La Liga Lowdown

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. A...

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 Atlet...

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 le...

So, reasons for fans of both of Spain's Big 2 to be happy - Real Madrid got the job done in Abu Dhabi as they won a 3rd straight Club World Cup and Barcelona finish the year top of LaLiga and 3 points clear, while one of their rivals stumbled. We look at both in depth and in detail. Atlético were 1-nil winners over Espanyol thanks to Antoine Griezmann again, but could there be trouble ahead i...

Go on then, YOU describe Lionel Messi. 3 goals + 2 assists = 1 masterful display as Barcelona got sweet revenge at Levante, winning 5-0 at the ground where they lost last season as they surrendered an unbeaten league campaign in the penultimate game. It means they stay top, but Sevilla were superb and Atletico survived a scare at Valladolid to keep pace with Barca. Now Real Madrid a...

How often have we said that superlatives don't do Lionel Messi justice? Well, we're saying it yet again after the little Argentine started and finished the Catalan derby with 2 sensational free-kicks, Barcelona beating Espanyol 4-0 away. We're giving our marks out of 10 to both sides. Atlético and Real Madrid both win but neither of them had it easy, while Sevilla almost won at Mestalla...

A win, a first clean sheet in 12 LaLiga games, they're back top of the table...but Barcelona fans still aren't happy. The style of play under Ernesto Valverde is coming under intense scrutiny, despite all the injuries they've got, but nevertheless they've reclaimed top spot, and the chasing pack slipped up. Sevilla in 2nd and Alavés in 4th drew at Mendizorrotza, while 3rd-placed Atlético Madr...

Every week, you think you've got LaLiga figured out and then something else happens to completely ruin your logic. This time it was Real Madrid losing 3-0 at Eibar, having seemingly found their feet under new head coach Santi Solari in recent weeks. Meanwhile Barcelona couldn't win either - in fact, they needed a very late equaliser from Ousmane Dembélé to get a point at Atlético. A...

We have a bumper edition of the minipod this week...so maybe it's a maxipod? Or a gigapod?! David Garrido, Paco Polit and Román de Arquer are involved in this one and first up, we cover Spain who lost to Croatia to stop them reaching the Final Four in the UEFA Nations League, but then beat Bosnia in a friendly to round off 2018 - we dissect those matches and discuss how it's gone far und...

LaLiga continues to throw up surprise after surprise, and this week it came primarily with Barcelona losing a 7-goal thriller against Real Betis at the Camp Nou - it's their first home defeat in the league since September 2016. We discuss how and why it's happened, with the chasing pack reducing the gap to just 1 point as all of Atlético Madrid, Sevilla & Alavés came from behind to win. T...

Matchday 11 in LaLiga was about late goals...we had 10 of them in the 80th minute or later spread across the games...and Barcelona needed to score 2 in the last 5 minutes to snatch the win at Rayo Vallecano - Luis Suárez continuing his scoring streak to rescue Barça in the absence of Lionel Messi. Real Madrid also scored twice late on to beat Real Valladolid. It wasn't a great weekend for the...

There might have been no Messi and no Ronaldo, but Clásicos NEVER lack drama and Sunday's match at the Camp Nou was no different. Barcelona's 5-1 victory at home to Real Madrid sent them back to the top of the table, and in the process ended Julen Lopetegui's reign as Madrid head coach. We discuss the big talking points in the game, why it's gone wrong for Los Blancos under the ex-Spain...

You could almost hear a pin drop as Lionel Messi was down receiving treatment after falling awkwardly on his arm...and despite already inspiring Barcelona towards victory at home to Sevilla on LaLiga Matchday 9, he will now be out for 3 weeks, meaning he'll miss El Clásico next Sunday. In this minipod, we discuss that with one of our squad members based in Barcelona, plus how Barça cope without Me...

It's another international special on the La Liga Lowdown minipod, as we recap Spain's 2 matches over the international break - a shock 3-2 loss to England in Seville in the UEFA Nations League as they suffered their first competitive home defeat in 15 years and 39 games, which came off the back of a 4-1 victory over Wales in a friendly in Cardiff last Thursday. David Garrido takes you through the...

