Spats, sackings and stroppy subs: welcome back to La Liga

[Guest sharath]

I watched 10 minutes of Sevilla-Getafe, saw yet another ridiculous red card decision in La Liga to send the away team down to 9 men in the first half, and turned it off.

 

Cannot be doing with Spanish officials at all, spoils the rest of the action for me personally.

 

With all that time left it became too obvious how things would turn out, after the game was looking very nicely balanced prior to that.

 

 

 

Somehow the standard of refereeing in Spain is even poorer than it is here. And the bias towards the bigger clubs seems to be even greater with Real and Barca in particular benefitting from favourable decisions.

funny enough, if you see over the history, the level of bias towards real compared to barca itself is so much.  politically corrupt cunts. the real madrid that is.

[Rich]

I watched 10 minutes of Sevilla-Getafe, saw yet another ridiculous red card decision in La Liga to send the away team down to 9 men in the first half, and turned it off.

 

Cannot be doing with Spanish officials at all, spoils the rest of the action for me personally.

 

With all that time left it became too obvious how things would turn out, after the game was looking very nicely balanced prior to that.

 

 

I wonder if Spanish supporters see the Healy "goal" last week, the Malouda penalty, the Wes Brown handball, etc and think the same thing of ours?

 

I wouldn't be surprised, although the lack of technique on display would be the #1 turn-off from a Spaniard's point of view, surely?

 

Of course these things rankle me as much, which is why I'm tending more and more to just watch Newcastle games and catch MOTD/Goals on Sunday if I can. I do support a team IN the Premiership though (and dislike a fair number as well), so I don't have much choice but to keep tabs on it.

 

Whereas I watch Spanish Football for entertainment purposes, I have no allegiance to any specific club and I don't dislike any clubs any more/less than others over there. I will sit down on a Saturday/Sunday evening hoping for an entertaining 90 minutes of football, not particularly caring one way or another what the score is (although I do admit to rooting for the underdogs the vast majority of the time, which is possibly why so many decisions peeve me.) There are a lot of instances where ridiculous refereeing decisions completely spoil my enjoyment of a game I was thoroughly engrossed in, the second Getafe red card being my case in point, and will cause me to turn off. A lot of these decisions aren't simple mistakes, either, like the ones you mention, they are brought about by the culture/play-acting/overzealous officiating and are often incredible.

 

The amount of red cards in any given La Liga week surely speaks for itself? The amount of "dodgy" red cards I've personally seen is ridiculous from over there, even moreso than here, and for the past few years I've been a fairly avid watcher of live Spanish football/Revista de la Liga, etc.

 

Surely you see where I'm coming from here?

[ohmelads]

funny enough, if you see over the history, the level of bias towards real compared to barca itself is so much.  politically corrupt c***s. the real madrid that is.

 

Historically definitely, but in recent years Barca have had so much go their way. Last season the number of strange decisions given Barca's way was beyond a joke. I don't like the pair of them personally. Though I must admit the Real-Barca games every year are incredible, we have nothing like it in this country.

[Rich]

I watched 10 minutes of Sevilla-Getafe, saw yet another ridiculous red card decision in La Liga to send the away team down to 9 men in the first half, and turned it off.

 

Cannot be doing with Spanish officials at all, spoils the rest of the action for me personally.

 

With all that time left it became too obvious how things would turn out, after the game was looking very nicely balanced prior to that.

 

 

 

Somehow the standard of refereeing in Spain is even poorer than it is here. And the bias towards the bigger clubs seems to be even greater with Real and Barca in particular benefitting from favourable decisions.

 

Exactly how I see things as well, or at least how they appear to me as a complete neutral... well, not complete, like I said I do tend to hope for underdog victories whenever I am a "neutral". That could be where I get my viewpoint from, being biased against the "big teams", perhaps?

[ohmelads]

It wasn't just the Getafe game, either. Valencia crashed to a 3-0 home defeat to Villarreal in the local derby yesterday after Joaquin and Villa were both sent off.

 

That's two games in one weekend, four red cards. It's over the top.

