La Liga 2020/21

George Owen

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I'm glad football was the winner this season.

Well done Cholo for the championship and well done to the Ingeniero Pellegrini for taking Betis to Europe in his first season with the club (Same team finished 15th last season).
 

Ladron de redcafe

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Well done Atlético. They haven't been as formidable this season as they were a few years ago, but their incredible start to the season got them over the line, even when their form started to decline at the start of the new year.

Well done to Simone, and to Suarez, who must be chuffed.
 

Pretzels81

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It was now or never for Simeone (after 2014, that is); worst Real Madrid in a long time (overrated youngsters, aging stars, financial crisis), Barcelona in their most difficult season since 2002-03 (presidential and financial crisis, new manager, multiple injuries and aging stars) and Sevilla, as always, not good enough to win a league title.

Just saw the interview: RatFace burning bridges with Barcelona, as he did with Liverpool; wanker then, wanker now.

And Messi becomes the player with most consecutive Pichichi trophies: 5, surpassing DiStéfano and Hugo Sánchez.
 
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bakalhau

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I'm happy for Atlético, Cholo, Felix and Suárez.

About the latter we all know his negative points but I like the guy. I just can't not like him. Not surprised to see him in tears after the game. Ridiculous decision by Barcelona to let him leave to a direct competitor. I wish he had come to Juventus to play alongside Ronaldo. I was sort of praying that deal happened but it just wasn't meant to be. He fits Atlético very well anyway.

Congrats to all At. Madrid fans!
 

V.O.

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Just saw the interview: RatFace burning bridges with Barcelona, as he did with Liverpool; wanker then, wanker now.
Even though the scouse eventually won the tie, Suarez screaming and running around like he'd won 12 World Cups at once after scoring against them when they were so sure he loved them really was a fecking excellent moment. :drool:
 

Cloud7

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Just saw the interview: RatFace burning bridges with Barcelona, as he did with Liverpool; wanker then, wanker now.
He was basically forced out of the club, on the basis of being too old, and now we see Barcelona signing another old striker. As much of a prick as Suarez is, you can’t blame him for being bitter about being forced out of Barcelona.
 

Pretzels81

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He was basically forced out of the club, on the basis of being too old, and now we see Barcelona signing another old striker. As much of a prick as Suarez is, you can’t blame him for being bitter about being forced out of Barcelona.
That Bartomeu character sure is a crook, but Suárez forced "himself" out of the club after the mediocre UCL campaigns of 2016-2020 and the 19-20 Liga. He had the second biggest wage of the squad, surpassed only by Messi. Atlético have won this Liga in the very last fixture (like in 13-14), so you can also say "Madrid and Barcelona threw away this liga", especially after the 2-2 v Sevilla and the shocking 1-2 v Granada, respectively. Suárez may not have been as important as he thinks. He did nothing against Chelsea in the Round of 16.
 

Josh 76

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Got a soft spot for Simone
Love the under dog mentality
What he’s done at Atletico Madrid has been remarkable.
I wonder what his next move will be.
love to see him in the PL.
 

antohan

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He’s been there almost 10 full years and just won the league. I’m sure they’ll let him invest a little more now with this and he’s very loyal and passionate about Atletico. He’ll be there a while yet.
Amazing stat I came across today.

Before Simeone became manager, the last time Atlético had been contenders was in the 90s when they won the double with him as a player.

For a title-winning season without Simeone you have to go as far back as 1976 :eek:
 

antohan

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He was basically forced out of the club, on the basis of being too old, and now we see Barcelona signing another old striker. As much of a prick as Suarez is, you can’t blame him for being bitter about being forced out of Barcelona.
One thing he said struck me as I had never thought about that angle.

We all know players have a hard time adjusting to life after football. What I had never thought about was how families handle it, kids in particular. What makes Suárez most emotional is how daddy went from being a hero to being discarded. Suddenly someone decided he was no longer good enough so they had to move, kids had to leave their friends behind, meet new ones, etc.

