Thomas Lemar must adapt at Atletico Madrid

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Atletico Madrid made forward Thomas Lemar their club record signing last summer when they splashed out €70m to secure his signature from Monaco. It outstripped the sum they had spent on Diego Costa from Chelsea six months earlier, with the Frenchman arriving amid much furore.

Yet the return has been disappointing from the 23-year-old has proved to be disappointing. He hit the winner in Saturday’s victory at Eibar but that was only the second La Liga match in which he scored in 26 outings. It was also his first in two months, with his two other league strikes coming in a victory at Getafe in August. Continue reading

Stubborn Allegri Costs Juventus Again

Juventus Training Session

With the league just about wrapped up, Juventus travelled to Madrid with massive expectations on their shoulders. Crash out of the Champions League, and their season is effectively over. Despite the magnitude of the clash, the bianconeri looked a broken side at the Wanda Metropolitano and allowed Atletico Madrid to dominate from start to finish. Armed with Cristiano Ronaldo, this season was supposed to be different for the Italian giants and yet, Juventus arguably put in their worst European performance in six years.

While many of their stars frankly didn’t show up, Massimiliano Allegri will have to shoulder much of the blame for Juve’s most recent European embarrassment. With the score tied at zero, and still all to play for, Diego Simeone acted proactively bringing on Thomas Lemar, Alvaro Morata, and Angel Correa, essentially giving his side the extra push they needed to claim the victory.

Allegri, by contrast, acted timidly both with his starting lineup and in-game substitutions, keeping Joao Cancelo on the bench in favour of Mattia De Sciglio and only introduced Federico Bernardeschi by the time it was too late. Meanwhile, the former Milan tactician had Dybala operating from the right, as if he was a natural winger. Naturally, what transpired throughout the ninety minutes was an unmitigated disaster, culminating in a heavy defeat, which if we’re being honest, could have been much, much worse for Allegri. He’ll will be thanking VAR and Diego Costa.

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Fantasy La Liga picks for the coming weekend

Antoine Griezmann

As we gear up for another action-packed weekend in La Liga, I take you through my suggestions for the top fantasy football picks in Spanish football.

In the defensive third this weekend, it’s difficult to look past Athletic Bilbao players as the team from the Basque Country have kept two clean sheets in a row and three in their last four league games, including a 0-0 draw at home to the mighty Barcelona.

Not only that, but Bilbao are at home to Eibar who have only won one away game all season while only scoring nine goals on their travels in La Liga.

Goalkeeper – Iago Herrerin (Athletic Bilbao) – 5.0 million

In goals, I’ve opted for Bilbao’s Iago Herrerin as it’s very possible another clean sheet is on the cards for his side. Herrerin is currently valued at 5.0 million and has a total of 40 points so far.

Depleted Atletico Madrid look to close the gap on Barcelona

Simeone

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone will be hopeful that his side can close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona, with a win at bottom of the table Huesca this weekend.

With the Catalan side not playing until Sunday night, at home to Leganes, Atletico have a chance to narrow the gap between first and second place from five points to two, in Game Week 20.

The former Argentine international could not have asked for an easier game in theory, with their hosts ten points adrift of safety in the Spanish top flight, and with just one win in their last 18 league games.

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La Liga Weekend Picks – Round 12

parteyWith a full card of action scheduled in La Liga this coming weekend, let’s take a look at which players are worth consideration for inclusion in your fantasy teams over the next few days. With some nice fixtures coming up such as Sevilla doing battle with Espanyol, Celta Vigo hosting Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid hosting Athletic Bilbao (on Saturday) there will be plenty to keep you entertained between Friday and Sunday, so without further ado we will adopt a 4-3-3 formation this week and get cracking!

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Beware of ‘wounded beast’ Atletico Madrid

Simeone

The midweek 4-0 humbling away at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League will have stung Atletico Madrid, and they will be looking to make an immediate La Liga response this weekend.

The defeat was Diego Simeone’s heaviest during his seven year tenure at the club, with Lucien Favre’s exciting young side simply too much in attack for Atletico.

Having stabilised their La Liga form following a inconsistent start to the season, Simeone and his players will be rocked by a result that few saw coming, despite Dortmund’s impressive displays in the Bundesliga this season.

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Atletico Madrid go back to basics to get results

Diego Costa

Atletico Madrid look to have recovered from their slow start to the season, with Diego Simeone’s side unbeaten in their last five games in La Liga and Champions League action.

Los Rojiblancos won just one of their opening four La Liga games, with underwhelming performances and just three goals scored.

Their start was particularly frustrating for fans after their impressive showing in the European Super Cup Final, where they beat bitter rivals Real Madrid in Tallinn.

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La Liga Best XI – Week 5

benyedderSevilla were arguably the stars of this past weekend’s La Liga action, recording a 6-2 away win at Levante. That allowed Wissam Ben Yedder and Sarabia  make it into this week’s list straight away, while there were also some big hits from Alaves as they earned an equally impressive 5-1 win at the home of Rayo Vallecano. Celta Vigo, meanwhile, played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against Reakl Valladolid. Girona did well to earn a 2-2 draw at league leaders Barcelona, which allowed Real Madrid to catch up some ground near the top following their 1-0 victory at home against Levante. Let’s now take a look at the best players from the latest round of action in Spain’s top flight, using a 4-4-2 system this week.

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Best La Liga Fantasy XI for 2018-19 – Predictions

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The new season of La Liga is only one week away, and it’s an appropriate time to start picking your fantasy side.

There have been some major changes to La Liga during the summer. In the biggest change to the league, fantasy football hero Cristiano Ronaldo has left Real Madrid for Juventus. Some big names like Thibaut Courtois, Thomas Lemar, Malcom, Arturo Vidal etc. have moved from other leagues to La Liga during the summer. The transfer window is still open in Spain, so some more names are expected to arrive in the coming days.

Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Real Valladolid are the new teams in La Liga this season following their promotion last season.

Here are our best 11 picks for the upcoming La Liga season: Continue reading

Monaco aim to remain competitive in Ligue 1 after another summer of selling

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Leonardo Jardim and his talented group of players achieved something remarkable in 2016-17 as they bested Unai Emery’s PSG side for the league title.
That squad couldn’t stay intact for long as major European clubs bought most of the key players in the following summer. It left Jardim with a huge restructuring job ahead of the 17-18 season, but Monaco made a stunning €289 million profit in the transfer window. Continue reading