La Liga Lowdown

On this podcast, Sam Leveridge (@samleveridge) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) preview Spain's 2022 World Cup debut up against Costa Rica, featuring expert insight from Ellie Manville of The Rica Football Podcast. They discuss Luis Enrique's selection headaches and what La Roja can expect in their opening game.

There's also discussion of some of the major talking points in Qatar, including more disappointment for LaLiga's Argentine trio, a Barça star showing his bouncebackability for The Netherlands, and a certain high-profile figure going famous for his streams... Tune in to find out more.

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With just one more sleep to go until the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, host Thom Harris (@ThomHarris_) is joined by experts from all over the globe, as Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG), Adam Khan (@XxAdamKhanxX) and Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) discuss a tantalising Group E.

In Part One, Thom and Paco discuss all things Spain, from Ansu Fati to José Luís Gayà, with a heavy dose of optimism as Luis Enrique's men continue to seem to fly under the radar...

Part Two sees German football expert Adam Khan assess Hansi Flick's impact since taking over as Germany coach, before Dan Orlowitz talks about Karol Mitoma, Take Kubo and a few dark horses...

Make sure to follow us at @LaLigaLowdown on Twitter for plenty more reaction to the World Cup over the following weeks, and be sure to subscribe to our substack, at lllonline.substack.com, to receive fresh analysis from our excellent team of content writers straight to your inbox, absolutely free of charge!

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Don't ever let anyone tell you LaLiga isn't fun. Join hosts Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) as they break down four days of action which swung like a pendulum.

Part One begins at the top - with Barcelona. Not many saw it coming, but are they now favourites for the league? Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season and look less than imposing these days. Atlético Madrid - the less said the better, but we still said quite a lot.

Part Two deals with the rest of the European race and relegation skirmish - the two aren't even that far removed from each other. The Basque sides can smile at their position for now, while Real Betis are sick of the sight of red. More so than usual. At the bottom, there are scoldings galore for any number of teams, managers, owners and more. Finally, in a shock turn of events, Luis Enrique will not spring any surprises in his Spain squad.

Follow us @LaLigaLowdown on Twitter for more coverage of Spanish football and over the coming weeks, the World Cup.

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Two major events dominated Matchday 13, despite several storylines emerging elsewhere and demanding our attention. Join hosts Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) as they break it all down.

Part one begins in Andalusia and it might be November, but temperatures and tempers ran hot in the Seville derby on Sunday night. Atlético Madrid bumbled their way to a draw with ten-man Espanyol - awkwardly, João Félix was their most dangerous player again. In Valencia, Villarreal's Quique Setién might be the first manager to be told to leave in their first home game in La Liga.

Part two begins with a different type of emotion - Gerard Piqué inevitably struggled to hold in the tears. Román was there to give us a first-hand account of a historic moment. Down in the boggy bottom half there was another big win in Catalonia, while Elche look hopeless after a third of the season.

With another midweek round on the way this Tuesday, follow us on Twitter @LaLigaLowdown to ensure you don't miss a beat in a busy week before Luis Enrique announces his Spain squad for the World Cup.

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Gerard Piqué has announced that he is retiring from football, leaving Fútbol Club Barcelona after 14 years and 30 trophies. To mark this momentous occasion, we had to jump behind the microphones to record a special bonus pod.

Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) is joined by Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) and Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) to reflect on the timing of the decision, whether it is the right one, and what factors have contributed to bring events to this end point.

Part Two is a nostalgic reflection of 'Peak Piqué', looking back on his best moments, memorable manitas, grand goals and his propensity for the presidential.

Always honest, sometimes nakedly so, Piqué has left an indelible mark on Barcelona and Spanish football in general. It's not adios but hasta luego, for Geri will be back in some capacity someday. For now though, gràcies Geri.

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After the European group stages concluded this week, another round of LaLiga is upon us once more. Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) for a full discussion of the fixtures this weekend.

There was a bit of soul-searching to do for some Spanish sides, namely Atlético Madrid. Knocked out of Europe entirely, the first time that has happened before Christmas in the Diego Simeone era. Paco discusses Cholo's future and whether he has another trick up his sleeve to recover yet again.

We turn our attention to El Gran Derbi on Sunday night which promises to be as fiery as ever, although this time there is one overwhelming favourite.

In the second half of the show, we discuss the latest managerial change in the division, as Chacho Coudet waves goodbye to Celta and Carlos Carvalhal lands in Vigo to take the reins.

