While Real Madrid and Barcelona run away from the rest of the field in the struggle for the La Liga title, the tussle for the next four European spots is just as fascinating.  The mix of teams truly runs the gamut from the usuals to the upstarts. Sevilla and Valencia continue to be the consistent […]

The thrilling race at the top of La Liga came to a head last weekend, when Barcelona dropped two points at surging Almería, and Real Madrid fought back from a 0-2 deficit to win against Sevilla in the second minute of stoppage time 3-2.  Now the two exemplars of Spanish football are tied for the […]

The marquee matchup of the weekend is the late Saturday kickoff between top four teams Real Madrid and Sevilla.  The reverse fixture in early October was one of the matches of the season, and while Sevilla's title chances faded away during the dregs of mid-season, they still lie fourth in the league, they have the […]

After a less than impressive performance by the Spanish Armada in European competition, these teams return to their domestic responsibilities in order to regain their confidence.  Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao traveled to Wolfsburg and Anderlecht, respectively, and became punching bags for those teams as both Wolfsburg and Anderlecht scored four goals on their visitors.  They […]

The obvious surprising result of the previous round was Atlético Madrid's 2-1 victory over Barcelona to hand the Catalunyan champions their first loss in La Liga this season.  If analyzed deeper, however, Barça's defeat at the hands of Los Colchoneros becomes less of a shocker. Historically, Atleti had a respectable record against Barcelona in Madrid, […]

This weekend, the focus will be on those teams who will play in European competition in the following midweek.  The question of domestic vs. European responsibilities remains an individual club decision, but for some teams, choices become more plentiful than others. Real Madrid faces Xerez at El Chapín, but Los Blancos have the capability to […]

As La Liga heads into the midway point of the season, these next few rounds are some of the hardest of the campaign because the toil of playing for five consecutive months begins to wear on the players and the coaching staff both physically and mentally.  Motivation is a hard concept to renew during these […]

In the last few years, the top six teams have distanced themselves from the rest of La Liga.  Real Madrid and FC Barcelona represent the top two, and Villarreal, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, and Valencia compete for the next four places.  Atlético Madrid continues their bumbling start into the Christmas break, and Villarreal picked themselves up […]

Hurricane Clásico passed through the shores of Spain with a FC Barcelona win, and now normalcy can somewhat return to La Liga.  The two most important matches in terms of the championship race are 5th place Deportivo La Coruña vs. league leaders FC Barcelona and 8th place Athletic Bilbao vs. 4th place Valencia.  The most […]

This weekend's round of fixtures is highlighted by El Clásico, the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid.  Not only are they the two most successful teams in the history of Spanish football, they occupy the top two spots in this season's table.  Real Madrid has a one point lead over Barcelona heading into this pivotal […]

With the confusing TV schedules for La Liga in the United States every week, it is quite difficult to figure out who is playing when and on what channel.  Every Friday, I will lay out the TV schedule so that every fan of La Liga has a place to go to see when and where […]

Athletic Bilbao would have no problems with the proposed UEFA plan of mandating eight homegrown players in the squad of eighteen for every match or the theoretical 6 + 5 rule, where six players of the starting eleven would have to be eligible for the national team of their club's country.  Athletic Bilbao refuses to […]

Football is not always a beautiful game; sometimes bookings are necessary. This season was no different in Germany, even if statistically player discipline was comparatively better than in the past several seasons. While goal scorers have the Torjägerkanone (awarded by the magazine kicker) to shoot for, no comparable trophy exists for the Bundesliga's best/worst troublemakers. […]