2023-24 Spanish La Liga Discussion Thread

[SgtPepper]

It's absolutely a new thing - as I stated before it's only the 2nd time out of 15 times. La liga over the past 15 years has usually been suffocatingly competitive at the top between Atleti,Real,and Barca forcing 96-100+ point seasons. In the Mou/Pep years 1 loss and 2-3 draws accrued was really enough to write off the title as a loss. The 2 team league point ignores the performance standard necessary to win the thing. The EPL is rarely like that. This year Girona outperformed 2 of those power houses with less budget and depth. It's ok if 1 club immolates itself - the fact that Atleti or some other clubs aren't breathing down the necks are a sign that la liga is becoming a monopoly league like the Buli.

[wco81]

But more and more, resources drive results.

Barca is in trouble but they still were among the leaders in revenues. Maybe with a couple of mediocre seasons, jersey sales and global TV ratings are down in the last year or two.

But they absolutely will have more revenues than all other teams except Real and among all clubs in Europe, maybe a handful have greater revenues.

Man U. has been down for several years but they have resources to spend. So do Chelsea, though maybe the ownership there are just reckless.

Revenues doesn't guarantee success on the pitch but they give you chances to try acquiring many players until they find a group that produces. A club like Villarreal can stay in La Liga but rarely a threat to win the league or even finish top 4. They might play Europa league some years.

[Baphomet]

I watched the Real vs. Girona game after yesterday's Spurs match. Came away very impressed by Real, their gameplan was spot on despite the makeshift back line. Girona's attack completely stalled, with the exception of a short period at the start of the second half. Vini Jr. was absolutely cooking Yan Couto on that left flank, three of Real's goals came from that side. Clear MOTM performance with a glorious curled effort into the side netting to open the scoring.

Happy to see Bellingham grab another brace: one a poacher's goal and one a result of a great run and a sublime Vini Jr. pass in behind, plus some quick thinking to take the ball around the keeper to slot in at an angle. Him going into Euro 2024 in scintillating form would be a huge bonus as an England fan, though hopefully his injury setback isn't anything too serious.

The league looks over, Real beating Girona twice is a serious psychological blow. But a CL berth would still be a great achievement for them, imo. Though I'm not sure what the regulations are, assuming City also make the CL, since I think there are rules against ownership conflicts of interest. Haven't looked too deep into it, though.

[SgtPepper]

Derpmaster general has just dropped a new hit: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/barcelona-coach-xavi-i-told-laporta-to-use-my-salary-to-sign-new-players-4486057

The coach is generally paid about half a player's wage. The only players who earn less than Xavi are Roque and Inaki Pena. The sack race between him and Tuchel is on - who can turn their fanbase against them faster? Would be such a masterclass in shithousery for Tuchel to draw the sacking (and payout) and then go to Barca midseason.

[SgtPepper]

wco81, this one is for you kid: https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1avgdv6/la_liga_salary_cap_for_the_winter_market/

Barca used to be the biggest budget for most of the last decade, beginning their precipitous decline with the signing of Neymar. Now they are smaller than Atleti thanks to consistent horrorshow financial management for 8+ years.

[wco81]

Interesting stuff.

But they must still have the highest revenues in the league other than Real. Still has to be making a lot from ticket sales and global jersey sales.

They now sell sponsorships on the jerseys and probably elsewhere too.