La Liga Superthread 2016/17

Turtwig

It's almost back! The league who's two governing bodies disagree on just about everything. The league where both these bodies , the player bodies, the referees bodies all threatened strike action at some point last season. The league where tossing your shoe at the linesmans is deemed worthy of a yellow card and relegation standings vary between governing bodies. La liga is back! Well, almost.

Before the inevitable quibbles begin though there's the Supercopa. Which actually just means quibbles that technically aren't of a la liga nature. (Though that really depends on which governing body you listen to.) Two clubs with identities tied heavily to their respective localities will duke it out. Neither is really a fan of any governing authority in Spain. This is sport some might say, it should be independent of politics. Others might say that the only people who say that are people who already have their cultural identity and independence.

When Bilbao and Barca meet it's impossible to predict the fireworks that erupt. How much television audio is going to be censored in Spain is anyone's guess. (Keep in mind blatantly racist chanting and profanities are rarely censored!)Thankfully it's also difficult to predict a winner in the San Mames. Perhaps the only predictable thing tonight was that Jeremy Mathieu was dropped from the Barca squad. Barca undoubtedly suffered quite the exertion because of him. But that won't play too much into Athletic's hands. They also have had quite the exertions. Neither team is fully sharp, they're also heading into the competition fatigued from pre season exploits (wtf is the point of pre-season?).

Win this competition and Barcelona will have won more than 50% of all competitions they entered these past ten years. Bilbao on the other hand have only won this thing once. Nothing better illustrates the stature of both clubs, but in the Mames anything is possible. It's not by any distance a favorite visiting ground for Barcelona. Still you have to fancy 'em

Now you might be wondering why this isn't a match thread separate from the La liga one. Well there's the political stuff, the differing bodies interpretations of what the league is and isn't and the fact that the first fixture for these teams in la liga is yet another meeting. The powers that be in Spain have decided that athletic will play Barca, then Barca will play athletic and then for good measure athletic will play Barca again. That's a lot of censoring and aggravated press!

Welcome to la liga!
(Where, really, anything can happen.Really!)

Turtwig

Sky are brilliant. Athletic Barca is on Sky Sports 5. No it's not, let's have the tennis on that and have the soccer of SS5 red button. No, wait, no let's just swap those again. Oh yeah and let's swap the tennis over to SS3 at 11.00. Poor tennis fans got absolutely shafted it must be said.

Anyway, what a goal!:eek:

MarkY91

Watching the game makes me want my barca jersey in the post to hurry up and come.

Sexy jersey

Andersonisgod

Too easy for Bilbao, yes it's an exhausted squad but Roberto was very poor there.

ERG89

Rafinha gone off. If only he was as energetic on the pitch playing as he is celebrating winning trophies.
2-0 down with more rotten defending. Neymar is a big miss for them

Andersonisgod

Let's never see this defense again. The Adriano/Vermaelen/Bartra combination has been laughable at times. The lack of Pique and Busquets couldn't be clearer.

Turtwig

Oh yeah 3-0! :D

ERG89

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Let's never see this defense again. The Adriano/Vermaelen/Bartra combination has been laughable at times. The lack of Pique and Busquets couldn't be clearer.

Lack of a squad is more evident. It's like Wales in the rugby last weekend.
Need a goal to take into the second leg. Bilbao look the more likely.

Andersonisgod

Where did they get this referee from? Who gives that as a penalty?

Turtwig

This is just football perfection!

Andersonisgod

This referee has been ridiculous. It seems you must be Basque to referee an Athletic Bilbao game too

Turtwig

Andersonisgod wrote: »

This referee has been ridiculous. It seems you must be Basque to referee an Athletic Bilbao game too

Yeah he should have sent Pedro off.

rob316

Would anyone be able to PM me about how you go about getting tickets to a barca game? Any match not fussy at all.

Harry Palmr

Bump! Barcelona to lose Athletic to win 5-5 on away goals?

KO at 9 PM

SantryRed

Bilbao play Barca in La Liga this weekend too. They'll be sick of each other by the time their league seasons are a day old! :pac:

CSF

Barca turning this around genuinely wouldn't surprise me.

Turtwig

Barca have never turned around a 4-0 deficit. Then again I suspect few teams, if any, have?

