La Liga 2018/19
- Thread starter El Flaco
- Start date
El Gato
Villarato!
Thought we didn't care about La Liga.
You don't. It's autopilot minimum level for Messi man
Dude has like 4 games all season where he hasn't scored or assisted. Nope, I would MUCH rather have Real and Atleti 8 and 9 points from us (If we win tomorrow) or 6 and 7 (Draw) 5 and 6 (Loss) than Atleti within 3-6 points of us. Bilbao will be hard tomorrow as will Real and Sevilla away, the others you mentioned are just normal tough La Liga fixtures which you and Atleti will have games similar to. Also never said it was "good" for us, I said you winning or a draw was the "best" result for us as Atleti before the Betis game were 18 unbeaten, I thought that might have been a one off game and they would continue grinding those results out but thanks to Real they don't have a chance to be within 3 points of us.
Historically you don't do well with large leads going into spring, no matter who it is you face. Alaves and Getafe still to play aren't that easy fixtures no matter what you may think. That's putting aside all these away games.
This 8-9 point league can evaporate quicker than you think given some unforeseen circumstances i.e. injury to Arthur/Dembele/Alba. You're also looking somewhat poorer on fitness already.
Honestly, I don't think you'll lose the league in the end, but it'll be be 2-4 points, not 10.
Joan
Well-known member
Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
Yes but that game is against Levante which they should comfortably win even with some rotations while we have to go out with our best XI to get a win against Sevilla at the Pizjuan.
The fact of the matter is, if we count by the number of "tough" games left this is the picture:
Us: Athletic away, Sevilla away, Madrid away, Betis away, Villarreal away, Celta away (traditionally we struggled to win there), Atletico home. 7 in total.
Madrid: Us home, Valencia away, Sociedad (?) away. 3 in total.
Atletico: Atheltic away, us away, Sevilla home. 3 in total.
Not to mention we are playing CL games in the midst of this tough schedule left. We have a lot more room to drop points compared to those two Madrid fuckers.
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raskolnikov
Well-known member
Luckily we have a solid lead. We will definitly need it coming two months.
San mames is a must win tomorrow. Dont care how it happens.
Leo_Messi
New member
Missed the game but suspected that Patético would lose. I always stated, throughout the season, even when they were fairly close to us, that this season's version of Patético could not be a threat to us long-term. Back to RM being the main rival in the league.
Anyway I don't see us losing the league title. It would require a monumental blackout of epic proportions.
Happy with the RM win. For once we are better in head to head games (no way are we going to lose 6-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu) than them so if we win tomorrow it will essentially be a 8+ point lead. Patético went out of the CdR and thus have more rest than us and RM. They will likely go out against Juve as well, allowing them to have full focus on the league. So every points that they drop, is great news. Dislike their destructive style as well. In particular the current "false version" of their traditional (under Simeone) style with a washed up defence compared to when they were at their best.
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soul24rage
Senior Member
I think Real Madrid are going to do 2-3 changes max of rotation vs Levante if they think they have a chance to win the league. And you're right we have a tougher schedule compared to the others, but I don't expect RM to win all their remaining games. Let's see how we do vs Bilbao first.
Vilarrubi
New member
There is no "easy" fixtures in La Liga agreed, but I don't see how the tough games left to play, potential injuries are problems only Barca could face........ the same applies to you and Atleti and historically (Recent history) we've come out on top. Real have definitely hit some form recently and improved but that wasn't hard after Lopetegui's effort. Back to the original point i'd much rather have both you and Atleti at arms length in the league rather than either one of you within 3 points, if that was the case then every game we play would have added pressure.
Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
I am afraid that a 5-point-lead, even an 8-point-lead should we win tomorrow might not be enough.
The most important thing for me is that we need to manage our match fitness, injuries and fatigues and manage to get ourselves to the best form we can get in the next couple of months.
Leo_Messi
New member
I don't recall all the remaining league fixtures of all 3 teams but I am quite sure that both RM and Atlético have quite a few more difficult games on paper. Not to mention that both are competing in the CL as well, there not being any easy games in the best league in the world and them simply being worse teams than us in a league format where consistency is key. Obviously both will put up a fight but can you really see this season's version of Atlético and this season's version of RM catch us? I honestly can't. I think that the bookies agree as well since we are huge favorites to win the league.
El Gato
Villarato!
They have to think it, otherwise it's gambling everything on getting a good draw in the CL and somehow beating Barca in the Copa semi to salvage anything material from this season.
Almost surely there'll be more changes in between bigger cup games. Most of our squad players are capable to pull off a result on a good stretch of form and even those that aren't (notably Marcelo, Isco and to an extent Asensio) will need to step in for Girona, Levante and games in between potential CL knockouts in April. Marcelo needs at least some minutes as Regui health hasn't been fully tested yet, Odriozola will play for Carvajal, Ceballos will step in for either Kroos or Modrić, Lucas cannot and should not play every game and will swap out for Bale. Vinicius is likely to get jaded by April if he continues to start in every fixture.
There are things for Madrid to think about in order to keep winning - one major one is having a plan B when Vinicius isn't on the pitch. So far the only options include:
a) getting Bale and Asensio to provide a scoring boost from the wings
b) trying to go gamble with diamond with Reguilon pushing higher up, Asensio as #10 with Benzema-Mariano up top.
These are the most pressing concerns really.
Luftstalag14
Culé de Celestial Empire
Yes we are the favorites to win the league but it is a fact that we have a much tougher schedule compared to those two Madrid teams, especially Real Madrid. If we include the likes of Alaves and Eibar (I remember how they dominated our midfield at their place) which by no means should be taken for granted we have even more tougher games left. If we are not careful we will slip.
I am especially concerned about Real Madrid. They are gaining form lately and once they get through the next two weeks they can afford to rotate heavily for league games while focusing on the CL. They have always been and will always be our No.1 competitor in all titles.
El Gato
Villarato!
8 point lead. Potentially. Bilbao haven't lost a home league game since October. Shouldn't be a walk in the park.
Leo_Messi
New member
Not sure about our fixture list being "much" tougher. It's only on paper as well. Most of our dropped points this season in the league where dropped against teams that we should have won "easily" against on paper. Girona at home, Leganés away, Athletic at home, Betis at home and arguably Valencia at home. That is 12 dropped points out of 16 dropped points.
So that on "paper" thing, I won't take too seriously. We tend to play better in more difficult games (on paper that is) anyway.
Not concerned at all. Never truly was at any point in the season.
Anyway took a quick glance at RM's schedule. They can easily drop points against Leganes away, against us at home, Valladolid away, Celta at home, Valencia away, Leganés away, Getafe away, Villarreal at home, La Real away and Betis at home. Would not put it past them dropping points against the other opponents as well, home and away. Sure, they have an easier schedule on paper but they need to catch our potentially 9 point lead from tomorrow onwards. Against a team with the better squad, GOAT and the most stable league team in Europe in the past 30 years (8 league wins in 11 seasons in the best league of the world), is a monumental task. What occurred in 2006-07, only happens once or twice each century.
8 points won't do it as we are better head to head. Unless you guys win 6-1 or more next month but the earth's core exploding tonight is more likely to occur than that.
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