You'd never believe it, but Barcelona and Real Madrid aren't having it their own way in LaLiga - not by a long shot. For starters, they've both failed to win for a 3rd matchday in a row, and Sevilla are the team who've taken advantage to go top of the table, with Atlético Madrid well in the mix 1 point behind. In this La Liga Lowdown matchday 8 minipod, we discuss how and why Madrid went down...

Look at that LaLiga table. 6 points covering the top half after 7 games, which just goes to show that The Big 3 don't always have things their own way. In fact, none of them won in this latest round of fixtures, with leaders Barcelona held at home by Athletic Club which means they've taken only 2 out of the last 9 points on offer. What's going on there? Real Madrid and Atlético...

LaLiga was back to its usual crazy self this weekend, as there were goals galore and no fewer than 7 red cards spread over the 10 games on Matchday 5. One of them came at the Camp Nou, as Clément Lenglet was sent off and Barcelona were held to a 2-all draw by Catalan neighbours Girona - and Cristhian Stuani scored twice to be joint top-scorer in LaLiga with 5, alongside Lionel Messi. Real Mad...

There's now just the one team with a 100% record in LaLiga, and that's Barcelona - not that they had it all their own way, having to come from behind to beat Real Sociedad in their newly refurbished stadium...but at least they won. Both Real Madrid and Atlético had to settle for draws against Basque opposition - Madrid frustrated by an Athletic Club inspired by young keeper Unai Simón, while Eibar...

This week there's no LaLiga, so we're focusing on the Spain national team as David Garrido is joined by Alex Jonson and Euan McTear to discuss their 2-1 win over England at Wembley. David, Alex and Euan go through all the talking points, including what's different about this side under Luis Enrique compared to the one who failed at the World Cup, why Saúl is so pivotal, and which other players imp...

Shock horror, we now have Barcelona and Real Madrid as the only 2 teams with 100% records in LaLiga after 3 rounds of games, and both flexed their muscles this weekend. Madrid are getting into their new style under Julen Lopetegui, beating Leganés 4-1 at the Bernabéu, while Barcelona doubled that scoreline, demolishing newboys Huesca 8-2. There was a shock elsewhere, as Atlético Madrid had a real...

We had it all in the second round of games in LaLiga! Barcelona were involved in the big controversy, playing on a terrible pitch at Real Valladolid as they won 1-0 away - and it's gone right to the very top. Real Madrid put 4 past Girona, but had to come from behind to do it. Talking of comebacks, 2 of the feel-good stories of the weekend - Leganés fighting back from 2 down against Real...

What a weekend to get us underway in LaLiga! Where do we begin? The Big 2 won at home thanks to their talismen - Messi for Barcelona, Bale for Real Madrid...and what a belter at Mestalla on Monday night as Valencia and Atlético drew 1-1 - LaLiga has got off to an explosive start, with the stars delivering. And there were some super debuts - Huesca won their first game ever in Spain's top...

LaLiga is well and truly BACK this weekend - have you missed it? So have we. In this preview edition, we look at how Real Madrid will cope in the post-Zidane, post-Ronaldo era, whether Barcelona can fit in their Brazilians and how Atlético Madrid can challenge once again. There's also that bunch of teams scrambling for the European places - expect Valencia to be there again, but can Villarrea...

The curtain falls on the 2017-18 LaLiga season, and also on some big names at their current clubs - Andrés Iniesta at Barcelona, Fernando Torres at Atlético Madrid and Xabi Prieto at Real Sociedad. We focus on those farewells and take a broader look at how various clubs have fared this campaign after Matchday 38, plus there's a sneaky snippet of our exclusive interview with Alavés and Sweden strik...

After getting through El Clásico the weekend before, Barcelona fell at the penultimate hurdle in their quest for LaLiga invincibility this season - it was a thrilling game at Levante's Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, where the home side just about held on to win 5-4 after surviving a second-half comeback from Barça, who finally lose their unbeaten league record.  It had been 36 games this campaign, an...