La Liga Lowdown

Another weekend of significant results, but the most significant is that Barcelona can win LaLiga again in this next week after their 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad. 2 defenders scored for them, while it was Karim Benzema whose hat-trick gave Real Madrid their most convincing performance of late, beating Athletic Club 3-0. Standby for some stunning stats about the Frenchman...It was 4th v 5th but Sevilla lost 3-0 at Getafe, and both sides finished with 10 men as referee Mateu Lahoz made himself the centre of attention - as per. Valencia took advantage by beating Real Betis away, with 2 rapier strikes from Gonzalo Guedes, but Rodrigo replaced the injured Denis Cheryshev and then got sent off. It's a compelling battle between those 3 teams for that 4th place...In the relegation battle, the bottom 2 drew which helped neither side as it finished Rayo 0 Huesca 0, but there were vital wins for Celta Vigo and Villarreal, both at home, both 2-1, while Levante and Valladolid both came from behind b

With the title race pretty much done in LaLiga, we had to major on the 4 derbies this week, especially the ones in Seville and Valencia, and in particular the 5-goal thriller at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán where Sevilla beat Real Betis 3-2. These 2 go at it hammer and tongs right from the first whistle, and even before then, the Sevilla anthem sends shivers down your spine. Just check out our Twitter feed -- @LaLigaLowdown -- if you don't believe us...Along with that game, Valencia took the local bragging rights against a Levante side whose defence is horrendously bad, and Getafe just about got a point at Real Valladolid to keep their hopes alive of finishing in the Champions League places. It was a result that wounded Valladolid more than it really helped Geta.Villarreal were the big winners this week in the relegation scrap, beating Girona 1-nil at Montilivi - Girona are so bad at home, it's just getting silly now. Rayo Vallecano lost by a single goal in 5 at Athletic Club, an

Oi, Diego Costa - the LaLiga title race is officially over, thanks to you. After you got sent off, Atlético Madrid held out at the Camp Nou until 85 minutes...and then lost. Just imagine what they might have done if you hadn't lost your rag... So yes, Barcelona are now 11 points clear after that 2-0 win over Atleti in the biggest fixture of Matchday 31, and that should really be that. Real Madrid might still finish 2nd - they needed to give their heads a wobble at home to Eibar and eventually turned that game around to win, but the Bernabéu still basically hates Gareth Bale. Elsewhere, Getafe and Sevilla both won in the race for 4th.As for the relegation battle, bottom side Huesca got a point at Levante who are sailing worryingly close to the bottom 3, while Villarreal missed a last-minute penalty and lost 2-1 at Real Betis, Santi Cazorla was seen crying after full-time. But it's not all tears and fears - the best result belongs to Rayo Vallecano after their 2-0 victory over Valencia,

At half-time of Celta Vigo's home game with Villarreal, it looked like the hosts were totally dead and buried...but for the irresistible force which is Iago Aspas, especially at Balaídos. 45 minutes later, Celta had fought back from 0-2 to win 3-2 and give their LaLiga survival hopes a real shot in the arm. The image of the night was Iago Aspas weeping on the bench, overcome by the emotion of it all - no doubt then about the hero of the weekend on Matchday 29 in LaLiga.In terms of the other relegation-threatened teams, all of Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Real Valladolid held leads, but none of them could see take 3 points - even though plucky Huesca almost got a single point away to Real Madrid, before losing 3-2. Levante also dropped 2 points at home to Eibar.As for the title race, it really is Barcelona's to lose. They remain 10 points clear with now 9 games to go, after eventually getting past a stubborn Espanyol 2-0 - Lionel Messi with both goals, the first of which was a Panenka-style f

The Euro 2020 qualifiers are underway, and Spain are 2 from 2...so how are they shaping up after the excitement of the Nations League? In this special international podcast, Euan McTear hosts with Paco Polit and Román de Arquer as his guests, as we recap the 2-1 win over Norway and the 2-0 victory in Malta. If those scorelines sound underwhelming...it's because they were. So why did La Roja find it hard to smash their way through supposedly inferior opposition? We'll look at the situation with the strikers, who should lead the line, and what did we make of the rotations literally everywhere from Luis Enrique?One team who did impress were the Spain under-21s so we discuss the future stars of the national side and we also talk about Catalunya after they played Venezuela. Don't forget LaLiga returns this weekend with Matchday 29 and some intriguing encounters such as the Barcelona derby (Barça v Espanyol), Sevilla against Valencia, and the battle of the southern Madrid suburbs (Getafe v

