Spain La Liga Blog

La Liga Review: Real Betis 2, FC Barcelona 2, Or, That's All, Folks!

Ade C. — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:58:29 +0000

My deepest apologies for the delay, but we had technical problems with the blog and couldn't post until today... sorry!
Last Liga match of the season, and there wasn't much to recommend it apart from, you know, it being Pep's last match with Barça in La Liga: Betis had no ambitions that would spur them to get a win at all costs, and neither did Barça. It could almost have been a friendly.
[caption id="attachment_8303" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Promise me you\'ll teach them to take set-pieces..."][/caption]
Pep chose VV, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Pedro, Messi and Afellay for his starting XI, leaving Oier, Montoya, Cuenca, Tello, Iniesta, Cesc and Bartra on the bench and Thiago on the stands. Though not exactly the strongest Barça starting XI in existence, it was strong enough to give us a good idea of what we can expect at the Copa del Rey final, while still leaving space for novelties like Afellay, given his first Liga start of the season.

Levante 3 Athletic 0: League campaign ends in a whimper

Jack — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:49:50 +0000

Athletic finish 10th.

Levante - Athletic preview

Jack — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:30:36 +0000

Sunday 13th May 2012 20:00 local time
After the disappointment in Bucharest, the Lions play their final league game of the season.

Preview: Real Betis vs FC Barcelona AKA That Very Important Final Liga Match

Natasha — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:09:14 +0000

[caption id="attachment_8299" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="It's very green. Also, if you look closely, it looks like those cars to the left are parked on a beach."][/caption]
Real Betis vs FC Barcelona, AKA Pep’s last Liga match (but not THE last match), AKA the annual “B team plays a Liga match”, AKA the match that't not very important in terms of results.
On another note, does anyone know who's injured and who isn't? I’m having trouble remembering.
(Actually I've typed it all out here for you to try and make sense of, but it's been a very injury-prone few days...)

Atlético Madrid 3 Athletic 0: Heartbroken

Jack — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:14:56 +0000

Athletic's dream ends in tears.

Preview: Atletico Madrid - Athletic Club (Europa League Final)

Paul — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:21:09 +0000

Wednesday 9th May 2012 20:45 local time
Tomorrow, Athletic will contest the Europa League final against Atletico Madrid- it will be a chance for Los Leones to win a trophy for the first time since before I was born.

News in Pictures On a Slow News Day

fcbfandrivel — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:53:56 +0000

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Barca wins 7 trophies from IFFHS including Best Team of the Decade. Zubi wonders if he should have brought a bag."][/caption]

The road to Bucharest (part two)

Jack — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:22:43 +0000

In part one yesterday we recalled how Athletic got to the knockout stages of this season's Europa League. Here's what happened next.

The road to Bucharest (part one)

Jack — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:21:16 +0000

As Athletic prepare for their first European final in 35 years it seems a long time ago that they started the run to the final.

Saying goodbye to the Camp Nou: FC Barcelona 4 - 0 RCD Espanyol

Natasha — Sun, 06 May 2012 09:16:31 +0000

[caption id="attachment_8279" align="alignleft" width="640" caption="And we love you too!"][/caption]
…and that was Pep’s last match at the Camp Nou.
What a way to go out, huh? Fans at every corner of the stadium, holding up signs with goodbye messages, 4 goals from Messi, a team hug to celebrate the 4th goal and a beautiful send off from the players and coaching team once the match ended.