Sure, it's the same story for any footballer that is a family man (i.e. not Sanchez whose dog needs no explanations). It's similar to the drama of anyone being made redundant, with the advantage of leading a charmed life and having no financial issues. Still, you know what they say, the higher you fly the harder the fall. It must be difficult for kids to see daddy being the hero, the champion, the scorer, on telly, radio, newspapers, everyone you know bangs on about him, and then... garbage bin.
 

antohan

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That Bartomeu character sure is a crook, but Suárez forced "himself" out of the club after the mediocre UCL campaigns of 2016-2020 and the 19-20 Liga. He had the second biggest wage of the squad, surpassed only by Messi. Atlético have won this Liga in the very last fixture (like in 13-14), so you can also say "Madrid and Barcelona threw away this liga", especially after the 2-2 v Sevilla and the shocking 1-2 v Granada, respectively. Suárez may not have been as important as he thinks. He did nothing against Chelsea in the Round of 16.
He misses that chance from the backpass and Real win the league. Simple as.
 

Cloud7

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One thing he said struck me as I had never thought about that angle.

We all know players have a hard time adjusting to life after football. What I had never thought about was how families handle it, kids in particular. What makes Suárez most emotional is how daddy went from being a hero to being discarded. Suddenly someone decided he was no longer good enough so they had to move, kids had to leave their friends behind, meet new ones, etc.

Sure, it's the same story for any footballer that is a family man (i.e. not Sanchez whose dog needs no explanations). It's similar to the drama of anyone being made redundant, with the advantage of leading a charmed life and having no financial issues. Still, you know what they say, the higher you fly the harder the fall. It must be difficult for kids to see daddy being the hero, the champion, the scorer, on telly, radio, newspapers, everyone you know bangs on about him, and then... garbage bin.
I never thought about that at all. It does seem hard, and a difficult conversation to have to have with your children.

Still, because of who it is, don’t expect much understanding for that on here haha.

Suarez is strange for me. He played for Liverpool. He had the racism incident with Evra. The handball incident at the World Cup. He’s big players multiple times. And yet I’ve never been able to bring myself to hate him. When I look at him on the field I see, for me, the third best player in the world of the past decade after Messi and Ronaldo, and a player who gives his absolute all on the field.
 

RedBanker

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Congrats to Atletico and most importantly Simeone. He has proven again that leagues can be won even against cashed up squads with elite players. Mentality and how you set up the team are also important ingredients for success.
 

Acheron

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That was one of the most dramatic conclusions to any European season I can remember. Three teams had the drivers seat in the last month. Atletico then had it and looked doomed last week, same today and even some late drama just to top it off.

Atletico are the deserved champions. Think they bottled it with the second half of the season and felt the pressure but their football to build a big lead was absolutely brilliant. No team played as well this season as that. Suarez was on fire, Llorente was probably the most on form player in the league not named Messi. Then when they were third favorites at the end they came through in the big moments. It wasn’t as easy as it should have been but the result is the same.

This season really impressed with Correa. He showed a level which he had never done so consistently. Llorente, Suarez and Oblak probably the stars and best overall performers but also Carrasco has been great. Koke can’t be faulted too much too really held the midfield together and Lemar looked really good too. A great team effort!
Congratulations cnut!

Anyway just like last time Atletico won I'm very annoyed at all the recent games where we bottled our chance to get ahead of them but at least we won today and in the bigger scheme of things we finished the season better than I expected with all the injuries and shit start. Zidane has done wonders with this squad even if we felt short in the end.
 

Ace Krampus

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He misses that chance from the backpass and Real win the league. Simple as.
Right, and naturally, he didn't. Obviously the guy has a mixed legacy, especially around here (though the 2010 handball ended up being a hell of a play, huh?) but he's an incredible player and getting to watch him go and with the title at Atletico is another notch in the post of a very impressive career.
 

Oranges038

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Have to hand it to Simeone, he's done a great job there despite losing big players over and over again. Fantastic to see them winning the league again under him.

And as much as I dislike Suarez, there's no denying he has been a fantastic player for the last 10 years. I do find it kind of funny that Barca let him go and he scored the goal that won them the title ahead of them and Real.
 

Daysleeper

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A comparison of their best scorers and how much % they've been responsable for their club's respective goal production in La Liga.

----------------------

Atletico de Madrid with 67 LaLiga goals

- Luis Suarez: 21 goals (31% of Atleti's total goal production)

- Marcos Llorente: 12 goals (18%)

- Ángel Correa: 8 goals (12%)

- João Félix: 7 goals (10%)

- Yannick Carrasco: 6 goals (9%)

-----------------------

Real Madrid with 67 LaLiga goals

- Karim Benzema: 23 goals (34% of Real Madrid's total goal production)

- Casemiro: 6 goals (9%)

- Luka Modrić: 5 goals (7%)

- Marco Asensio: 5 goals (7%)

- Sergio Ramos: 3 goals (4%)

- Eden Hazard: 3 goals (4%)

- Toni Kroos: 3 goals (4%)

- Federico Valverde: 3 goals (4%)

- Vinícius Júnior: 3 goals (4%)
now do Barca
 

Inter Yer Nan

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Congratulations cnut!