You might as well just give Barcelona the title now. With 10 games to go they're 10 points clear, after another Lionel Messi-inspired display at Real Betis. That 4-1 win, coupled with Atlético Madrid's 2-0 defeat at Athletic Club means that the title race is effectively over, barring a total implosion from the champions.Real Madrid have got Zinedine Zidane back in the dugout, so we chat about the impact he's had already, how it might affect Gareth Bale and Marcelo's futures at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, as well as youth development - at least Zizou kicked off with a win second time around, as Madrid beat Celta 2-0 at home.Sevilla and Alavés both won to put pressure on 4th-placed Getafe, who drew at Valencia in a relatively dull game...and just up the road, Villarreal came from behind to defeat fellow relegation strugglers Rayo Vallecano 3-1. Elsewhere, Real Valladolid scored twice in stoppage-time to win at Eibar - a huge result.LaLiga now takes a break as we turn our attention to the Spain

It's a momentous time for Valencia - it's their 100th birthday this month, and the momentum is building in their season as well. Los Che are through to the Copa del Rey final, they've qualified for the quarter-finals of the Europa League and they're on an unbeaten run in LaLiga which is edging them up towards that 4th place which they covet to return to the Champions League next season.In this bonus podcast, La Liga Lowdown's Paco Polit discusses all the big talking points with Che Scandinavia, a fan group from the most northern part of Europe. Hans and Oscar are representing this "peña", and they give their thoughts on how Valencia have turned their season around after a difficult start, who the main players have been, who has disappointed, who has delighted, with particular focus on a couple of the youth products, Ferrán and Kang-in Lee.They also tell us about their first memories of Mestalla, and discuss what is so good about the mad festival of "Fallas", which is this time of year in Valencia, a

The more things change, the more things stay the same...in some ways, it was a weird weekend. Madrid won, for one - that hadn't happened for 2 weeks. And Atleti played musical chairs with left-backs. And Barcelona went behind to the 2nd-bottom side...but guess what? Yes, they won. Again. LaLiga is theirs...The big results came just below that top 3. Getafe were trailing Huesca but Jaime Mata got them all 3 points to keep them 4th, and Sevilla, Valencia and Real Betis all got victories too...that battle for Champions League and Europa League is on, but you heard it here first...GETA ARE GOING TO FINISH 4TH.As for the relegation battle, Villarreal are out of the bottom 3 for the first time in a couple of months...was it a plucky battle and a hard-fought win? No, it wasn't. It was a game where neither they nor Levante wanted to win, but somehow the Yellow Submarine did. Oh, and Celta lost their first match under Fran Escribá.Hope you enjoy our little meander thro

In this bonus podcast, Euan McTear speaks to 2 colleagues in the Spanish capital about Real Madrid after Los Blancos suffered 7 days of their worst nightmares: being knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Barcelona, then losing in LaLiga to Barcelona and finally (and perhaps most shockingly) throwing away a 2-1 away first-leg advantage to crash out of the Champions League to Ajax.In part 1, Euan and Robbie Dunne pick apart the week of woe, why it's gone so badly wrong, they discuss how much head coach Santi Solari is to blame or how much he has been let down by his players, and how much pressure is now on the Madrid president Florentino Pérez to take the right steps going forward.In part 2, Euan speaks to Kiyan Sobhani about the Real Madrid loanees who are at other clubs, including Mateo Kovacic and Theo Hernández, but also the likes of Oscar Rodríguez at Leganés, Borja Mayoral at Levante and Raúl de Tomás at Rayo Vallecano. So how bright could the future look for Real Madrid, and who is likely to retur

Real Madrid fans, we apologise. This won't be an easy listen. But it will be a comprehensive one, as we pick apart all the big talking points of El Clásico - the 4th clash between Madrid & Barcelona this season, and a 3rd win for Barça coming swiftly after their victory at the Bernabéu in the Copa del Rey. Gerard Piqué was majestic, but a few other players also stood out in an intense match. David Garrido speaks to Euan McTear in Madrid and Román de Arquer in Barcelona to dissect the big game of the weekend, but that wasn't the only action on another potentially pivotal Matchday 26 in Spain's top division...David chats with Alex Jonson about Atlético who are just about keeping the LaLiga title race alive thanks to Alvaro Morata, and also the breaking story at Celta Vigo after they changed coach...and Paco Polit was at Mestalla as Valencia won and moved up to 7th in the table, but Villarreal lost yet again.We also wrap up the rest of the games well inside half an hour, including Huesca'

