale hits the bar, I think the keeper saved it but even on replay it was moving too fast to be sure.
What a strange goal
Isco scores, just when it looked like it was all going to be missed again.