La Liga Lowdown

To accompany you as you open the first window in the advent calendar, we have a fresh podcast! The temperature may be getting colder, but LaLiga is hotting up, with plenty for Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) to unpack from Matchday 14.We begin at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, where Betis confirmed their superiority in the city of Seville. Victory here made it back-to-back gran derbi wins for the first time in 30 years! What a watch to celebrate the renewal of Manuel Pellegrini's contract.We then turn to the title race, which could barely be much closer. Just three points separate the top four. Real Madrid dropped points for the third consecutive match – this time at Montilivi – to cede leadership of the league and hand it back to Barcelona, just a month after beating them to go five points clear. We ask why it's going wrong lately, and where they go from here (Bilbao, because they have yet another away game).Despite being top anew, Barça have problems of their own, not least Hansi Flick's demeanour on the bench or the club's problems with the digital tickets at the new Camp Nou.In Part Two, we headline with the goal-fest of the weekend, as Villarreal maintained their rhythm, domestically that is. A genuine two-faced team, they fought to the end to ward off the La Real comeback and position themselves nicely in third spot.Atleti won their seventh game in succession, but the big test is Tuesday night in Barcelona.Elsewhere, Espanyol keep up their bright start, Celta still can't win at home, Getafe keep doing their thing, and a referee sent off a former referee.Last, but by no means least, Levante are looking for a new coach after they sacked Julián Calero following their 2-0 defeat at home to Athletic. Winless at home, albeit with a tough run of fixtures, Luis García Plaza is the favourite to replace Calero.Two big LaLiga matches and the next round of the Copa del Rey to look forward to this week, as well as plenty of content at lllonline.substack.com. Subscribe now for all the access.

Barcelona are back home, but Real's travails on the road continue. Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) to review Matchday 13 in LaLiga EA Sports!Is a four-horse race on the cards? In Part One, our two LaLiga experts look into the matches, kicking off with Barça's grand return to the Spotify Camp Nou, with Román actually being there to see it all unfold. He explains the new experiences before analysing the win over Athletic and first clean sheet in two months. Then they review Madrid's second league draw in a row against a brave and bold Elche, followed by Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid achieving narrow wins to keep close track of the top two. Just four points separate the top four now!!In Part Two, Matt and Román talk about the the Valencian derby, and the slow yet steady rise of Real Sociedad and Celta de Vigo in the standings with a win apiece. They also review the other two draws of the weekend, with a goalless Oviedo vs Rayo and a controversial Betis vs Girona, ending with Antony being sent off and missing the derby against Sevilla.Once again, thanks for listening, and remember you can access our bonus podcast and multiple weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com.

The experienced trio of Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann and Gerard Moreno all proved age is just a number on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 LaLiga season. Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) start by focusing on Lewandowski’s hat-trick in Barcelona’s exciting 4-2 away win over Celta Vigo. We then focus on Atlético Madrid and Griezmann’s role as an impact sub in a successful home outing against Levante. Elsewhere, Gerard helped Villarreal bounce back from a disappointing Champions League result with a 2-0 triumph over Espanyol. Marcelino’s side are now just five points adrift of the summit after Real Madrid failed in their quest to beat Rayo Vallecano in their final outing before the international break.In part two, we discuss Valencia’s improved showing against Real Betis, Mikel Oyarzabal’s late penalty and Nico Williams’s stunning goal in one of four 1-0 wins that took place over the weekend. We then turn our attention to Sevilla’s return to winning ways, as well as three points for Girona and Mallorca.LaLiga now pauses for the international break, but we will continue to produce content over at lllonline.substack.com, where you can access our bonus podcasts and regular articles on a variety of topics.

Recap matchday 11 with Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) in a weekend with plenty of goals and excitement.Part one kicks off with the passionate Basque derby, which had all the ingredients to become a 'partidazo', and saw Real Sociedad take the win right at the very end. They also review Villarreal's cruising win against Rayo Vallecano and both Barça and Madrid's wins in the title race.In part two, you'll find words of praise for Antony, aka Antonio de Triana, who wowed LaLiga fans with two stunning goals and an assist for a comfortable 3-0 win over Mallorca. Getafe also keeps showing their consistency as they climb up to 7th, while Atleti dispatch Sevilla as Griezmann scored his 200th LaLiga goal.As always, thanks for listening, and remember, you can access our bonus podcast and weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com.

Looking for some analysis on 'El Clásico' and all the LaLiga action? Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) have sorted it out for you!In the first part of the pod they look into what happened between Madrid and Barça. It was billed by some as the English Clásico, and Jude Bellingham was the man who decided it. Neither side seemed to be in their best form of late, but during the game there was definitely a superior side, which ultimately pulled off a big win to widen the gap to five points in the standings. The football, the players, the beefs, the controversy... it's all covered.In Part Two, they go through the rest of the Matchday, with some big results: including Girona's 6-goal home draw vs Real Oviedo in a fight to escape relegation, Celta's first win of the season and Bordalás' masterclass to sink Athletic in their misery, unable to break down Getafe's defensive wall. All this and more in our Monday pod!Thanks for listening, and remember you can access our bonus podcast and multiple weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com.

