La Liga Lowdown

So, reasons for fans of both of Spain's Big 2 to be happy - Real Madrid got the job done in Abu Dhabi as they won a 3rd straight Club World Cup and Barcelona finish the year top of LaLiga and 3 points clear, while one of their rivals stumbled. We look at both in depth and in detail.

Atlético were 1-nil winners over Espanyol thanks to Antoine Griezmann again, but could there be trouble ahead in the January transfer window - anyone for Lucas Hernandez or Jan Oblak?

Sevilla could only draw at Leganés, Valencia needed a stoppage-time goal to beat bottom side Huesca, while Rayo got a big win to take them towards safety. But the established Basque teams didn't have the best results - Athletic Club conceded a late equaliser at home to Real Valladolid, and Real Sociedad were beaten at home by Alavés who sit 5th at Christmas.

There's also your 3-word verdicts on Matchday 17, thanks for sending those to us!

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Go on then, YOU describe Lionel Messi. 3 goals + 2 assists = 1 masterful display as Barcelona got sweet revenge at Levante, winning 5-0 at the ground where they lost last season as they surrendered an unbeaten league campaign in the penultimate game. It means they stay top, but Sevilla were superb and Atletico survived a scare at Valladolid to keep pace with Barca.

Now Real Madrid also won, but it's rarely that simple at the Bernabéu - the stadium was barely half-full as they beat lowly Rayo Vallecano 1-0 and we also look at how vital it is for them to pick up silverware in Abu Dhabi as they play in the Club World Cup for the 3rd season in a row.

At the bottom, a mad game finished Huesca 2-2 Villarreal, while Leganés picked up a vital point in their survival fight away to Celta Vigo, but Valencia and Athletic both drew...again. *sigh*

We also get into the draws for Spanish teams involved in the the last 16 of the Champions League and the round of 32 in the Europa League, with plenty of intriguing ties.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How often have we said that superlatives don't do Lionel Messi justice? Well, we're saying it yet again after the little Argentine started and finished the Catalan derby with 2 sensational free-kicks, Barcelona beating Espanyol 4-0 away. We're giving our marks out of 10 to both sides.

Atlético and Real Madrid both win but neither of them had it easy, while Sevilla almost won at Mestalla in LaLiga for the first time in nearly 7 years, but were denied by a late equaliser. Still, things aren't great at Valencia, and they're even worse at Villarreal who sacked their coach Javi Calleja after yet another defeat, and immediately replaced him with Luis García Plaza.

Elsewhere, we saw an 8-goal thriller between Eibar and Levante, while Athletic Club finally got 3 points under the man who's taken over from Toto Berizzo, B-team coach Gaizka Garitano.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A win, a first clean sheet in 12 LaLiga games, they're back top of the table...but Barcelona fans still aren't happy. The style of play under Ernesto Valverde is coming under intense scrutiny, despite all the injuries they've got, but nevertheless they've reclaimed top spot, and the chasing pack slipped up.

Sevilla in 2nd and Alavés in 4th drew at Mendizorrotza, while 3rd-placed Atlético Madrid were held yet again by Girona - but now Real Madrid are up to 5th and not too far off the lead after beating Valencia...Santi Solari is putting faith in the youth players, and Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric was also back on form.

There were big victories for Getafe and Levante to keep them in the European mix, and at the bottom, Leganés got a vital victory at Valladolid but Athletic Club and Villarreal can't improve their positions after defeats...Athletic in particular are in trouble after a 3-0 loss at Levante and a red card for Peru Nolaskoain.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, you think you've got LaLiga figured out and then something else happens to completely ruin your logic. This time it was Real Madrid losing 3-0 at Eibar, having seemingly found their feet under new head coach Santi Solari in recent weeks. Meanwhile Barcelona couldn't win either - in fact, they needed a very late equaliser from Ousmane Dembélé to get a point at Atlético. All of that meant Sevilla are now top after beating Real Valladolid 1-0.

