His goal scoring record for a number 9 in a side like Madrid isn't amazing (just under 1 in 2), but he spent years having to play second fiddle to Ronaldo, and you don't stay at Madrid for 11 years if you're not world class.
Important win for Real Madrid last night at Sociedad and they leapfrog Barca to go top.
What was more impressive is the strength in depth Madrid have. Mendy, Modric, Asensio and Militao all came on as subs. Rodrygo, Bale and Hazard were unused subs.
Barcelona's title hopes seem to be slipping away since the restart - win for Real Madrid tonight and they'll go four points clear after Barca's draw last night against Atleti.
Don't know how the players can cope at the moment in the heat - we're in the high thirties at the moment and even with tonight's 10pm kick off it's still stifling hot.
Win for Real Madrid tonight against Villarreal and the title is theirs for the first time in three years with a game left to play.
Bottom of the table is more interesting this year with Espanyol already down to be joined by two of Mallorca, Leganes, Celta Vigo or Alaves. Cadiz promoted to La Liga for first time in twenty odd years. Our old friends Alcorcon are still in the mix for the play offs as well!
Was supposed to be in Cadiz for the Fuenlabrada game when it was originally scheduled. This follows the previous season when I was in town them to see them play Extremadura, which was postponed due to the unfortunate death of Jose Antonio Reyes. So still haven't seen them play, but glad they're up and will hopefully be able to watch them next season at some point. Great city.
Think Villarreal might grab a draw tonight, obviously when rather than if for Real though.
Reckon Leganes will be down after tonight's games, the other three all capable of picking up points.
Barcelona's title hopes seem to be slipping away since the restart - win for Real Madrid tonight and they'll go four points clear after Barca's draw last night against Atleti.
Don't know how the players can cope at the moment in the heat - we're in the high thirties at the moment and even with tonight's 10pm kick off it's still stifling hot.
At least they deserve a water break then, unlike here where we still persist with it when it's 18 degrees in Birmingham
Another successful year against all odds for Eibar and MarkoDmitrović - remarkable how such a small town (population 27,000) continues to have a La Liga team.
Real Madrid are Champions after their win. Although it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, Barcelona surprisingly lost at home to Osasuna. Barca have been poor since the league started again and look in need of a major overhaul.
People will surely now sit up and realise that Zidane is a great manager.
When they won 3 champions leagues in a row, people said it was down to Ronaldo and any manager could've won it.
But Madrid struggled without him. 12 defeats last season and finished 19 points behind Barca.
He then wins the league this year with only really Benzema and 2 teenagers (Vinicius and Rodrygo) to rely on up front. Hazard injured most of the season, Bale out of favour, Jovic a waste of money. A superb title win.
Harsh on Leganes - relegated after being forced to sell main striker Martin Braithwaite to Barca outside the transfer window and not being allowed to buy a replacement. Typical of how the smaller teams get screwed over by the big clubs. Drew 2-2 with Real Madrid tonight but Celta Vigo getting a point against Espanyol sends Leganes down. Very rough for them - I'm sure Braithwaite would have got some more goals for them if he'd have stayed.
Utter chaos in the Spanish second division last night with the final round of games all taking place................or so we thought. 20 minutes before kick off (god knows how it was left that late), the La Coruna v Fuenlabrada game was postponed due to the away side having a number of positive Covid tests.
All the other games took place and by the end of the night, La Coruna who many on here will remember winning La liga and being one of the best sides in Europe at the start of this century, were relegated to the third tier.
But the major trouble is at the top. Fuenlabrada, a tiny side who average crowds of less than 4k, need just a point to make the play offs......... which are due to start this week. But they will surely have to quarantine for a while, then play their last match. This could be 1-2 weeks away. The side in 6th (Elche) currently have to prepare for a play off game, that they don't know when it is, and they might not actually play.
Deportivo v Fuenlabrada rescheduled for 30th July, with the playoffs now starting a week later. Unbelievably all the teams around Depor at the bottom of the table got the results they needed last night to all but confirm Depor's relegation barring some ridiculously high scoring win against Fuenlabrada.
Fuenlabrada are another miracle side who only got promoted from the regional Segunda B for the first time in their history last year. Went to see them play last season against my team Union Adarve, who got relegated from Segunda B last year. Crazy to think the two teams could be three leagues apart next year if Fuenlabrada go up.
Also doesn’t the third tier get restructured next season in Spain. Going from 80 to 100 teams across 4 division IIRC
Yes - there will be five parallel leagues instead of four as twenty teams will go up from the eighteen fourth level leagues (one for each autonomous community) with no relegation from the Segunda B level.
Deportivo are going to have to face the ignominy of being in the same league as their arch rival Celta Vigo's B team!
What sort of crowds do teams get at Segunda B level?
Given some of the tiny sides higher up the leagues like Leganes, Eibar and Fuenlabrada, i have visions of some of these sides playing in front of crowds of about 500.