While discussing Barcelona's upcoming match, the news of Gerard Piqué's retirement breaks LIVE on the show. Hear how Matt and Paco react to this bombazo!

After rounding up the remaining games, Paco reflects a little more on the legacy of Piqué before the close.

Follow us @LaLigaLowdown and subscribe to our new substack for FREE: lllonline.substack.com.

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As the clock struck ninety at Mestalla on Saturday night, it was looking as if the gap at the top would be five points by the end of Matchday 12.

Nonetheless, last-minute goals, controversial penalties and downward pressure on a football means that only one point separates Real Madrid and Barcelona at the summit of Spanish football, after another enthralling round of LaLiga Santander.

With another 20 goals to get their teeth stuck into, join Thom Harris (@ThomHarris_) and Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) as they dissect all the big decisions, big winners and big losers of October’s final fixtures, covering huge wins for Barcelona and Betis, and a damaging defeat for Atlético Madrid.

Part One begins in Madrid, where a Uruguayan stunned the Bernabéu, but for a change it wasn't Fede Valverde. The significance of a second consecutive stumble is assessed.

In Part Two, our panelists reflect on terrifying new lows for Sevilla, more home wins for Osasuna and Athletic Club, and incredible flukes against a luckless Mallorca.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter, @LaLigaLowdown, where we’ll keep you up to date with Monday night’s crucial fixture between Elche and Getafe, before European competition returns, whether the Spanish clubs like it or not, in what promises to be another jam-packed midweek schedule!

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Disaster, catastrophe and cruelty - Spain did not enjoy a good week in the Champions League. Join hosts Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) as they pick through the wreckage and then look ahead to a crucial weekend in LaLiga.

Part one focuses on the European woes and La Ley del Deporte - the increasingly famous Spanish Sports Law. Atlético Madrid could scarcely have imagined a more ridiculous way to go out, the referee blowing full time on their Champions League twice. We analyse how it came to that and react to the failure in Barcelona. The Blaugrana may still make it into the Superleague though, after a draw was declared in parliament.

In the second section we look ahead to some decisive matches in the European race. Barcelona must respond at Mestalla, while their former manager Quique Setién takes on former manager Ernesto Valverde in search of his first win with Villarreal. In the Sunday night partidazo, Manuel Pellegrini is running out of fingers upon which to count Real Betis' injuries on and they travel to Donostia-San Sebastián knowing the victor will head into next week in the Champions League spots. Stay until the end for Paco's pick of the week, this weekend's most fun fixture.

To keep across all of the happenings this weekend follow us on Twitter @LaLigaLowdown.

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With games coming thick and fast, join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) for a review of Matchday 11 in LaLiga. It was a tale of contrasting fortunes if your name is Valverde: Fede scored again as Real Madrid kept up their unbeaten run, while Ernesto suffered a 4-0 defeat on his return to Barcelona. The form of the big two is discussed, including the question of whether anyone can beat Los Blancos, a formation tweak from Xavi and an impressive performance from Ousmane Dembélé.

Speaking of Frenchmen, Atlético Madrid are still unbeaten away from home and once again they owed their victory to Antoine Griezmann. His brace against Betis, including an Olympic goal no less, got Diego Smeone's side into the top three.

In part two, we discuss the remaining matches, featuring plenty of drama and talking points. It was an emotional game for Villarreal and they won in thrilling style with a last-gasp goal from Nico Jackson, not bad at all. Controversy reigned with the dismissal of Álex Baena - was it the right call or should some common sense have been applied?

Elsewhere, there were problems with the ex for Valencia, a 5-star Rayo performance, another win for Real Valladolid, and more dropped points for Girona, Espanyol and Elche.

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You know that Mitchell and Webb sketch about the football? The constant, dizzying, twenty-four hour, year-long endless football? It all fell a bit too real this week.

No sooner did LaLiga finish for Jornada 9, did it start again for Jornada 10, as Sevilla and Valencia played out an enthralling draw to kick off the midweek action. We also saw an incredible game in the rain at Valladolid, a goal-of-the-decade contender at Almería, and penalties, VAR, and penalties galore. Breathless stuff, once again, in the greatest league in the world.

Join your hosts Thom Harris (@ThomHarris_) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) as they round up another breathless game week. And if that's not enough for you, make sure to follow us on Twitter, at @LaLigaLowdown, and subscribe to our newsletter at laligalowdown.substack.com, for all the latest news, reaction and analysis.

Because if you want to stay up to date with all the football, your best chance is here!

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