La Pausa

Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp have trawled through this season's stats and compiled a list of alternative LaLiga awards. Forget your player or coach of the year trophy, these awards are for players who don't always get the headlines. For example, The ‘you can’t pick Jude Bellingham’ POTY Award goes to an incredible young talent who has been lighting up the league since he first took to the field las...

Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp discuss Real Madrid's incredible season, one that even Carlo Ancelotti says he didn't imagine was possible. They have already sealed LaLiga and are in another Champions League final after beating Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday night in typical Madrid fashion. They chat about the team's improved balance and the team's defensive mentality. They also w...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp welcome Abel Meszaros onto the podcast to discuss the logic-defying Girona's season. They are on the brink of Champions League football next season and are already playing some of the most attacking football in Europe, despite not having a star-laden squad.  Together with Abel, they discuss Girona's adaptive build-up and the role of Miguel Gutier...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp look back over the Clásico after Real Madrid beat Barcelona to almost settle the LaLiga title race. Jamie dug deep into the stats vault with some gems about Celta Vigo's big win over Las Palmas, Girona's demoltion of Cádiz and Real Betis getting back on track against over Valencia. Then Robbie has a chat with Barcelona expert Domagoj Kostanjšak,...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp go back through an existential crisis-inducing Champions League week. It feels like the end of an era for Barcelona, who succumbed to PSG with their lowest percentage of possession in the Champions League since Opta started recording this stat. Robbie and Jamie talk about Xavi and Luis Enrique's approaches and where Barcelona go from here. On the...

On the latest episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp are joined by Jon Mackenzie of the Athletic to discuss the Champions League quarter-finals (of course, with a heavy focus on the Spanish sides involved). Starting with Real Madrid’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City, the guys discuss how chaos emerged from a match-up that pits together control versus transitions, the role of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo in...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp take a look back at the Copa del Rey final that saw Athletic Bilbao beat Mallorca for their first major trophy in 40 years. After 131 minutes, 43 shots, 62 crosses, 40 fouls involving 34 players, it's hard to know where to begin, but they start with Ernesto Valverde and Javier Aguirre, two dons of Spanish football. They discuss the general overvi...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp discuss players who could be on the move to much bigger clubs in the summer. They discuss Robert Navarro's situation at Real Sociedad and where he might fit in along with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Mika Marmol plus more. They also try to find the best fits for these players given the level they're currently playing at.  They also touch on some...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp welcome Alex Fitzpatrick from the Spanish Segunda podcast to talk everything about Spain's second tier. Things are heating up at the top of the table with as many as 10 teams in contention for promotion. Alex picks his three top players of the season and discusses how important they are for their respective teams.   After that, they asses Elche's...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp begin with the latest edition of ‘Stat Corner’ – among the three topics for this week, they take a look at Robert Lewandowski's performance against Atlético Madrid after he did something not done against Diego Simeone's side since Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2016. They also take a look at Celta Vigo's big win against Sevilla, along with a stat to s...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp begin with the latest edition of ‘Stat Corner’ – among the three topics for this week: they heap praise on the marvellous Savio from Girona as he puts together a season not seen by a youngster since Sergio Agüero back in 2007 with Atlético Madrid and Giorgi Mamardashvili threatening Álvaro Valles' claim to being the best goalkeeper in La Liga thi...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp begin with the latest edition of ‘Stat Corner’ – among the three topics for this week, they discuss Getafe's collapse at the Coliseum against Las Palmas, Real Sociedad's return to the Rombo for the first time since David Silva retired, and Jan Oblak looking human again. They discuss where Atlético need to go in the summer with their once formidab...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp begin with the latest edition of ‘Stat Corner’ – among the three topics for this week, they discuss İlkay Gündoğan’s creative force, Kirian Rodríguez’s surprising goal tally, and Girona beating up on bottom half sides. After that, they dig into the best ‘mid-season arrivals’ in LaLiga this season – be it players who arrived in the January transfe...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp are joined by the Chief Editor of Managing Madrid, Kiyan Sobhani. Following his recent travails around Europe following the team up close, we discuss the latest on Real Madrid and hit on a number of current topics surrounding the club – from Toni Kroos’ stellar season to what Kylian Mbappe’s presumed arrival will mean from the summer and beyond....