But elsewhere there were other surprises...Espanyol lost to Girona, having been previously 100% at home, and Alavés also went down at Leganés, and while Valencia and Villarreal got vital home wins, Athletic can't hold on to a lead for love nor money - they drop into the bottom 3. There's plenty of VAR chatter as well, as Huesca and Getafe cry foul this time around.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a bumper edition of the minipod this week...so maybe it's a maxipod? Or a gigapod?! David Garrido, Paco Polit and Román de Arquer are involved in this one and first up, we cover Spain who lost to Croatia to stop them reaching the Final Four in the UEFA Nations League, but then beat Bosnia in a friendly to round off 2018 - we dissect those matches and discuss how it's gone far under Luis Enrique and what the prospects are now for La Roja going forward.

Then in part 2 it's on Spain's under-21s - as we pick out some talents to look out for in future, including some not even playing in LaLiga at the moment! We also chat a bit of women's football with their Clásico between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid over the last weekend, plus we look ahead to Matchday 13 in LaLiga, featuring in particular Atleti v Barça at the Wanda.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LaLiga continues to throw up surprise after surprise, and this week it came primarily with Barcelona losing a 7-goal thriller against Real Betis at the Camp Nou - it's their first home defeat in the league since September 2016. We discuss how and why it's happened, with the chasing pack reducing the gap to just 1 point as all of Atlético Madrid, Sevilla & Alavés came from behind to win.

The other big stories came at Balaídos in Galicia, where Real Madrid won 4-2 against Celta Vigo, making sure that Santi Solari stayed in charge for the foreseeable future, but it also led to Celta deciding to ditch Antonio Mohamed and bringing in Miguel Cardoso - we'll tell you more about the new man.

Elsewhere, Valencia got a vital victory to move up the table, but Athletic Club and Villarreal continue to struggle - so how long will their coaches last?

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matchday 11 in LaLiga was about late goals...we had 10 of them in the 80th minute or later spread across the games...and Barcelona needed to score 2 in the last 5 minutes to snatch the win at Rayo Vallecano - Luis Suárez continuing his scoring streak to rescue Barça in the absence of Lionel Messi. Real Madrid also scored twice late on to beat Real Valladolid.

It wasn't a great weekend for the chasing pack - Atlético Madrid and Sevilla held away from home, Alavés lost at Eibar, but Espanyol go back into 2nd place after defeating Athletic Club. As for the big-name strugglers, Valencia were booed off the pitch with the white hankies out at Mestalla after their 0-1 loss to Girona, and Villarreal only just scraped a draw against Levante.

We've also got your 3-word verdicts on the weekend, and we hear from a few fans too.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There might have been no Messi and no Ronaldo, but Clásicos NEVER lack drama and Sunday's match at the Camp Nou was no different. Barcelona's 5-1 victory at home to Real Madrid sent them back to the top of the table, and in the process ended Julen Lopetegui's reign as Madrid head coach. We discuss the big talking points in the game, why it's gone wrong for Los Blancos under the ex-Spain boss, and who Madrid should get in long-term to replace Lopetegui.

We also take you through the rest of Matchday 10 in LaLiga, featuring:

- Alavés score an injury-time winner to go 2nd in the table

- Sevilla and Atlético Madrid dominate at home, they sit 3rd and 4th

- but Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Club continue to struggle

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You could almost hear a pin drop as Lionel Messi was down receiving treatment after falling awkwardly on his arm...and despite already inspiring Barcelona towards victory at home to Sevilla on LaLiga Matchday 9, he will now be out for 3 weeks, meaning he'll miss El Clásico next Sunday.

In this minipod, we discuss that with one of our squad members based in Barcelona, plus how Barça cope without Messi...while Real Madrid continue to stagger and stumble with a home defeat to Levante, heaping the pressure on Julen Lopetegui. Atlético Madrid didn't take advantage as they failed to beat Villarreal, so instead, it's a top 3 of Barcelona, Espanyol and the remarkable Alavés.

Real Valladolid are another little team doing brilliantly - their win at Real Betis taking them up to 6th above Real Madrid, but it's not so fun for Valencia as they drew again at home to Leganés. La Liga is proving even more competitive than usual in a truly compelling season so far.

Here's where you can catch our content on our other platforms...

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/LaLigaLowdown

YouTube - https://youtube.com/c/LaLigaLowdown

Website - https://www.laligalowdown.com

Enjoy!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.