Is it too much to say that the league is fixed? It seems like our opposition always gets the calls, while we seem to be screwed over. Yes we should have done better but there’s no doubts that the refereeing is suspicious. It’s hard playing against 12 men
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The biggest problem is that Kounde won’t play next weekend againt :poop:. With Rekik and Montiel out it will be a problem in the defensive line.
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Wait does Ocampos miss the derby as well?
yes. And probably Martial also out.
We still doing well overall but the problems in the final third are starting to bite us hard.
If :poop: do win later than for the first time in a while we closer to 3rd than 1st. With all our injury and suspension problems and :poop: great form we are gonna have a very difficult game with them and could lose. I’d take a draw with :poop: to keep the gap.
If we aren’t careful we can end up in a battle for 3rd or 4th as it’s possible we get closer to them teams than to Real Madrid.
Still despite that I’m happy with the season and we only lost 2 matches all season. This shows how tough we are to beat and our defence is incredible. We just seriously need to improve our attack and it’s preventing us from moving to the next level.
We stil have a good chance of 2nd though and I’d still have settled for this position if you offered it me.
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I’m unsure of the fitness of Rekik or Martial, they might be back in a weeks time, but I’m gonna assume that they’re not going to be fit.
I would go with a 4-3-3
Papu Mir Tecatito
Rakitic Delaney Jordán
Acuña Diego Carlos Fernando Navas
Bono
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I’m sure the ref will enjoy his new Audi when it arrives from a Madrid dealership tomorrow.
Despite that, the performance and mentality wasn’t there and that is down to Lopetegui yet again. He needed to inspire and get the players to raise their performance, which the best managers do, even when they’re up against it. Why rest players when they need the points?! Take people off early when the job is done, rather than throw them on and hope they can get into the game later on…
Surely if Kounde was shown a straight red then they can appeal that (rather than a second yellow)?
I know people have been ragging on YEN but in his defence, the guy’s barely played in what 6 months? He was never the best technically either, so I don’t know why people are having a go at him for his first touch, especially when it was never great even when he was on fire… He needs time (& a bit of guidance) to find form as I feel he’s almost starting from scratch (and playing like he did when he first joined).
I think it’s going to be tough against the sh*t stirrers from over the city, but hopefully the players re-watch Guardado’s antics and use that to spur them on.
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Yeah he’s out like kounde and martial. I will take a draw in the derby if I’m honest. That would at least prevent them from getting even near us in the league.
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We weren’t great today. Espanyol were the better side and we were lucky to escape with a draw. We do need to be better offensively for sure as at 1-1 we should have been pushing for a win, considering we needed the three points to stay intact with Real for the title race. That said, Espanyol haven’t lost many at home and have got results against other ‘big teams’
In terms of where we’re at, yes winning the title is a very tough ask now it’s six points, but it’s not impossible and we still have Real to play at home. However I accept it’s a tough ask and the offensive aspect of our game does need to improve. We do also have to be wary of the chasing pack, as like you say :poop: can go within two points if they won today and in the derby. As for the other teams, 9 points ahead of Atletico and 12 of Villarreal and Barca (there are games in hand I accept) sounds comfortable enough but it can change so we need to improve.
Just trying to get some perspective as we’re still in a great position. We could be Atletico losing at home to Levante and limping to a 3-3 draw against Getafe with the defence all over the place. Barca themselves only a managed a 2-2 draw at Espanyol and :poop: slipped up against Villareal despite their great form.
We’re unbeaten in 11 La Liga games now since the Real defeat, so our ‘crisis’ or whatever you want to call it seems pale compared to other teams who would snap your hand off if offered our current position. Calling our performance, weak, mid-table and p*** poor isn’t particularly constructive and it’s way off the mark quite frankly.
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I want to look at the remainder of the season optimistically. Since we are contending for the title, the match vs Madrid is a must win, and when we win that, we’ll be three points behind. In my eyes, they are only three points ahead of us. It is still very possible for us to potentially win the title.
Next week is a must win though
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I would take a draw but we’ve got to be confident with our home form.
In 12 games we’re unbeaten, 9 wins and 3 draws. Some record that.
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The problem is Real Madrid currently have no injuries and also may have more clear weeks if they exit the champions league. They get stronger usually in la liga when they see the finish line.
They are the big favourites to win it now. They have the experience in these positions so I think it’s probably done bar the shouting. It will be very difficult for us to beat them as well due to our recent struggles against them.
We can still control the 2nd position though and obviously the derby next weekend will go a long way to decide our fate regarding if we get 2nd or not.
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It’s hard to call it. :poop: though are playing some great football currently. We have to be at our best defensively as currently they have one of the best attacks in Europe.
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Yes a big match for sure as all derbies are but even bigger this time!
In our last 5 games we’ve drawn 4 and won 1. No defeats but 8 points dropped. That will cost us!
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We were lucky to get a point today, too many of our players were off their game,.
Corona, Delaney, Jordan &Yen all very poor. The only positives for me were Oliver, Papu & Ocampos, at least they tried to make something happen.
Kounde needs to grow up that’s twice now this season he’s lost his head and cost us. The ref is well known for his love of waving the cards & we were never going to get any help from VAR today with Gonzalez Gonzalez in the seat.
I fear :poop: are going to batter us next Sunday, I hope I’m wrong
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I feel :poop: are favourites this time. If we get a point it will be a great result considering the current circumstances and their great form.
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Re the ref.
He has given us 4 red cards in the 9 games he’s been in charge.
17-18 Sevilla 2-Villareal 2. Ben Yedder, 2 yellow cards.
20-21 Granada 1-Sevilla 0. Jordan, straight red.
21-22 Delaney Sevilla V Espanyol 2 yellow cards
21-22 Kounde, v Espanyol straight red.
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Wouldn’t say they’re favourites. No doubt they’re in good form but I’ve already posted our unbeaten home record. I still reckon with home advantage we’ll be favourites. So I don’t think they’re going to ‘batter’ us.
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I don’t think they will batter us either. Due to as you say our great home form and our great defence. We can hang in the game and make it tough for them. I just worry a bit about their form being better than us especially in attack and they have more healthy players available too. They don’t have many injuries.
They also play their 2nd leg at home whereas we travel to Dynamo which again gives them an advantage in terms of freshness and less jet lag.
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