Real and Barca have a lot of problems with the competition so far. Barca have 12 points out of 4 games, but 3 of the games were pretty close.
Maybe this season of La Liga will be more interesting? Unlikely but possible.

wingpawn

Poland1342 Posts

September 15 2013 07:49 GMT

#5169

Well, Malaga, Valencia and Sevilla are some of the toughest non-Real opponents for Barcelona in La Liga. And honestly, despite one-goal wins, it was often Blaugrana scoring a huge lead only to relax little too much. Maybe aside from game against Malaga, where they controlled the flow very well, but had a hard time to break the turtling opponent.

I'd say Real's story is quite the same, only that they screw up a little bit more, which was finally punised by Villarreal. But I guess the pwning spree in La Liga won't change unless FCB or RM players will start to feel the tense calendar in their legs.

haitike

Spain2743 Posts

September 15 2013 09:01 GMT

#5170

I cant believe that awesome keepers like Diego Lopez (De Gea, and others) cant even dream with going to the spanish national team, meanwhile Reina is still the third goalkeeper of Spain.

It is just ridiculous.

Argoth.

Germany1961 Posts

September 15 2013 10:45 GMT

#5171

I really didn't expect Dortmund to look that strong this season, but holy shit with these new great signings, they have a firepower which is just crazy. This will be really tough for Arsenal in this CL group!

sharkie

Austria18720 Posts

September 15 2013 14:29 GMT

#5172

Dortmund's getting scary.

First
they lose Sahin, they get better
they lose Kagawa, dont lose too much quality
they lose Goetze, become offensive powerhouse XD

DaMuffinman

Germany1705 Posts

September 15 2013 14:44 GMT

#5173

A big factor is that the new players (Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang) didn't need much time to adapt.

Aubameyang is @ 5 goals and 2 assists, Mkhitaryan @ 3 goals & 1 assist (didn't play the first ~ 1 or 2 games cause of injury though) in 5 games of Bundesliga. Let's hope this continues.

ZapRoffo

United States5544 Posts

September 15 2013 15:58 GMT

#5174

On September 15 2013 16:29 Maenander wrote:
Real and Barca have a lot of problems with the competition so far. Barca have 12 points out of 4 games, but 3 of the games were pretty close.
Maybe this season of La Liga will be more interesting? Unlikely but possible.

Barcelona still overwhelm lesser opponents with offensive talent through Messi, Neymar and Iniesta so I do expect them to do pretty well in La Liga still. I don't see them winning or serious contending for Champions League though. Atletico looks sick good this year though so I think they can make it interesting in La Liga and I think they can make a deep CL run too, they are full out dominating their games more than Barcelona or Real so far. Also I think letting Ozil go is gonna be a big mistake by Real, their offense and flow looks so much worse.

WillyWanker

France1915 Posts

September 15 2013 16:29 GMT

#5175

I feel that for this year's CL it is very difficult to predict who's going to win

Every big team has had to deal with big changes : MU, Chelsea, Barça, Real, Bayern. Only Dortmund was stable.

So I believe in this kind of scenario, the teams that have the most chances of winning are the one with the least volatile tactics. Barça/Dortmund are for me the favorites because of this. We should all not forget that games before February are worth almost nothing. All these teams are going to go through the groupstage and be on top of their leagues... They are not fully physically prepared, it's very difficult to judge now :s

Domestically, Barça started VERY well. 12 points facing the toughest opponents (except for RM ofc) while having to face Atletico twice. AND still managing to get a 2 points lead over RM. Can't start much better than that

sc4k

United Kingdom5454 Posts

September 15 2013 16:52 GMT

#5176

Aubameyang is such a fucking legend, such a beast in AS St Etienne, great buy!!!

Pandemona

Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts

September 15 2013 17:19 GMT

#5177

On September 16 2013 01:52 sc4k wrote:
Aubameyang is such a fucking legend, such a beast in AS St Etienne, great buy!!!

Indeed and after watching last night and another no show from Chelsea strikers, it pisses you off alot when you see other people signing strikers and watching them hit the ground running xD
CHEAP strikers too xD

Freaky[x]

Canada995 Posts

September 15 2013 17:53 GMT

#5178

People seem to underestimate Everton and Goodison Park. It is difficult to go to Everton and get a result. Chelsea had a few chances to score but didn't. This cannot be put on their lack of signings. They have invested in CFs in every window (Torres, Ba, Eto'). The arrivals are having difficulties gelling with the team or are simply not given a chance (Lukaku and Sturridge). It goes to show that buying CFs is not enough. Integrating them in the team is hard for the managers at Chelsea.

That said, I thought Everton played well and deserved at least a point. I guess Mourinho is finding it difficult when he doesn't have the star quality he had at Madrid.

RvB

Netherlands6304 Posts

September 15 2013 18:09 GMT

#5179

Let's give Mourinho some time though... He only just started and his first year usually isn't that good but then after that he gets the ball rolling.

zulu_nation8

China26351 Posts

September 15 2013 18:25 GMT

#5180

I think the problem with Man Utd is Moyes refusing to change tactics. We still rely heavily on wing play despite the fact that Valencia has lost a step, Young is weak and not that good, and Nani doesn't even play anymore. Against Palace you can see how pitiful the attack is, much like it was against Liverpool. The fullbacks make great overlapping runs but because not enough people get into the box, added to the fact that VPS isn't as comfortable in the air, and Young/Valencia aren't great crossers anymore, so much possession is wasted every time by bombarding the ball into the box with no one on the other end.

Moyes also insists on playing another holding midfielder that never gets forward next to Carrick. Cleverly is useless and Anderson is fat. They both do the same thing as Carrick but much worse. Fellaini seems to get forward more but is slow. Basically there's no one creative on the pitch to feed VPS except Rooney, who's not enough by himself. He also wants to score himself and is not a pure playmaker.

United hasn't scored from open play in three matches. Against Palace, the good chances only came in the second half when the wingers started doing low crosses and picking people out, but even then no one could finish. The foul on Young was outside of the box and he wasn't the last man back. Most top teams in the world play multiple advanced midfielders up the pitch instead of relying on traditional wingers. Teams are supposed to play to their strength and our wingers suck. Meanwhile Kagawa and his creativity is rotting on the bench while Moyes plays a teenager winger who doesn't seem physically ready for the premier league. Unless something changes drastically I doubt United can challenge for the title.