La Liga Thoughts & Rambles: GW5
Upsets, controversy, and wild celebrations. Plus, the return of the UEFA Champions League.
Whilst most of you (weirdos, if you ask me) were watching Arsenal host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, I chose to park myself in front of the telly and really immerse myself in Getafe vs. Real Oviedo. Now, that’s dedication…
Round 4
The stand-out game of Round 4 was between current champions Barcelona and Valencia. As mentioned in the previous edition, the reopening of Camp Nou was delayed just days before Los Che were supposed to visit, resulting in Barça having to play at the Johan Cruff Stadium. As if the logistical nightmare hadn’t infuriated travelling Valencia fans enough, they also had to endure an all-too-familiar Catalonian thumping.
Barça’s starting eleven was curious in terms of attack - with Yamal injured, Lewandowski and Raphinha benched (the latter punished for lateness), offensive duties fell to Marcus Rashford, Ferran Torres, and Roony Bardghji, a young Swedish forward making his competitive debut after signing from FC Copenhagen in the summer.
Rashford was heavily involved from the off, as were a number of players, and with fifteen minutes on the clock, Barcelona had already had seven shots. But, it was around half an hour in when Torres linked up with arguably Barça’s best number ten, Fermín López, to open the scoring.
Raphinha, with a point to prove, joined his teammates on the pitch after half-time. He didn’t take long to make amends for his poor punctuality, and slotted home a wonderful pass from Marcus Rashford, marking the England man’s first goal involvement since joining on loan from Manchester Utd.
And it was at that point that Valencia began to fall apart. A second Fermín López goal just three minutes later made it 3-0, before Raphinha made it four ten minutes after. Lewandowski was brought on for a run out on ‘68, and joined Raphinha and Fermín in scoring a brace of his own.
An absolute dismantling of Valencia in the second half gave the travelling fans a strong, bitter taste of prefiguration, with Barça now making it 18-1 on aggregate over the last three matches (7-1, 0-5, 6-0).
“Today, it hurts a lot that it happened again against them. We came into this one hoping to have a good game, but it didn’t work out.”
- Jose Gayá, Valencia captain, speaking to the Official Club Website
It took just two minutes for Real Madrid’s Arda Güler to open the scoring in San Sebastián on Saturday, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside in the build up. Despite being chalked off, Real Sociedad’s chances were already looking bleak from the first whistle, and the disallowed goal was merely a sign of things to come.
Ten minutes later, in a rapid turn of pace, Kylian Mbappé latched on to a lazy pass from Sociedad’s Mikel Goti, and inevitably fired past Álex Remino to get his landmark 50th goal for the club, and to make it 1-0.
By the half hour mark, though, it wasn’t just Sociedad boss Sergio Fransisco feeling hard done-by, as Xabi Alonso was forced to dramatically switch things up after Dean Huijsen was sent off for a last-man foul on Mikel Oyarzabal by the referee, who had no VAR interference.
Alonso had every right to be fuming as Oyarzabal was in a 1v2 situation—it was never a red.
The Real Madrid boss was booked himself for so much protest, as Sociedad looked to take full advantage of having the extra man. However, it was redemption for Güler and Madrid, who would score next on the stroke of half-time.
I didn’t fancy Sociedad to score, least of all win, and despite sparks of hope being ignited once more for Sociedad fans through a penalty goal from—you guessed it—Mikel Oyarzabal, the game would finish 2-1 to Los Blancos, who made it four wins from four games.
Arguably the biggest anti-climax of Round 4 was the Basque Derby. As mentioned previously, I had anticipated Bilbao, who were without Nico Williams, to make a club-record winning start to the season, by emulating Madrid in making four out of four. The stage was set in a packed San Mamés, as an absolute ocean of red and white shirts hugged the rim of the pitch. Unfortunately for those who backed my “Winning Treble” last week, Alavés made the short journey home with all three points after a remarkable fluke own goal from Alex Berenguer.
Monday night football was an interesting spectacle, as Mallorca travelled onto the mainland, namely Catalonia, to take on an Espanyol side who are, by all accounts, exceeding expectations so far.
A dramatic first half saw three goals, a penalty and a sending off.
Pere Milla opened the scoring, before Roberto Fernández headed in a cross from Manchester-born Tyrhys Dolan to make it 2-0 to Espanyol. A glimmer of hope came late in the first half for Mallorca, as Vedat Muriqi scored his third goal in as many La Liga games this season after scoring from the spot.
Despite the scoreline, it would’ve had to have been Mallorca who went into half-time feeling the more confident, as Pere Milla got himself sent off right on the stroke of the whistle. The visitors did indeed capitalise on their confidence and earned their much-needed equaliser, but Espanyol defied the odds as veteran striker Kike Garcia converted a penalty of his own in the final ten minutes.
Off the Mark
Girona finally got a point on the board thanks to their new man Vladyslav Vanat, who scored his debut goal in their 1-1 draw away at Celta Vigo. It quite easily could have been three points, had they not given a way a penalty in the last minute, which Borja Iglesias put away.