The world of Spanish football was stunned on Tuesday night to hear of the news that the Miami match between Villarreal and Barcelona has been cancelled.Relevant, the sponsoring company organising the match, and LaLiga both released statements expressing their disappointment at the need to cancel, citing the “uncertainty generated in Spain”. It seems apparent that the AFE protests from last weekend certainly had a timely effect.In this additional bonus podcast, we bring you all the news, reaction and fallout. Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) convenes Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG), Ben Sully (@SullyBen), Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) and Louis Scattergood (@louiscxtt) to analyse the situation and answer the myriad questions this dramatic day has raised.How embarrassing is this for Javier Tebas? Should he resign? Is the Miami plan now dead in the water?What about Barcelona and Joan Laporta, who was so confident and bullish only hours earlier on Tuesday? Román gives his perspective.As for Villarreal, they are furious about the decision and the way they feel sidelined from the process. The news broke during their Champions League match with Manchester City, leaving CEO Fernando Roig Negueroles to make a hasty exit from the Directors’ box. Louis offers his take on the situation as a whole and the Villarreal angle.For more, read Christian Poulsen's piece below, available to paid subscribers:LaLiga’s Miami dream collapses as Villarreal–Barcelona returns homeRemember, you can subscribe at lllonline.substack.com to get ALL of our content, including comprehensive coverage of El Clásico this weekend!

LaLiga was back with a bang after the international break. In the context of AFE-led league-wide protests, there was more controversy and late drama for Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) to get stuck into.We begin with those protests from the Players’ Union, who have been angered by the lack of communication from the league about the Miami match. This led to the captains agreeing to stop playing for 10-15 seconds at the start of this weekend’s matches. To exacerbate the problems for themselves, LaLiga appeared to direct their broadcast partners not to show these protests live on television, latterly conjuring up the explanation of a ‘commitment to peace’ strapline across screens. A pretty cynical ploy and it was widely denounced.Onto the football, and Barcelona avoided three games without a win in all competitions, but it took a 93rd-minute winner from an unlikely source, as Ronald Araújo spared their blushes. A visibly angered Hansi Flick was sent off and will be absent from the touchline for the Clásico. Real Madrid also had to work hard for their three points, leaving it relatively late to get the better of Getafe. Kylian Mbappé continued his incredible run of scoring and once again it was Arda Güler who provided the assist. The hosts ended with nine men, as Vini Jr's introduction – off the bench – led to two players seeing red. Román would not be drawn too much on a prediction for next week’s big encounter, but did acknowledge it wasn’t looking great for the Catalans at the moment.Across Madrid, Atleti also recorded a narrow win, just about getting the better of Osasuna, whose away record is a problem that Alessio Lisci must solve quickly. Form on the road is something which Diego Simeone himself also needs to correct. In Part Two, we begin with a partidazo between Villarreal and Betis, as Marcelino overtook his counterpart to become the coach who has led the Yellow Submarine in most matches. They led 2-0 and looked good for all three points, but Antony was the verdiblanco hero once more as his brace (including another late goal) saved the point.Then we turn our attention to the Robin Hood of LaLiga: Sevilla had just beaten the league leaders, but this weekend they lost at home to the side who was propping up the table. Mallorca came from behind with three goals in ten minutes to earn a massive win for Jagoba Arrasate.Elsewhere, it was groundhog day at Balaídos as Celta drew 1-1 for the seventh time in nine matchdays. Carl Starfelt’s red card changed the game, and La Real finally got a break as two of their summer signings combined to equalise late on.Rayo enjoyed a big win on the road to make it three in a row in all competitions, Espanyol ruined Luis Carrión’s Oviedo return, and Elche played out a stalemate with Athletic Club.Subscribe at lllonline.substack.com for all of our content, including written content all week ahead of the Clásico, and the bonus podcast analysing the European midweek action, including Arsenal vs Atleti, Real Madrid vs Juventus and Villarreal vs Manchester City.

Spain are nearly there. Luis de la Fuente’s side moved to the brink of World Cup qualification with two successful outings against Georgia and Bulgaria. Join Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) as they recap all the action from the international window.We start by focusing on Saturday’s 2-0 success against Georgia in Elche, where Yéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal got on the scoresheet. The focus then turns to Tuesday’s 4-0 triumph against Bulgaria in Valladolid. Of course, we have to discuss Mikel Merino’s goalscoring exploits, as well as Spain’s impressive form and De la Fuente’s striker situation.In part two, Barcelona’s injury crisis is on the agenda, including the news that Robert Lewandowski looks set to miss the Clásico later this month. There is also time to reflect upon the controversial managerial change at Real Oviedo and look ahead to the weekend’s round of LaLiga fixtures.Remember, you can join us over at lllonline.substack.com to access all of our written and audio content, including our recent pieces on Endrick’s situation at Real Madrid, Barcelona’s high line and Yéremy Pino’s potential.