La Liga Lowdown

LaLiga is back and it came back with a bang! From Aritz Aduriz's stunning winner against Barcelona in the opening match of the weekend to Joao Felix's impressive debut in Atletico Madrid's latest victory over Getafe, we've got it all covered. We start by breaking down Barcelona's problems and wondering what Ernesto Valverde has to do now. We also take an in-depth look at the newly promoted sides R...

Listen up! It's our second season-preview podcast, and this time we're focusing on all the other stories aside the Big Three in LaLiga. Host Euan McTear is once again joined by Paco Polit and Román de Arquer as they discuss the race for fourth place - can Valencia do it again, or will the recent turmoil at the club spoil their campaign before it's even begun? And what about the likes of Sevilla an...

Yes, La Liga Lowdown is back! The new Spanish football season is almost upon us, so it's the perfect time to get your ears around our preview podcasts, and this is the first... In this first preview, Euan McTear in Madrid chats with Paco Polit in Valencia and Román de Arquer in Barcelona as we look back at a summer of big spending by the Big Three, and look ahead to the new campaign. We ask some k...

We've gone double-length for this podcast, as it's the final one of the season and we wanted to give you, the fans, TOP value. Of course this pod focuses on the Copa del Rey final where Valencia shocked Barcelona to win 2-1 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín to lift their first trophy in 11 years, while also denying Barça a domestic double - the culés have to settle for one piece of silverware....

And so, LaLiga is done and dusted for another season...an up-and-down season finished with yet more twists and turns on the 38th and final matchday - with Valencia and Getafe in the race for Champions League qualification, and Athletic were the width of the crossbar away from the Europa League, but in the end, that accolade went to Espanyol as they snatched 7th place in the table. Relegation was a...

Football is often all about how you get up, not how you fell down in the first place. Barcelona and Valencia both responded to European exits last week by winning on Sunday, as all 10 matches in LaLiga were played at exactly the same time. Maybe it'll catch on, who knows? It made for a dramatic penultimate round of games, and a twist in the race for the Champions League. Getafe went...

Finally, we've had 2 teams confirmed as relegated from LaLiga...Rayo Vallecano and Huesca gave it a good crack, but were put out of their misery after suffering big defeats on Matchday 36 - Rayo going down 4-1 at Levante, Huesca were smashed 6-2 at home by Valencia. Both of these are teams who came up from Segunda last season, so they return straight away - in truth, neither of them really lo...

Well, we knew it was coming, and in the end, Barcelona have done it with 3 games to spare. They are once again champions of Spain, retaining their title, making it 8 out of the last 11 that they've won and their 26th crown overall. Lionel Messi, who else, scored the only goal in their 1-0 win over Levante, meaning that Barça could celebrate their triumph in front of their own fans. ...

Another weekend of significant results, but the most significant is that Barcelona can win LaLiga again in this next week after their 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad. 2 defenders scored for them, while it was Karim Benzema whose hat-trick gave Real Madrid their most convincing performance of late, beating Athletic Club 3-0. Standby for some stunning stats about the Frenchman... It was 4th...

With the title race pretty much done in LaLiga, we had to major on the 4 derbies this week, especially the ones in Seville and Valencia, and in particular the 5-goal thriller at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán where Sevilla beat Real Betis 3-2. These 2 go at it hammer and tongs right from the first whistle, and even before then, the Sevilla anthem sends shivers down your spine. Just ch...

Oi, Diego Costa - the LaLiga title race is officially over, thanks to you. After you got sent off, Atlético Madrid held out at the Camp Nou until 85 minutes...and then lost. Just imagine what they might have done if you hadn't lost your rag... So yes, Barcelona are now 11 points clear after that 2-0 win over Atleti in the biggest fixture of Matchday 31, and that should really be that.&nb...

At half-time of Celta Vigo's home game with Villarreal, it looked like the hosts were totally dead and buried...but for the irresistible force which is Iago Aspas, especially at Balaídos. 45 minutes later, Celta had fought back from 0-2 to win 3-2 and give their LaLiga survival hopes a real shot in the arm. The image of the night was Iago Aspas weeping on the bench, overcome by the emoti...

The Euro 2020 qualifiers are underway, and Spain are 2 from 2...so how are they shaping up after the excitement of the Nations League? In this special international podcast, Euan McTear hosts with Paco Polit and Román de Arquer as his guests, as we recap the 2-1 win over Norway and the 2-0 victory in Malta. If those scorelines sound underwhelming...it's because they were. So why did...