What would Barcelona do without Lionel Messi? Well, lose a lot more for a start. The little Argentine came back to haunt Sevilla once again with an utterly outstanding hat-trick, helping them come from 1-0 and 2-1 to win at the Sanchez Pizjuan in the last 5 minutes. We celebrate Leo and all his stats, but it's still a bit of a worrying picture for out-of-sorts Philippe Coutinho...Even more worrying is how referee Iglesias Villanueva gave a penalty as Casemiro got only feather-light contact from Cheick Doucouré if anything, perhaps one of the most controversial calls of the season, as Real Madrid beat Levante...VAR once again in the spotlight. If it wasn't used, why? Whose fault is it? Why couldn't they get it right? We are demanding answers...Atleti also won, as did Getafe, and we're talking up LaLiga's unfashionable side from the southern Madrid suburbs, because they bloody well deserve it, even if you don't really like them.That meant defeats for Villarreal & Rayo, whi

There are so many talking points surrounding the LaLiga champions and Copa del Rey holders, and in this special bonus podcast edition, Román de Arquer speaks to respected journalist Marco Chiazza. If you're a Barcelona fan, or even if you're not, this is definitely for you. Roman & Marco discuss all of the following topics, in a tight but informing half-an-hour chat:- reaction to Barça's Champions League draw with Lyon- why the rotations aren't quite working at the moment- Coutinho, Arthur and Kevin-Prince Boateng - how are they doing?- contract situations for Valverde, Jordi Alba and Rakitic- the 2 Clásicos coming up against Real Madrid in Copa del Rey and LaLiga- what titles will Barcelona win this season?Thanks so much to Marco for coming on the show and speaking to us - you can follow him at @MarcoChiazza on Twitter, and you can follow us @LaLigaLowdown.Enjoy!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Just when you thought you could predict LaLiga, it does something else to confuse you, and this time it's called Real Madrid. Every bit of form pointed towards them not only beating Girona but MAULING THEM...and yet they lost 2-1 at home, and it was basically all their fault. And it's also their fault that Barcelona keep inching further ahead, without doing anything special.Lionel Messi's tale of 2 penalties was the main storyline from the Camp Nou as Barça just about did enough to beat Real Valladolid, and Atlético weren't much better in their victory at Rayo. For all the big teams, they're struggling to rotate effectively, as the Champions League returns. Sevilla also found that out to their cost as they lost 3-0 at Villarreal - a very poor performance.So that's 3 vital points for the Yellow Submarine, helped by the fact that Huesca and Rayo lost, and Celta did too, in perhaps the most woeful display of the weekend, smashed 4-1 by Levante.It's super tight by the way in the bunfight for E

You can still hear the fans arguing in the bars of Madrid. To say there were a few controversial or questionable decisions in Saturday's derby is putting it mildly, and the poor old buggers in the VAR booth were right at the centre of it all...but the fact is Real Madrid beat Atleti to go 2nd in the table - they were better, and it's now 5 straight LaLiga wins for them, just 6 points off Barcelona. The champions looked flat away to Athletic Club, and in fact could have lost this game if it wasn't for Marc-André ter Stegen...Sevilla drew too, getting a Desmond at home to Eibar, but only just...they had been 0-2 down with 10 men with less than 3 minutes to go, before Pablo Sarabia inspired the comeback. Getafe and Alavés both stay to keep on Sevilla's coat-tails, while at the bottom Huesca won a 2nd consecutive game, defeating the woefully out-of-form Girona at Montilivi, but Villarreal continue to struggle and Rayo make up the bottom 3.Elsewhere Leganés smashed Betis 3-nil at home, while Celta threw a bi

In our first special bonus edition of the La Liga Lowdown podcast, Euan McTear speaks to Madrid-based journalist and reporter Antía André about everything that's going on at the 2 big clubs in the Spanish capital.In a comprehensive chat, they discuss their current form, and also the huge derby at the Wanda Metropolitano this weekend, so find out who Euan and Antía are backing for the game itself...here's a clue: they don't agree!There's discussion of Alvaro Morata and whether he'll have an impact in the game, as well as Karim Benzema who has hit form, while Euan & Antía also talk about both clubs' genuine hopes in the Champions League as the competition moves into the knockout stages - Madrid face Ajax, Atleti meet Juventus.Don't forget to check out our Twitter feed, @LaLigaLowdown, for all of the coverage of Matchday 23 in Spain's top division, and our next podcast, also broadcast on SiriusXM FC 157 in North America is out next Tuesday.Enjoy!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt

