It is the powerhouse of global football, home to its greatest players and a World Cup-winning national team, but Spain’s soccer bubble looks set to explode as European authorities prepare to halt public funding of debt-ridden clubs. In a move that threatens to provoke the partial collapse of a football system built on unsustainable piles of […]
Tag Archives: La Liga
The tweaks that led to Barca’s comeback
A few days before Barca’s second-leg vs Milan, I posted an article going through some of the problems Barca were facing – tactically and otherwise – during a difficult run in their season. Changes were required. Spanish football expert Andy West takes a look at some of reasons Barca were able to mount their historic comeback. […]
What a difference eight days make to Real Madrid’s fortunes
It was the then Athletic Bilbao manager Joaquín Caparrós who said “you go from whore to nun in five minutes” and José Mourinho would probably agree. … Mourinho and his team are still standing, stronger than ever. Real Madrid were confronted by eight days that would define their season and how the coach will be remembered; eight days later […]
What’s up, Barca? On recent form and the future
It all seemed to start unravelling with the showing in Milan. Sure, they had been beaten by Celtic earlier in the season but that was a game in which there were chances for Barca and they could have scored a few. That wasn’t the case against Milan, nor was it the case in the 2nd […]
Barcelona 1 Real Madrid 3. Copa del Rey Semi Final.
TKTG takes a look at the best articles and analysis of the second leg of the Cope del Rey semi final between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Match Report from Goal.com With a 1-1 home draw to overcome from the first leg, Jose Mourinho looked on in jubilation as his team executed their gameplan to perfection, […]
The eight defining days that will make or break Real Madrid’s season
Real Madrid and José Mourinho have eight days. Eight days to define a season and, quite possibly, a legacy; eight days around which to define an exit strategy too. When it comes to knockout tournaments, promise and threat are always two sides to the same coin but for Madrid, and for their manager, that sensation is deepened. On […]
Late in life, I have become a convert to the beautiful game
I’ve spent much of this week following a leadership crisis, aiming to read every news item and key tweet, calling the odd well-informed source, gripped by the drama of the story. Don’t worry, you haven’t missed some fresh challenge at the top of the Liberal Democrats or Tories – that treat is in the diary for […]
Outflanked – How Barca’s Pep Revolution Was Based On Width
Part of the fun of watching FC Barcelona over the last four and a half years has been watching them tinkering with the norms of football tactics and formations. For their fans, and for neutrals who simply enjoy watching individual or group displays of extreme technique applied at high speed, there has been plenty to […]
Real Madrid go missing again as Barcelona effort takes its toll
Four times Real Madrid have visited Andalucia in La Liga this term – and on each occasion they have left Spain’s southernmost province with nothing. Indeed, if the capital club can draw comfort from one thing after Saturday’s lacklustre loss in Granada, it is that they do not now have to return to the region […]
A festival of football in Madrid by Graham Hunter
This was sublime. Football at its purest, its quickest, its most relentless — thrilling enough that if anyone had watched this sport we love for the first time tonight then they’d be hooked for life. Craving more. When so many of the world-renowned participants — Leo Messi, Xavi, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira — performed […]
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