[Isegrim]

It wasn't just the Getafe game, either. Valencia crashed to a 3-0 home defeat to Villarreal in the local derby yesterday after Joaquin and Villa were both sent off.

 

That's two games in one weekend, four red cards. It's over the top.

 

Served Villa right for an awful dive tbh.

[ohmelads]

Zaragoza, Racing Santander and Athletic Bilbao all picked up a red card this weekend too.

 

That makes 7 red cards in one weekend of La Liga matches. They need to take a look at this, surely?

[Rich]

Zaragoza, Racing Santander and Athletic Bilbao all picked up a red card this weekend too.

 

That makes 7 red cards in one weekend of La Liga matches. They need to take a look at this, surely?

 

I have tended to think it's a problem when watching, myself.

[Guest Northern Boys Love Gravy!]

Good read that, though I think he's underestimating Real Madrid.

 

agreed... i think real will still be the force they normally are, they will be there or there abouts still.... although today it said the David Alves is supposed to be signing for Barca instead of Real.... hmmm.

 

another thing today about chelski wanting Ronaldinho... I dont know if thats true or not, it would be good to see him in the Premiership, but i dont think it'll be this season, mainly because didnt Jose get interviewed after he bought belletti in from Barca (whatever his name is) and im sure he said thats that, no more signings, until january (even then they might not need anybody) So honestly i can see the Ronaldinho story just been rubbish n trying to get abit of publicity...

[Isegrim]

Real winning 5-0 away against Villareal...

[Mr. Snrub]

Real winning 5-0 away against Villareal...

 

Cheers for the update.

[Delima]

Even though I am not a fan of Real Madrid and hope they lose every single match, even though I am a big fan of David Beckham, I enjoy this piece of article. I love the Guardian correspondents of other European leagues.

 

The Guardian

 

What's the difference between Sneijder and Beckham?

 

One wears the No23 shirt, scores free-kicks, delivers 45-yard assists, is adored by fans and speaks perfect English. The other is David Beckham.

 

Sid Lowe

September 3, 2007 5:33 PM

 

When Real Madrid presented Wesley Sneijder alongside fellow Dutchman Royston Drenthe this summer, most people in Spain were not entirely convinced - even if the media cheerleaders did don pom-poms and ra-ra skirts. He was, after all, fourth choice after Madrid had missed out on Kaká, Cesc Fábregas and Michael Ballack; he had cost €27m - three days, and one humiliating defeat, after Madrid had told Ajax that they had "three hours, not a minute more" to accept a "final, final" offer of €24m; and, let's face it, he was just never going to be as good as David Beckham.

 

Those who knew Sneijder knew better. Asked whether Drenthe and Sneijder were any good, the text message from one Holland international said it all: "Drenthe, definitely not. Sneijder, definitely yes. The best player in Holland by miles - well worth the money!" Meanwhile, Real Zaragoza full-back Juanfran, who played alongside Sneijder at Ajax, described him as "the best player Madrid have signed since Zinedine Zidane." Which is going some when that list includes Ronaldo and Beckham as well over €500m worth of assorted misfits and lunatics, like Walter Samuel, Tommy Gravesen and dermatologists' dream Antonio Cassano.

 

They were right too. While Beckham has been stillborn in the USA, Sneijder has been sensational in Spain: the La Liga season may only be two weeks old but already he has revealed himself to have a whore for a mother. Round here that's no cuss, either, because for some reason in Spain de puta madre actually means bloody brilliant.

 

And, boy, is Sneijder bloody brilliant! Worth the €27m transfer fee and well worth annoying Ajax so much that their sporting director calls you "a bunch of backstreet pimps". First, he scored the winner on the opening day of the season in the Madrid derby against Atlético and then he turned in another fantastic performance as Bernd Schuster's team turned on the style last night.

 

It was a big night in Villarreal. Which might not be saying much for a town where people sit out on the streets in plastic chairs waiting for the world to go by without ever quite realising that it's not going to, but it was a big night alright. A top-of-the-table clash between the best two teams in world football, presided over by a cuddly mascot that's supposed to be a submarine but looks more like a sub-normal Moomin, attended by more than half the town's population and broadcast by two different channels as the telly war rages on. Villarreal, boasting nine successive wins and unbeaten since April, against Real Madrid, the league champions and unbeaten in 16 competitive matches.