"Expect the unexpected" is the theme of LaLiga this season - Barcelona were held by Valencia (rescued by Leo Messi again), then Atlético Madrid could have made up ground on the leaders but they lost at Real Betis...Sevilla also went to out-of-form Celta Vigo, and they lost too. So that's 3 of the top 4 failing to win. Real Madrid have hit form though, 3-nil winners over Alavés.The chasing pack is starting to look a bit more familiar - Valencia & Real Sociedad are prowling just outside the Europa League places, with La Real upsetting the form book and defeating Athletic Club in the Basque derby. It means they're still unbeaten under coach Imanol Alguacil.But the relegation fight is getting even tastier - Huesca win, Villarreal draw, Celta win, Leganés win - a huge reaction from the strugglers. The scrap to avoid the drop pretty much involves anyone from 11th down, so tight are things in the bottom half of the table - it's a thrilling battle.We also look ahead to the Copa del Rey se

Are Real Madrid back for good? Like REALly back? (Sorry.) Suddenly the boys in white (or actually a weird pinky red this week) are looking like European champions, with big names starring and scoring - especially Karim Benzema as they won at Espanyol. Question is: is he the best number 9 in the world?!Just up the road, Barcelona beat Girona but it wasn't actually all that easy - still, it's 8 straight league wins, so they stay 5 points clear of Atlético who were totally in control at home to Getafe...and we make a deep analogy about watches.Sevilla put 5 past leaky Levante who can now boast the worst defence in the division - all Sevilla's goals came in the 2nd half, all from different scorers. And they'll have enjoyed Betis' defeat at a rejuvenated Athletic Club by a goal to nil.No big team seemed fazed on Derby Day as Valencia put away a poor Villarreal who look now to be really struggling 5 points from safety - whatever new boss Luis García Plaza is doing, it really ain't work

Some things in LaLiga are odd. Like Barcelona signing Kevin-Prince Boateng. (They actually have, on loan.) But other things aren't. We witnessed some incredible goals this weekend in Spain's top flight - Casemiro for Real Madrid, Jorge Molina for Getafe, Charles for Eibar just to name a few. If you want spectacular strikes and top tekkers, then LaLiga is THE place to be.As for results, Barça made it 7 wins in a row with Dembélé starring to start off with, and Messi being Messi for the last half-hour, 2nd-placed Atlético were comfortable winners at lowly Huesca and Real Madrid finally put a decent 90 minutes together to beat Sevilla...even if it's no guarantee that it'll continue. And props to Getafe too - they stay 6th after smashing Alavés.The relegation battle is hotting up - Villarreal could only draw at home to Athletic Club, Rayo Vallecano had the points in their hands but let Real Sociedad back in, Celta also led but threw it all away against Valencia, while Eibar jumped up

This weekend we saw yet another milestone in the extraordinary career of Lionel Messi. He's now reached 400 goals in LaLiga after scoring in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Eibar, as the champions take a five-point lead into the second half of the season. The performance of Philippe Coutinho has given Ernesto Valverde food for thought, so Román tells us what the future holds for him. With Atletico Madrid winning and Sevilla losing, maybe the title race is down to two horses - we're hearing from Euan on Atleti, while Sevilla have at least got some signings through the door including Barca forward Munir - Alex tells us a little bit about their new recruits. As for the relegation battle, big wins for Leganés, Rayo Vallecano and resurgent Athletic Club, but Villarreal have plumbed new depths - defeat to Getafe leaves them second-bottom. Tough times at Valencia too - Paco was at Mestalla as they drew yet again, against Real Valladolid.Don't forget to follow us on Twitter as well - our handle is @ La

3 words: More Madrid misery. Yes, they might be European champions, but Real Madrid definitely didn't look like it as they slumped to a 6th LaLiga defeat of the season at home to Real Sociedad. We absolutely tear into Los Blancos, and deservedly so because they were truly terrible. The result leaves them 10 points off leaders Barcelona who won away to hard men Getafe, but at least they've signed a 158th young player that they barely need in Brahim Diaz... Barça were also helped by Sevilla and Atlético Madrid drawing in the glamour game of the weekend - some high-quality football in this one, but not so much from Valencia as they lost at Alavés to put Marcelino under real pressure...the result sends Alavés up to 4th, which is nuts.In the relegation battle, all of the bottom 3 won, including an historic first LaLiga home victory for Huesca, but Rayo are also showing signs of life and Athletic Club look revitalised under Gaizka Garitano...Villarreal were held to a draw at Eibar, and it's the