Girona didn’t stay off the bottom spot for long though, as Levante also got off the mark after forcing Real Betis to share the points in a 2-2 draw in Valencia. The hosts were 2-0 up inside ten minutes, forcing Betis to throw everything but the kitchen sink at their opponents, eventually clawing one back on the stroke of half-time, and equalising in the 81st minute.
We Need to Talk About Diego
“I used to enjoy winning, but now it’s just a relief.”
There’s been a lot of speculation about Simeone’s position this season. His side have had a bad start, and in an interview with El Partidazo de Cope, the Atleti boss was raw and honest about his position:
“I know we have to win. I’ve known it for four years. Why? Because I still believe that if Atlético wants to continue growing and improving as a club and a team, we have to win again. And we won in 95/96, 2014, 2021… and now it’s time. It’s time.”
“For us this year, next year, whoever is here, me or whoever is, it’s time, we have to win.”
Big talk needs to be backed up, and he did just that in Saturday’s game against Villarreal.
Estadio Metropolitano were singing his name pre-match, and within ten minutes, their support had paid off, as Julián Alvarez set up midfielder Pablo Barrios for just his second professional career goal. Villarreal fought back, but it was Atleti who doubled their lead in the second half through a Nicolás González debut goal.
After the customary handshake with the opposing manager, Simeone would rush down the tunnel into the dressing room ordinarily, but this time he entered the pitch after the final whistle and celebrated with his players in what felt like a momentous win…
… and then that happened.
Round 5
Round 5 kicks off on Friday evening with a fixture which, at first glance, has seldom looked less dull. Real Betis host Real Sociedad - a royal battle between two teams who have only mustered up 8 points between them out of a possible 27. But Betis, who fought back valiantly against Levante when facing defeat, will be looking to build on the momentum gained from the draw and get some more points on the board before hosting Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League next week.
And Sociedad, well… Sociedad need to win. Sergio Fransisco needs to win, and luckily for him, his skipper Mikel Oyarzabal absolutely loves playing Betis. It’s the club he’s played most in his career, contributing to twelve goals in fifteen games.
League leaders Real Madrid host the in-form Espanyol, who will face their first (and most likely hardest) test of the season so far. They travel to the Bernabeu in search of a first win since 1996, to take on a Madrid side who will be without Dean Huijsen (suspended) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (injured) but remain in high spirits after defeating Marseille 2-1 in the UCL during midweek.
Valencia will be hoping to sweep last round’s result under the carpet and move on, and will aim take advantage of a Bilbao side who have had a rough week. After losing 1-0 to Alavés, they hosted Arsenal in the first round of the UCL, losing 2-0.
Diego Simeone will be hoping his outburst on Merseyside won’t affect team morale too much, after what felt like a turning point win vs. Villarreal in the last league game. Atleti suffered an agonising last-minute defeat at the hands of Premier League champions and current table-toppers Liverpool, but they travel to the Balearic Islands on Sunday to take on a Mallorca team who sit 19th in the table with just one point from four games.
Finally, Barcelona host Getafe at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in the final game of Round 4, and it will be interesting to see what sort of side Hansi Flick chooses to keep Real Madrid on their toes at the top of the table. Yamal is still a doubt, and after his midweek performance against Newcastle in the UCL, it’s hard to see a scenario where Rashford doesn’t start. Ferran Torres has morphed into an out and out number 9 this season, but Lewandowski’s brace in the last game raises questions of who will be leading the line on the opening whistle.
Getafe have never beaten Barcelona away from home, but they’ve already broken one club record this season, by way of their best ever start to a campaign (W3 L1).
The Winning Treble
I was surprised and quite disappointed with the treble last week. In hindsight, Rayo were due a loss and never win in Pamplona, but I really couldn’t see Alavés beating Bilbao…
That being said, we’re taking another chance with Rayo. I’m convinced this side has more to offer and this is the type of game I can see them winning convincingly. They take on Celta Vigo who were really dull last time out against Girona, and only just scraped a point in the dying embers. 11/8 is value.
Elche—who I don’t think we’ve actually covered at all in the series yet—have had a great start; draws against Betis, Atleti and Sevilla, and a 2-0 win against Levante. They’re 10/11 to continue this unbeaten run against struggling Real Oviedo, whose manager Veljko Paunavić will be watching from the stands, after an accumulation of yellow cards.
The third pick is Atleti. I’m hoping Simeone’s head loss won’t worsen the situation, and will actually serve as a positive; it’s exactly the kind of passion this side are in need of at the minute. At 3/4, they’re the best price of the odds-on shots.
Predictions
Real Betis v Sociedad - Draw
Girona v Levante - Girona win
Real Madrid v Espanyol - Real Madrid win
Alavés v Sevilla - Draw
Villarreal v Osasuna - Draw
Valencia v Athletic Bilbao - Draw
Rayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo - Rayo Vallecano win
Mallorca v Atletico Madrid - Atletico Madrid win
Elche v Real Oviedo - Elche win
Barcelona v Getafe - Barcelona win
Roughly 2,3000/1 for this week’s 10-fold.
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