Anyway just like last time Atletico won I'm very annoyed at all the recent games where we bottled our chance to get ahead of them but at least we won today and in the bigger scheme of things we finished the season better than I expected with all the injuries and shit start. Zidane has done wonders with this squad even if we felt short in the end.
Yeah, Zidane squeezed everything out of some of those players and the unbeaten run to end the season was superb. Realistically, coming that close to the league and a CL semi is a very good season.
 

antohan

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I never thought about that at all. It does seem hard, and a difficult conversation to have to have with your children.
I was trying to work out why I never thought about it and the simple answer is it is only recently that I have a pair of toddlers who think I'm AMAZING, their superhero, The Hulk, etc. I love it, while knowing some day they'll work out I'm just a regular guy. Slowly but surely, they'll get there all by themselves. Now imagine the same but with everyone telling your kids you are indeed some sort of demigod... and then they no longer think so, turning your life upside down. It's fecking harsh! No wonder he's been emotional about it.

Still, because of who it is, don’t expect much understanding for that on here haha.
I don't :lol:

Suarez is strange for me. He played for Liverpool. He had the racism incident with Evra. The handball incident at the World Cup. He’s big players multiple times. And yet I’ve never been able to bring myself to hate him. When I look at him on the field I see, for me, the third best player in the world of the past decade after Messi and Ronaldo, and a player who gives his absolute all on the field.
We set very high standards for these guys as "role models". Let's face it, most players are dimwits and completely unprepared for that. I'm not sure Suarez finished secondary school and, if he did, he clearly isn't some sort of philosopher. He is a pretty normal guy, a family man, with both an insanely useful and harmful competitive streak. In a football player, that makes you Marmite.
 

De Portago

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I'm happy both for Suarez and Simeone as much as most of the people here, but I can't help but disagree with the opinion that Barcelona somehow wronged him by forcing him out. His domestic performances were stats wise still good (his heavy overall decline in all round game notwithstanding) but continentally he was borderline atrocious, and that's were nearly all of their embarrassments happened. That theme continued, he scored zero European goals and Atleti were unceremoniously dumped out during the round of 16.

That's not taking into account that his contract was running out in the summer of 2021 and rumors flying around during the summer of 2020 that he wanted a four year extension (!?) and he was at the time at something around 600K/PW by most reports. Now with Bartomeu being in charge and Suarez obviously having a privileged status there due to his achievements and more importantly everyone knowing he's Messi's best friend there was a substantial risk of him actually getting his way, and IMO this league title wasn't worth the risk (even if one is 100% sure that Barcelona would have won it had they kept Suarez, which is obviously within the realm of speculation though it does seem fairly likely to be honest).

Barcelona absolutely needs to ruthlessly get rid of all the old guard otherwise nothing will change, their drop in league form this season neatly coincided with Pique and Sergi Roberto coming back and Koeman slotting them in the starting XI the moment they recovered from their injuries regardless of form, sharpness and fitness. If the coaches for whatever reason don't have the guts to pick team based on merit and you have legends being automatic starters nearly all the time regardless of performances, you can either bring in someone ruthless like Bielsa or alternatively remove said legends from the team.

Laporta has an epic job on his hands, I can somewhat understand him being fidgety around Messi for obvious reasons but everyone else in that team needs to be appraised with a cool head. Youngsters I'd have some leeway with but these "established" players being paid a crapload and underperforming nearly all the time shouldn't get away with it the way they got away there in the last 5-6 years.
 

kingwaynerooney

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It was now or never for Simeone (after 2014, that is); worst Real Madrid in a long time (overrated youngsters, aging stars, financial crisis), Barcelona in their most difficult season since 2002-03 (presidential and financial crisis, new manager, multiple injuries and aging stars) and Sevilla, as always, not good enough to win a league title.

Just saw the interview: RatFace burning bridges with Barcelona, as he did with Liverpool; wanker then, wanker now.

And Messi becomes the player with most consecutive Pichichi trophies: 5, surpassing DiStéfano and Hugo Sánchez.
He did not burn his bridges with barcelona. Suarez has praised barcelona multiple times this season while playing for atletico saying he watches all their games and he is a big fan.
 

tenpoless

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Congratulations cnut!

