2023-24 Spanish La Liga Discussion Thread

[Baphomet]

New logo, new thread. Discuss the forthcoming La Liga season here. Current holders are Barcelona.

[Baphomet]

I will add that, we used to have some pretty solid discussion and activity in the La Liga threads so hopefully with a new thread we can generate a bit of activity again.

On a personal note, I used to watch this league religiously back when it was still on Sky Sports, but haven't had the chance to keep up with it since it moved, and I'd like to watch more football outside of England/European comps this coming season. I miss Spanish football. So, here's to a good 23/24 season.

[IAMZOOTED2]

Bummed it’s crickets in here. Where are all my Athletic Club brothers?

[Baphomet]

Bummed it’s crickets in here. Where are all my Athletic Club brothers?

Yeah, it's a shame. Who knows, maybe we'll get something during the season, but most of the fans of Spanish teams are gone from here.

[Baphomet]

Bellingham is killing La Liga so far. 2 goals and an assist against Almeria yesterday, following up a goal in his league debut against Athletic Club the previous week. What a talent.

[MetalFingaz]

Watching the replay of Atleti-Vallecano. What a player Griezmann is.

[SgtPepper]

After the last winter window and Ancelotti's retention I knew Real were on trajectory to double down on their worst mistakes like leaving Benzema with no comparable replacement or addressing the lack of Carvajal successor, issues that are 3+ years old. Then KSA comes in this summer and eats out the 2nd and 3rd tier of best players in Europe and now all the European leagues are weaker in overall talent even if relieved by the payouts. Bellingham is lipstick on the pig as far as I'm concerned, and masking the real issue that Modric should have been forced out last summer via replacement and instead Madrid's most consistent midfield starter of that CL cohort has been sold and plays for Utd. The cherry on top of the fairly predictable idiocy of Madrid and Barca is that Atleti executed a perfect summer transfer window including picking up the best left back in the league over the last 3 seasons (on discount valuation) and managed to gift Barcelona that human brick Joao Felix to haunt Cancelo's UCL dreams. My guess is Barca win the league, atleti gets 2nd, Real 3rd. The only club among them with UCL level potential is Atleti. The biggest loser is la liga.

[MetalFingaz]

After the last winter window and Ancelotti's retention I knew Real were on trajectory to double down on their worst mistakes like leaving Benzema with no comparable replacement or addressing the lack of Carvajal successor, issues that are 3+ years old. Then KSA comes in this summer and eats out the 2nd and 3rd tier of best players in Europe and now all the European leagues are weaker in overall talent even if relieved by the payouts. Bellingham is lipstick on the pig as far as I'm concerned, and masking the real issue that Modric should have been forced out last summer via replacement and instead Madrid's most consistent midfield starter of that CL cohort has been sold and plays for Utd. The cherry on top of the fairly predictable idiocy of Madrid and Barca is that Atleti executed a perfect summer transfer window including picking up the best left back in the league over the last 3 seasons (on discount valuation) and managed to gift Barcelona that human brick Joao Felix to haunt Cancelo's UCL dreams. My guess is Barca win the league, atleti gets 2nd, Real 3rd. The only club among them with UCL level potential is Atleti. The biggest loser is la liga.

Madrid doesn't have infinite money. But they're top of La Liga with the most goals scored and fewest conceded. Things could be worse!

Also Casemiro is not good these days.

[SgtPepper]

Top of LA Liga due to easy strength of schedule so far; it's pretty similar to the flattering start by Rafa Benitez's Real before being exposed by the good teams.

[Baphomet]

What Bellingham is doing is honestly insane. He just virtually singlehandedly won the Clasico for Real at the Camp Nou.

Without wanting to put too much hype and pressure on his shoulders, it's clear to see there's ATG potential there. His maturity, composure and eye for goal are remarkable.

[SgtPepper]

He's papering over how bad Real's defense is this year with Militao out for the season and the lack of a real striker. Barca started Joao Felix and went 3 at the back against a frontline with 2 false 9's, and Ancelotti's tactics vs Barca tend to be better than vs la liga. I still think this Madrid will bottle the league against Barca or Atleti despite winning the clasico and being top a quarter of the way in.

[SgtPepper]

I don't think Girona has the depth to compete for la liga over the whole season, but they have some very good players. Their 19yo new winger Savio is already topping the league's expected threat rankings. Jude's base stats are also pretty interesting - he's scored 5 over xG and has the top shooting goals added in the league which is a metric connoting shot placement skill. When a player outperforms xG by a lot there's 2 possibilities - they're incredibly skillful finishers and can consistently outscore xg or lucky (usually the case). It's not clear which camp Jude falls into yet.

[SgtPepper]

1. Happy to see Isco's recovery to league leading creator. Europe missed out by believing in Sevilla over him.
2. Still have no idea if Jude's goalscoring is a new height of world class talent or driven by an early lucky streak. He is consistently scoring from open play but his goals scored are way higher than non-pen xG.
3. There's nothing separating the offensive level of Real & Barca but defensively both Barca and Atleti are better. I think odds are high Madrid are benefiting from a kind early fixture list and the table gap will be tighter later if it won't reverse.
4. Madrid's offense is very Dutch this season as well and could be shut out by excellent individual performances since there are less mismatches in the forward line than before.

[magik9113]

barca 2 - 4 Girona

can they be the new Leicester City?

[SgtPepper]

Anything's possible but I think it's mainly Barca being a Spanish Man U. Girona has 5 of the league's best players in their front 6, and this happened earlier (https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1734748/Live/Spain-LaLiga-2023-2024-Girona-Real-Madrid). It's a shame they aren't in a European competition because they're like one of those teams after a summer window in a football manager game. Full of underrated domestic talent and perfect foreigner signings who were bought slightly young to avoid peak age transfer fees.

[magik9113]

even Real has a 3-1 L vs Atletico. I hope they can at least challenge until the end! What a story that'd be...i'm officially on the bandwagon

[The_Brecht]

Also, if Girona ends higher on the ranking than City and gets Champions League, City can't play Champions League.

[Baphomet]

Also, if Girona ends higher on the ranking than City and gets Champions League, City can't play Champions League.

Hadn't considered that possibility.

By ranking do you mean UEFA ranking or relative position in their respective leagues?

[Hellcrooner]

Lets be serious.
girona would have a chance if real had started real bad and were trailing by 12 points.
Its is close.
and close calls are all going to be against girona and in favour of real cheaters.

NO
CHANCE
IN
HELL

( unless city owners manage to outbid Rm and pay more to the refs).

[The_Brecht]

Also, if Girona ends higher on the ranking than City and gets Champions League, City can't play Champions League.

Hadn't considered that possibility.

By ranking do you mean UEFA ranking or relative position in their respective leagues?

Position in the league.