Apparently Alex Song injured Ter Stegen in training?

the_monkey

Barça have this won .... done deal ...


Sticking €100 on it now ...

Turtwig

The current gulf in ability between Pique and Bartra is frightening!

the_monkey

Turtwig wrote: »

The current gulf in ability between Pique and Bartra is frightening!

Tis scary all right ..... who is Bartra ?

Turtwig

the_monkey wrote: »

Tis scary all right ..... who is Bartra ?

Next in line to Pique apparently..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bartra

the_monkey

Congrats Barca ....

5th cup under Enrique ... pretty impressive

Andersonisgod

You can really only laugh at these referees. He's not booked Iraizoz, he's booked Pedro and only added on 1 minute. La Liga refs return with their typical treatment of Barcelona.

But my God I love this club, the Messi goal is beautiful, the fight within this team, within the manager, within the fans is incredible. Half time has come at the wrong time but expect a rip-roaring second half.

Turtwig

Pedro deserved to be booked imo. He should have scored too! (That's both ties now.)

Turtwig

Pique's swearing at officials again!?:D

Deserved to go if so. Funny thing is he was playing really really well.

Edit: Jeez Pedro.

Johner

Red card! Red card! Pique inexplicably can't control his temper and the La Masia product is sent off, that should seal the Cup for the Basque club.

Turtwig

Jesus! What a miss!

Andersonisgod

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

the_monkey

Barça down to 10 men, should be a little tougher to score the 4 goals, but they should get them by the 84th minute .

the_monkey

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

Seriously ?

Swap the teams there mate and you be a bit closer to the truth ....


absolute bilge post.

adox

Lol at Pique. Ridiculous.

Turtwig

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

It was actually a tight call. Bilbao player was in line with Mathiu

I thought he was offside but it was not "clear as day" few offside calls actually are.

Considering the game, referees ain't doing so badly.

elefant

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

Pique is a disgrace, not the referee; an embarrassing lack of self-control from an experienced player. Did he think the referee would reverse the decision if he made enough of a tit of himself? Fair play to the ref for not allowing his teammates be bullied.

He lost his cool in the Euro supercup final too. He needs to sort his shít out.

Andersonisgod

the_monkey wrote: »

Seriously ?

Swap the teams there mate and you be a bit closer to the truth ....


absolute bilge post.

What world do you live in? Compare penalty stats last season, who do the vast majority of the referees in the league support?

Uninformed, silly post.

adox

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

Embarrassing.

Strumms

I'd hate to be a ref in La Liga, it must be a nightmare with the antics of the players sometimes never mind some of the guff that we have seen to go on on the sidelines, the officials deserve great credit mostly. I'm usually just surprised that more sides don't finish the games with less players then they do.

Turtwig

I think when you consider the wage gaps between the professions. Referee's don't get enough credit. TV biases people too into thinking decisions are clear cut. They aren't.

Johner

Goal! Goal! Goal! Barca dead and buried.

Strumms

10 men or not that is shocking defending at this level..

the_monkey

Andersonisgod wrote: »

What world do you live in? Compare penalty stats last season, who do the vast majority of the referees in the league support?

Uninformed, silly post.

Yeah, poor barca they only won everything last season and will again this season and probably the next 3 , poor barca.

What about the clear penalty Juve were denied in the UCL final at 1-1 ??

Game changer.

Finally a team stands up to the bullies and seems has a chance to beat them, but it's no fault of Barça ... the refs are against them - or the other team didn't play football,


Vile institution.

Turtwig

Biblao will surely get the yacht out now. Delighted for them. Such a big big trophy for them.

Andersonisgod

Johner wrote: »

Goal! Goal! Goal! Barca dead and buried.

European champions, Spanish league champions, holders of the Copa Del Rey, European Supercup champions. Deal with it.

Meanwhile Mathieu has had a bloody dreadful pre season, woeful again tonight.

ERG89

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Meanwhile Mathieu has had a bloody dreadful pre season, woeful again tonight.

He's an absolutely shìte player tbh. A worse footballer than he is a defender.
I always just call him Shatieu saves me describing him

Andersonisgod

ERG89 wrote: »

He's an absolutely shìte player tbh. A worse footballer than he is a defender.
I always just call him Shatieu saves me describing him

Since I typed that he's basically handed the ball back to Athletic twice. Shocking player.

