Quick bump of this thread.
Sorta Hay Liga. Barcelona have pulled slightly away from Atletico and the midway point and look to have righted the ship a bit after a shaky start to the campaign. Atletico have put together a nice unbeaten run to separate themselves from the pack. If they could only score more (I know Costa has been hurt). Real Madrid have looked very un-Madrid like, and most people would point to the failure to replace CR7 with anyone. They sit in 4th behind Sevilla on goal differential. That’s where the table gets interesting- Alaves, Getafe, Betis, Sociedad, Girona, and Espanyol round out the top half of the table.
Seeing Valencia (after a great campaign last year) in the bottom half, and Villarreal and Bilbao fighting relagation feels wrong to me. Assuming Huesca are destined for the drop, the fight to avoid the other two spots should be fun to watch. The gap from 6th to 18th is only nine points. Bilbao have never been relegated, Villarreal seem to have too much talent. Will tiny Eibar survive? I’d like to see Celta stay up (and Depor get promoted) to keep Galicia represented. Rayo Vallecano have struggled quite a bit, but are fun to watch at home.
What is going at Real? I know they have huge injury problems and they won the game at Betis, but giving up 73% possession? This is not a knock on Real Betis, who beat Barca this year, and are very tough at home. But Madrid still had the likes of Modric, Casemiro, Caraval, and only 27% of the ball. They really parked the bus, especially in the second half. Also, Isco on the bench? I know results come first, but wow! I assume fans aren’t too pleased but any insight would be welcome. Maybe punting on La Liga, get some youngsters a bit of exposure, and a deep UCL run will satisfy the masses?