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Lineup: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrăo, Khedira, Alonso, Ronaldo, Özil, di María, Benzema.
Bench: Adán, Varane, Albiol, Modric, Kaká, Callejón, Morata.
Lineup: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrăo, Khedira, Alonso, Ronaldo, Özil, di María, Benzema.
Bench: Adán, Varane, Albiol, Modric, Kaká, Callejón, Morata.
0-1 at HT and playing god awful
RMAO
Goal from Benzema disallowed because of "offside", clearly wrong!
But Real gets the benefit of all calls...
Betis have been wasting clear goal-scoring chances in the second half...
Who is the worse player? Arbeloa or Pepe?
Will Real finish above Atletico? tbh.
That SHOULD happen, as Atlético will fade later on...
Arbeloa. Pepe is a way worse persona on the pitch though
Both are just flat out horrible when they have the ball. All Pepe does is make long balls that never get to a teammate...
And Arbeloa, i'm just glad that he does not break his legs while running!
Just came in to say
The game vs Levante becomes extremely important for Barcelona, especially with the El Derbi Madrileńo next week.
Arbeloa
But Albiol makes him look like a superstar
I'm more interested in seeing what happens on Dec. 16.
Penaldo can't score for
Last edited by Relevancy; 11-25-2012 at 11:54 AM.
Boca Juniors
More symbolic than anything.Boca Juniors
of course of course
Now put in Villa and not Tello goddddddamnit
What would Catalan independence mean for Barcelona and La Liga?
Locals head to the polls on Sunday to vote in their national elections, with leader Artur Mas hoping to secure a majority which will allow a referendum on secession from Spain
25 Nov 2012 09:00:00
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ANALYSIS
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
It has already been dubbed a 'two-team league'. Only Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the Primera Division le since 2004 (when Valencia were crowned champions), and with Spain's prime pair seemingly stronger than ever, that doesn't look likely to change any time soon. So what would happen, then, should Catalunya win independence from Spain?
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Catalans head to the polls on Sunday to vote in their national elections, with governing party Convergence and Union (CiU) expected to return to power with a comfortable majority. And in a time of economic crisis across Spain, Catalan leader Artur Mas is urging voters to push for independence; should they win the 68-seat majority they are seeking to govern without the support of six other parties expected to win seats, a referendum on secession could follow next year - even though this has been described as 'anti-cons utional' by central Spain.
Opinion polls suggest around half of Catalans want independence. Those include former Barca boss Pep Guardiola, who showed his support for a split from Spain by sending a message from New York as Catalans marched in favour of secession on their national day, La Diada, and club president Sandro Rosell, who took part in that same rally on September 11.
CATALAN CLUBS IN THE SPANISH LEAGUE
Badalona Segunda B Barcelona La Liga Espanyol La Liga Europa Tercera Figueres Tercera Gimnastic de Tarragona Segunda B Girona Segunda Hospitalet Segunda B Lleida Segunda B Sabadell Segunda Sant Andreu Segunda B Terrassa Tercera
The Barca players, however, have been more diplomatic, fully aware that a pro-independence stance could harm their reputation within the Spanish national team. Questioned recently by RAC1, Gerard Pique chose his words carefully: "I sincerely believe that, to begin with, it would make Catalunya and Spain weaker. Separation would weaken the two territories. After that, I don't know what would happen. We don't know."
And that is indeed the concern for Catalans - the future is uncertain. To start with, at least, Catalunya would be unable to join the European Union, and exclusion would have huge effects on its economy. Only after years of struggle could the region reclaim its current status, although eventually - according to the Financial Times and other leading economists - it could go on to become the richest state in southern Europe.
But what of Barca and La Liga? Rosell claimed in September that the Catalan club would continue in Spain's top flight, even if the region were to win independence, but current rules mean Barca would be ineligible to participate in the Primera should secession succeed, because only teams that form part of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are allowed to compete in domestic compe ions.
So Barca - and other Catalan clubs like Espanyol - would need to either apply for membership of a nearby Federation such as Aragon or Valencia, or come to a special agreement with the RFEF, as Andorra has done - the Principality's football team competes in Spain's Segunda B.
Either way, Barcelona's participation in La Liga remains in the best interests of both parties; the Catalans' exclusion from the Primera Division would mean Real Madrid would be left without a rival of the same stature, similar to the situation in Scotland with Celtic following Rangers' demotion to the fourth tier, while the Blaugrana would face very little compe ion in a local league against the likes of Espanyol, Girona, Lleida and Nastic Tarragona. Barca, of course, could come to an agreement to play in another compe ion such as France, but both they and Madrid would lose out by separation in football terms.
"I sincerely believe that, to begin with, it would make Catalunya and Spain weaker"
- Gerard Pique
And financially, providing an agreement can be reached between Catalan clubs and the RFEF, there should be no ramifications, either. "[The Spanish league] is one of the world's best-selling compe ions," Mas said recently. "Television rights would be affected without Barcelona, and Real Madrid would be the only team with a big impact left - but without a rival."
So while independence is thought by many to be in the best interests of Catalunya in the long term, separation on the football field is unlikely to happen, even though most of Spain's sides would prefer their Catalan cousins to stay Spanish. Whatever happens, then, o Vilanova's team are likely to remain in La Liga for the foreseeable future and the Primera Division, as we know it, will remain intact. If Catalunya can claim independence, though, one thing is for certain: all of the other teams will be desperate to beat Barcelona.
Follow Ben Hayward on
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3277/...e=breakingnews
^^^ there is another option: Real joins the new Catalan league.
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
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