Also doesn’t the third tier get restructured next season in Spain. Going from 80 to 100 teams across 4 division IIRC
Yes - there will be five parallel leagues instead of four as twenty teams will go up from the eighteen fourth level leagues (one for each autonomous community) with no relegation from the Segunda B level.
Deportivo are going to have to face the ignominy of being in the same league as their arch rival Celta Vigo's B team!
When I read Celta Vigo stayed up whilst Deportivo went down, I thought of how that would be received in Galicia. But that will rub salt in the wounds.
Segunda B is known here as the 'pozo' - the well: easy to fall into and difficult to get out of.
It's a funny level, with famous old names like Recreativo Huelva and Hercules (to be joined by Deportivo and Racing Santander next year) along with many B teams, small town teams and effectively neighbourhood ('barrio') teams of the bigger cities. One of the latter was the team I follow here, Union Adarve from the north of Madrid, who spent a couple of seasons there before slipping back into the regionalised fourth level last year. We got back in the playoffs this year to go back up but were knocked out by Alcorcon B in the semi finals on Saturday, who play Navalcarnero in the Madrid final next weekend.
Crowds are very varied at Segunda B level, with the big old clubs potentially getting up to 10,000 but I have been to games with just a couple of hundred. I would say the average is about 500 though.
There's a big following for lower league football here among the Brits and Irish. One of my mates organises the 'dia de futbol modesto' which is the equivalent of non league day and it has got a lot of interest and a bit of publicity. Much prefer going to this level than Real or Atletico - much more of community feel even though the football can be basically rubbish. Bit like Charlton really!
Comments
His goal scoring record for a number 9 in a side like Madrid isn't amazing (just under 1 in 2), but he spent years having to play second fiddle to Ronaldo, and you don't stay at Madrid for 11 years if you're not world class.
What was more impressive is the strength in depth Madrid have. Mendy, Modric, Asensio and Militao all came on as subs. Rodrygo, Bale and Hazard were unused subs.
He's the youngest La Liga player ever. Just 15 years and 7 months old!!
Don't know how the players can cope at the moment in the heat - we're in the high thirties at the moment and even with tonight's 10pm kick off it's still stifling hot.
Bottom of the table is more interesting this year with Espanyol already down to be joined by two of Mallorca, Leganes, Celta Vigo or Alaves. Cadiz promoted to La Liga for first time in twenty odd years. Our old friends Alcorcon are still in the mix for the play offs as well!
Think Villarreal might grab a draw tonight, obviously when rather than if for Real though.
Reckon Leganes will be down after tonight's games, the other three all capable of picking up points.
When they won 3 champions leagues in a row, people said it was down to Ronaldo and any manager could've won it.
But Madrid struggled without him. 12 defeats last season and finished 19 points behind Barca.
He then wins the league this year with only really Benzema and 2 teenagers (Vinicius and Rodrygo) to rely on up front. Hazard injured most of the season, Bale out of favour, Jovic a waste of money. A superb title win.
All the other games took place and by the end of the night, La Coruna who many on here will remember winning La liga and being one of the best sides in Europe at the start of this century, were relegated to the third tier.
But the major trouble is at the top. Fuenlabrada, a tiny side who average crowds of less than 4k, need just a point to make the play offs......... which are due to start this week. But they will surely have to quarantine for a while, then play their last match. This could be 1-2 weeks away. The side in 6th (Elche) currently have to prepare for a play off game, that they don't know when it is, and they might not actually play.
Fuenlabrada are another miracle side who only got promoted from the regional Segunda B for the first time in their history last year. Went to see them play last season against my team Union Adarve, who got relegated from Segunda B last year. Crazy to think the two teams could be three leagues apart next year if Fuenlabrada go up.
Deportivo are going to have to face the ignominy of being in the same league as their arch rival Celta Vigo's B team!
Given some of the tiny sides higher up the leagues like Leganes, Eibar and Fuenlabrada, i have visions of some of these sides playing in front of crowds of about 500.
A ridiculous situation for Deportivo.
It's a funny level, with famous old names like Recreativo Huelva and Hercules (to be joined by Deportivo and Racing Santander next year) along with many B teams, small town teams and effectively neighbourhood ('barrio') teams of the bigger cities. One of the latter was the team I follow here, Union Adarve from the north of Madrid, who spent a couple of seasons there before slipping back into the regionalised fourth level last year. We got back in the playoffs this year to go back up but were knocked out by Alcorcon B in the semi finals on Saturday, who play Navalcarnero in the Madrid final next weekend.
Crowds are very varied at Segunda B level, with the big old clubs potentially getting up to 10,000 but I have been to games with just a couple of hundred. I would say the average is about 500 though.
There's a big following for lower league football here among the Brits and Irish. One of my mates organises the 'dia de futbol modesto' which is the equivalent of non league day and it has got a lot of interest and a bit of publicity. Much prefer going to this level than Real or Atletico - much more of community feel even though the football can be basically rubbish. Bit like Charlton really!