 

It was, they said, a real test for Madrid and they passed with flying colours, winning at El Madrigal for the first time ever, inflicting the Yellow Submarine's worst ever defeat as they ran out 5-0 winners with goals from Raúl, Sneijder (2), Guti and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Not because Villarreal were bad, either (they had more possession, more attacks and more shots than Madrid) but because Madrid were excellent. Marca called it "total football", which is pushing it, but with Guti pulling the strings in the middle Madrid kept the ball well and used it neatly, while they were unstoppable on the break. It was, screamed AS, "a white hurricane" and they had a point: once they had scored the second, just after half-time, Madrid blew Villarreal away. Drenthe might have proven to be just as out of control on the pitch as he is on Madrid's mean streets, where at 4.30am on Wednesday morning he cleverly took a left turn that didn't exist and ploughed straight into a police car, but otherwise Schuster's side were impressive, boasting pace, precision and devastating accuracy.

 

Most of all, though, they boasted Sneijder. The midfielder, said Van Nistelrooy, revealing rather too much as the players emerged from their post-match shower, "is enormous". In fact he's got the big-eyed smiley face of a five-year-old and the height of one, too. But while Sneijder stands at barely 5ft 7in, his performance was certainly immense: "Maradonian", said Marca, while even coach Bernd Schuster was raving about him. "Sneijder reminds me of another blond midfielder who played for Real Madrid once - he wasn't bad either," said the blond former Madrid midfielder with characteristic modesty.

 

Unable to fill Beckham's shoes? Pah! On the evidence so far, anything Becks can do, Sneijder can do better. Curling free-kicks? Check. Raking 45-yard balls? Check (and Sneijder's ones actually get you somewhere). Hard work? Check. Then there's the pace, the short passing, the flicks, the vision, the intelligence, and the goals. Oh, and the ability to shake off an opponent without turning his backside to them, waiting for the contact and shooting 300 feet into the air.

 

Last night, Sneijder provided a wonderful long assist, swinging a 40-yard ball over the defence for Raúl to open the scoring. He then curled an unstoppable free-kick in-off the post for the second, killing off Villarreal's resistance, and later hit a classy finish with the outside of his boot to make him La Liga's top scorer with three in two matches, thus earning him the nickname Pichichi and Real Madrid a deserved top spot on a perfect night.

 

Well, almost perfect. Because, as usual, a Spanish referee did his best to ruin things. No, not Mejía Dávila, who gave Barça a debatable penalty after Gorka assaulted Thierry's Henry's foot with his face and awarded a goal for a Yaya Touré shot that never went over the line, but chest-puffing, strutting disciplinarian Luis Medina Cantalejo. On a weekend marked by tributes to Antonio Puerta, this particularly pathetic individual booked Sergio Ramos, a former team-mate and close friend of Puerta, for removing his shirt to reveal a vest with the slogan: "Antonio, rest in peace. We will never forget you." And they wonder why people hate them.

 

Results: Osasuna v Sevilla, postponed, Levante 0-0 Murcia, Zaragoza 1-1 Racing, Getafe 1-1 Recreativo, Betis 2-2 Espanyol, Valladolid 2-2 Deportivo, Almería 1-2 Valencia, Barcelona 3-1 Athletic, Villarreal 0-5 Real Madrid, Atlético 1-1 Mallorca.

[TêteDeMaure]

Real Zaragoza should be pushing for a champions league place at least because they replaced Milito with Ayala and come out with a generous sum of cash?

[Mr. Snrub]

Zaragoza loaned out Ewerthon to Stuttgart and signed Ricardo Oliviera which was a terrible move as Ewerthon is much better.

 

They're good at home but dodgy on the road.  They'll finish around 6th/7th.

[Adam]

Snider has played two games and they are writing articles like that, bit ott to me like. Still think barca will win it, hope valencia get their act together tho.