Anyway just like last time Atletico won I'm very annoyed at all the recent games where we bottled our chance to get ahead of them but at least we won today and in the bigger scheme of things we finished the season better than I expected with all the injuries and shit start. Zidane has done wonders with this squad even if we felt short in the end.
No. Zidane is shite, Real Madrid is shite. Imagine depending on Vinicius jr as the next Ronaldo. source: MARCA
 

antohan

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I'm happy both for Suarez and Simeone as much as most of the people here, but I can't help but disagree with the opinion that Barcelona somehow wronged him by forcing him out. His domestic performances were stats wise still good (his heavy overall decline in all round game notwithstanding) but continentally he was borderline atrocious, and that's were nearly all of their embarrassments happened. That theme continued, he scored zero European goals and Atleti were unceremoniously dumped out during the round of 16.

That's not taking into account that his contract was running out in the summer of 2021 and rumors flying around during the summer of 2020 that he wanted a four year extension (!?) and he was at the time at something around 600K/PW by most reports. Now with Bartomeu being in charge and Suarez obviously having a privileged status there due to his achievements and more importantly everyone knowing he's Messi's best friend there was a substantial risk of him actually getting his way, and IMO this league title wasn't worth the risk (even if one is 100% sure that Barcelona would have won it had they kept Suarez, which is obviously within the realm of speculation though it does seem fairly likely to be honest).

Barcelona absolutely needs to ruthlessly get rid of all the old guard otherwise nothing will change, their drop in league form this season neatly coincided with Pique and Sergi Roberto coming back and Koeman slotting them in the starting XI the moment they recovered from their injuries regardless of form, sharpness and fitness. If the coaches for whatever reason don't have the guts to pick team based on merit and you have legends being automatic starters nearly all the time regardless of performances, you can either bring in someone ruthless like Bielsa or alternatively remove said legends from the team.

Laporta has an epic job on his hands, I can somewhat understand him being fidgety around Messi for obvious reasons but everyone else in that team needs to be appraised with a cool head. Youngsters I'd have some leeway with but these "established" players being paid a crapload and underperforming nearly all the time shouldn't get away with it the way they got away there in the last 5-6 years.
I don't see how anyone can disagree with any of that.

Suárez is not the player he used to be and he is only going to get worse. Still, there's top form and there's quality, which he still has: 20+ league goals.

Technical and financial motives for Barcelona are clear. The hard decisions are on good players and better taken before they are completely useless, they are always bound to bite you in the ass. It rarely bites US back because we insist on retiring players ourselves.

In my case, I'm just empathising with how emotional Suarez was and has been throughout the season. In most others, I think people are just enjoying a bit of a laugh and banter at Barca's expense.
 

tentan

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Congratulations to Atletico. It wouldve made me sick to see Real Madrid win another title. But its nice to see a different winner again.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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I don't think Barcelona wronged Suarez by letting him go, but it's clear that they (and Real Madrid) had assumed Atletico were perennial also-rans again and there was no problem in giving them a useful player.
 

amolbhatia50k

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I don't think Barcelona wronged Suarez by letting him go, but it's clear that they (and Real Madrid) had assumed Atletico were perennial also-rans again and there was no problem in giving them a useful player.
They didn't wrong Suarez but wronged themselves precisely by doing that. Now they're adding another past his peak CF in Aguero despite Suarez apparently being too old previously. Such a strangely run football club.
 

RoyH1

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No Ramos in the Spain Euro squad. Spanish career finished?
I would think so.He's been injured so much int the last season. Luis Enrique is keeping their conversation private, but I cannot see Ramos returning to the national team at his age if Luis Enrique is still the manager.

Edit: Not a single Real Madrid player. I know they've been absolutely decimated by injuries, but it's still weird to see.
 

RoyH1

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I was shocked to see there’s not a single Real Madrid in this squad
Carvajal and Ramos injured. Isco and Asensio are done as top level players. Only surprise really is Nacho, I would have thought he's in good enough form to merit being called up.
 

kingwaynerooney

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Carvajal and Ramos injured. Isco and Asensio are done as top level players. Only surprise really is Nacho, I would have thought he's in good enough form to merit being called up.
Luis enrique called Eric garcia . Nacho is twice the defender Eric garcia is. Barca bias is showing. And it's hilarious.