You might as well just give Barcelona the title now. With 10 games to go they're 10 points clear, after another Lionel Messi-inspired display at Real Betis. That 4-1 win, coupled with Atlético Madrid's 2-0 defeat at Athletic Club means that the title race is effectively over, barring a total implosion from the champions. Real Madrid have got Zinedine Zidane back in the dugout, so we chat...

It's a momentous time for Valencia - it's their 100th birthday this month, and the momentum is building in their season as well. Los Che are through to the Copa del Rey final, they've qualified for the quarter-finals of the Europa League and they're on an unbeaten run in LaLiga which is edging them up towards that 4th place which they covet to return to the Champions League next season. In th...

The more things change, the more things stay the same...in some ways, it was a weird weekend. Madrid won, for one - that hadn't happened for 2 weeks. And Atleti played musical chairs with left-backs. And Barcelona went behind to the 2nd-bottom side...but guess what? Yes, they won. Again. LaLiga is theirs... The big results came just below that top 3. Getafe were...

In this bonus podcast, Euan McTear speaks to 2 colleagues in the Spanish capital about Real Madrid after Los Blancos suffered 7 days of their worst nightmares: being knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Barcelona, then losing in LaLiga to Barcelona and finally (and perhaps most shockingly) throwing away a 2-1 away first-leg advantage to crash out of the Champions League to Ajax. In part 1, Euan...

Real Madrid fans, we apologise. This won't be an easy listen. But it will be a comprehensive one, as we pick apart all the big talking points of El Clásico - the 4th clash between Madrid & Barcelona this season, and a 3rd win for Barça coming swiftly after their victory at the Bernabéu in the Copa del Rey. Gerard Piqué was majestic, but a few other players also stood out in an i...

What would Barcelona do without Lionel Messi? Well, lose a lot more for a start. The little Argentine came back to haunt Sevilla once again with an utterly outstanding hat-trick, helping them come from 1-0 and 2-1 to win at the Sanchez Pizjuan in the last 5 minutes. We celebrate Leo and all his stats, but it's still a bit of a worrying picture for out-of-sorts Philippe Coutinho... E...

There are so many talking points surrounding the LaLiga champions and Copa del Rey holders, and in this special bonus podcast edition, Román de Arquer speaks to respected journalist Marco Chiazza. If you're a Barcelona fan, or even if you're not, this is definitely for you.  Roman & Marco discuss all of the following topics, in a tight but informing half-an-hour chat: - reaction to B...

Just when you thought you could predict LaLiga, it does something else to confuse you, and this time it's called Real Madrid. Every bit of form pointed towards them not only beating Girona but MAULING THEM...and yet they lost 2-1 at home, and it was basically all their fault. And it's also their fault that Barcelona keep inching further ahead, without doing anything special. Lionel Messi...

You can still hear the fans arguing in the bars of Madrid. To say there were a few controversial or questionable decisions in Saturday's derby is putting it mildly, and the poor old buggers in the VAR booth were right at the centre of it all...but the fact is Real Madrid beat Atleti to go 2nd in the table - they were better, and it's now 5 straight LaLiga wins for them, just 6 points off Barc...

In our first special bonus edition of the La Liga Lowdown podcast, Euan McTear speaks to Madrid-based journalist and reporter Antía André about everything that's going on at the 2 big clubs in the Spanish capital. In a comprehensive chat, they discuss their current form, and also the huge derby at the Wanda Metropolitano this weekend, so find out who Euan and Antía are backing for the game itself....

"Expect the unexpected" is the theme of LaLiga this season - Barcelona were held by Valencia (rescued by Leo Messi again), then Atlético Madrid could have made up ground on the leaders but they lost at Real Betis...Sevilla also went to out-of-form Celta Vigo, and they lost too. So that's 3 of the top 4 failing to win. Real Madrid have hit form though, 3-nil winners over Alavés. The chasi...

Are Real Madrid back for good? Like REALly back? (Sorry.) Suddenly the boys in white (or actually a weird pinky red this week) are looking like European champions, with big names starring and scoring - especially Karim Benzema as they won at Espanyol. Question is: is he the best number 9 in the world?! Just up the road, Barcelona beat Girona but it wasn't actually all that...