On this week's 'La Pausa' podcast, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp discuss Girona's visit to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking back at Real Madrid's ruthlessness against a Girona side who probably weren't as bad as the scoreline suggests. They also choose their own adventure by picking a different strategy to potentially beat Real Madrid.  Another week and we have another segment of stat c...

On this week's podcast, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp discuss what Diego Simeone called a 'weird game' - we can only be talking about the Madrid derby. Real Madrid dominated for the opening 30 minutes and took the lead but were too passive in finishing off the game. Our duo focu their attention on Brahim Diaz's influence on the game, Simeone's muddled tactics and what caused them and Atlético's midf...

On this week's episode of the podcast, Jamie Kemp and Robbie Dunne welcome Ryan Benson to discuss Sevilla under Quique Sanchez Flores. They chat about Sevilla's chances of being relegated, the need for a massive squad overhaul and Hannibal Mejbri's strange start to life in Sevilla.  Then Jamie and Robbie discuss all of the main problems that Xavi has faced as manager of Barcelona and the reasons w...

On this week's episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp sit down and discuss the stats behind Athletic Bilbao's 14-game unbeaten run. Athletic and Real Madrid are the only two teams who are top five ranked for both goals scored and fewest goals conceded. The combination of a ‘prime years’ Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta and ever-improving Oihan Sancet gives them a class and precision in midfield they’ve not h...

We are halfway through the La Liga season now so Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp sat down to discuss their La Liga teams of the season so far. It's the first podcast of 2024 and there was plenty to discuss.  There were the consensus picks like Jude Bellingham from Real Madrid and Alvaro Valles from Las Palmas but things weren't clear at other positions. Yan Couto and Dani Caravajal split some opinion...

On this week’s episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp begin with some of the latest news coming out of LaLiga, namely the injuries to two top performers on two top teams - Girona’s Yangel Herrera and Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal – and how those absences might change things for both. Then they touch on the news of Bryan Zaragoza’s proposed move to Bayern Munich, before going back for an in-depth revie...

This week, Jamie Kemp and Robbie Dunne discuss the things they liked and some of the things they didn't like as Marcelino sat on Villarreal's bench for the first time to begin his second stint as the manager of the club. They beat Osasuna 3-1 but got lucky on several occasions. El Comandante José Luis Morales that opened the game up and allowed Villarreal to play in a Marcelino-like way.   Then, t...

On this week's episode, Robbie Dunne and Jamie Kemp welcome Ruairidh Barlow on to the podcast to discuss the best signings from the summer transfer market. They are unanimous in their opinion that Jude Bellingham is in a league of his own as far as players on new teams this season but they also all agree on Isco. Players from Girona, Real Sociedad make the cut along with some wild cards during thi...

In this episode on "La Pausa", Jamie Kemp and Robbie Dunne discuss Celta Vigo's bad luck. They sit in La Liga's relegation zone but do they belong there? It was another heroic but ultimately doomed attempt to win on Friday against Athletic Bilbao. They discuss Iago Aspas, Celta Vigo revolving midfield and Rafa's project being forgotten in the face of recent poor results. Then, they discuss a sligh...

Jamie Kemp and Robbie Dunne are joined by Neal Gardner on the latest episode of "La Pausa" as they take a look back at Barcelona's victory over Real Sociedad. It was a game many said Barcelona didn't deserve to win, after not deserving to lose the Clásico against Real Madrid, with our panel discussing the two Joaos, Barcelona's build-up and a lot more. They also reflect on Las Palmas' memorable vi...

After the inevitable Jude Bellingham-inspired comeback by Real Madrid in the Clásico, Robbie and Jamie welcome Thom Harris from The Athletic to discuss the main talking points from the game: Gavi's defensive masterclass and his marking of Bellingham Real Madrid's substitutes that changed the game What Barcelona's midfield looks like when everyone is healthy Tchouaméni's injury and how Real Madrid...