Turtwig

Just a reminder Mathieu scored in two crucial games last season. Two! Woeful defending so far this preseason, but it's not like the rest of Barca's defence preseason has been sublime anyway.

I'd give him until the full season before you throw the boot at him.

Valverde said this trophy was everything to them. They couldn't have deserved it any more. Delighted for them. Really hope they get the yacht out and celebrate in style.

Andersonisgod

Yes Mathieu did score some big goals and I'm possibly being harsh on him but, while everyone else out there was playing out of their skin, Mathieu couldn't have looked less bothered.

On the referee, a disgrace, a truly dreadful performance, here's a referee, Valence Carballo, that has a history with Pique, having sent him off previously in 2013 having said at half time "shut up or I will send you off" and there's quite a quote (as reported by Mundo Deportive in 2012) from that referee directed at Pique. Aside from this game, this will mean that Pique misses that game at the San Mames on Saturday and that is a serious loss.

However credit to Athletic Bilbao, over 180 minutes you couldn't say they weren't the better team, though I would say that 90 of those minutes included an exhausted team of, mostly, squad players, playing away from home so I wouldn't be too concerned at all.

Strumms

So any referee who has previously sent off a player has 'history' with them, in some negative context.. If a ref is getting abuse..descent from a player on the pitch or in the tunnel is the ref not entitled to warn him of the consequence of his behaviour ? the player can still be sent off at half time, in the tunnel or dressing room also btw... Players get away with murder in the modern game, especially in La Liga....

I'm a follower of the league btw and I'd favour Barcelona in general but I can't believe in your hokey conspiracy theory that referees are anti Barca.... In the Classico games of the last few years especially when Jose was in charge of Real you could have had 3 referees on the pitch and still would have missed half the **** that was going down such was the intensity, speed, and dirty antics that was going on off the ball and on the touch line... And Barca were the lesser of the two evils and more often then not just trying to meet fire with fire in a reactionary sence...

Giggsy11

Andersonisgod wrote: »

These officials are a disgrace, clear as day offside not given, expect to see a lot of this over the course of this season, the standard of officiating in Spain is woeful and weighted significantly in the favour of a certain club based in the capital and is very against a certain club based in Catalonia. The white handkerchiefs wave around the Camp Nou, it's a farce.

Embarrassing.

gimmick

the_monkey wrote: »

Yeah, poor barca they only won everything last season and will again this season and probably the next 3 , poor barca.

What about the clear penalty Juve were denied in the UCL final at 1-1 ??

Game changer.

Finally a team stands up to the bullies and seems has a chance to beat them, but it's no fault of Barça ... the refs are against them - or the other team didn't play football,


Vile institution.

LOL

eagle eye

Absolutely delighted for Athletic club. I'm a huge fan of the club and Aduriz is a legend. I don't know how long more he can go on for but it's scary to think what things will be like when he does decide to hang up the boots.

Giggsy11

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique could be banned for up to 12 matches for an extraordinary tirade at an assistant referee.
Pique was shown a straight red card in the 55th minute of Barcelona's Spanish Super Cup tie with Athletic Bilbao after furiously confronting the official - Oscar De Marcos - after a controversial offside decision.
The extent of the defender's rant was later revealed by referee Velasco Carballo's post-match notes, in which he wrote: “In the 55th minute, the player (3) Piqué Bernabéu, Gerard was sent off for the following reason: screaming at the assistant referee: ‘I s--- on your whore mother.”

Pique's behaviour rules him out of the La Liga opener - also against Bilbao - on Sunday but he is likely to be banned for much longer. While a 12-match ban is highly unlikely - and would almost certainly prompt an appeal by Barca - experts in Spain are suggesting a suspension of around five matches is probable.
Pique's fate could be decided as early as Wednesday by Francisco Rubio of the RFEF’s Competition Committee.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/barcelona/11809127/Revealed-Gerard-Piques-x-rated-rant-at-assistant-referee-in-Barcelona-defeat.html

Obviously ref supports Madrid, otherwise noway Pique deserved red card.