Off we go again next weekend, amidst the usual shenanygins about TV deals and quibbles about the match schedule. There have been continued protests about the unfairness of TV money distribution being skewed towards you-know-who, and the by now annual arguments about which companies have the rights for which teams, which seem to always get sorted out without threatened strikes being carried out. Some matches in the early rounds have been scheduled to start at 2300, supposedly to avoid high August temperatures, and this has irked some.

AS do their usual summer transfer round-up here. Lodzubelieveit's five interesting transfers to watch are:

1. Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia to Sevilla). Heart anomaly recently detected by the presumably ultra-cautious Sevilla medical staff, though has been passed fit to continue playing football. Could provide a midfield of some bite if he's played alongside Medel.

2. Javi Varas (Sevilla to Celta). From the penalty-saving hero at the Camp Nou to out the door at the end of the season. Shame for the guy, who has seemed a talented goalkeeper, who will presumably get plenty of saving practice at Celta and will want to prove his worth.

3. Chori Castro (Mallorca to Real Sociedad). Talented winger, though perhaps this move is a bit 'sideways'. Could kick on to become a La Liga star, or could disappear; it's up to him.

4. Fernando Gago (Real Madrid to Valencia). Is he a star or not? Never really made it at RMad and will be determined to show why he was so highly-rated years ago.

5. Nelson Oliveira (Benfica to Deportivo). Brought on as a supposed talented supersub by Portugal at Euro2012. If so, what's he doing on loan at relatively lowly Depor? Could explode as a big talent, or could be packed off back home.

And take your pick from between Sevilla and Betis for season ticket selling ads...

Lodzubelieveit wrote:



Not happy.

Yes, err, lo siento. I meant nothing against the Obelix boys per se, would have said the same thing had he gone to any recently promoted club.

Lodzubelieveit wrote:


Basically Rodrigo and Nelson Oliveira are very similar players, but Rodrigo is better. Long-term thinking sees Oliveira as someone who will play at Benfica for his career and may even become captain. But short-term, Rodrigo is going to bring Benfica more success and transfer value.

Can't see Oliveira or Depor doing particularly well.

A couple other transfers of note:

1. Portugal's right back Joao Pereira and Mexico's left midfielder Andres Guardado each going to Valencia. Joao Pereira established himself at Euro 2012 as a solid fullback while Guardado has excelled for both club and country on the left wing.

2. Carlos Vela sold outright to Real Sociedad. He played there last season on loan from Arsenal but now he belongs to Real and he should be their primary goal scorer. Vela, Castro and young French winger Griezmann should make for a pretty good attack.

3. Jordi Alba, the rich get richer as the best left back at Euro 2012 heads up the coast from Valencia to Barcelona.

4. Joel Campbell, the young Costa Rican attacker will be loaned by Arsenal to Betis. This kid has talent.

Six years ago some friends who I get together to watch La Liga games decided to compete in Yahoo's Superliga, a fantasy football game involving the Spanish league. It ended up being a lot of fun (although some have become overly obsessive about it as they try and compete with the now 4 times champion from the Canary Islands!) I formed a group amongst some friends who I watched La Liga games with from my hangouts in Los Angeles and San Diego and that has expanded as they invited people they know and so on and so on. The Group is called California/Espana but has members from elsewhere, including one in Kyiv, Ukraine!

The links are:

Spanish:
es.laliga.fantasysports.yahoo.com/football

English:
us.laliga.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

Click on the button to register your team and then go to Join/Create a
Group and click on Join a Group and follow the instructions to join a
private group. When prompted enter the following:

Group ID Number: 1277
Password: futbol

Some people change their teams weekly, others stay with a set lineup throughout all or most of the season. One tip is if you do make changes you must save your changes each week "Guardar sus cambios" and then confirm those changes "Confirmar los cambios" in order to earn points. You also must do those after you initially form your team.

Not only is it entertaining but also is a good way to learn more about the players in Spain. Please feel free to invite anybody else you know to also join the group. The more the merrier.

Although my friend David from the Canary Islands was the winner (again) of the competition last season, Incandenza, with the wonderfully named team "Joy of Cesc," finished top of the posters from here.

Good luck to all.

Martin C wrote:


It was a fantastic bit of business by Valencia, they paid €2m for him before the Euro, where he surpassed all expectations and must have increased his value by 4 or 5 times that amount. I've always been a big fan of his, but he has a similar on-pitch temperament to Dennis Wise or Robbie Savage, he really goes out his way to wind up the opposition. Usually it works, but you're guaranteed he'll see red two or three times a season through his own making.

Euro 2012 saw a huge development in his maturity, he'd restrained that negative aspect of his game considerably and concentrated on his role for the team. He's very talented technically, another player who started out as a forward at Benfica but became a right-back under Jorge Jesus's reign at Braga. I think the Valencia fans will love him.

Brilliant Martin, was wondering if the league was up again. I'm always excited in August, and lose focus in January. Vamos!

God, this really is a pain in the ass picking your team. Do you pick either Messi or Ronaldo and know that you'll at least be guaranteed a steady stream of points from them and then try to build the rest of your team from pennies, or do you try to go for balance?

Thanks Incandenza. Yes, it is a tough call on the Superliga as both Ronaldo and Messi are valued so highly. I tend to go for the less pricey players in picking my team.

Damn, it is possible that Javi Martinez and Fernando Llorente may be leaving Athletic Bilbao. Add them to Cazorla leaving Malaga, Borja Valero departing Villarreal, Arouna Kone leaving Levante and Diego gone from Atletico Madrid and all of the top clubs except Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia have lost top players to clubs outside of Spain! And Valencia of course also lost Jordi Alba to Barcelona. A definite talent drain below the top two.

any news on atleticio v bilbao is on the monday night 27th?

just i'm in madrid that night

any pointers on espanyol this season?

Simão has joined Espanyol for 2 seasons, I hope he does well there. Apparently he wanted to return to Benfica, but they weren't interested due to the huge amount of players they already have in his position.

Sid Lowe previews the new season with a lengthy attack on the pre-rigged, pre-ordained nature of the competition.

www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/au...rid-spanish-football

Home to Getafe tonight, and the peña sevillista enniskilleño will be cheering them on in front of the TV. Would be a bit of a kick in the teeth for the lads if they lost this one, and would set alarm bells ringing that the pessimism of the last couple of years was having long lasting effects. Need to win and convince, vencer y convencer, as they say.

On paper, a front six of Medel - Trochowski - Rakitic - Navas - Reyes - Negredo looks capable of all sorts of attacking va va voom. Now's the time for Michel to start showing he's got a grip of the team.

Can't complain about a 2-0 lead at half time. Some flashes of good wing play from Cicinho and Navas down the right and Navarro and Reyes on the left. Negredo wasteful with one or two chances, but tucked away his penalty. One or two signs of sloppiness earlier on at the back, and Lafita's a decent player, but Getafe have rarely seriously threatened.

Well, 2-1 it finishes. Decent if not brilliant performance. Diego López is a solid goalkeeper, Cicinho and Fernando Navarro are sound full backs, Medel as tigrish as ever in midfield, and Rakitic can be excellent. You get the feeling that the Croat could impose himself on the game a bit more, but I guess with the number of balls down the wings for Navas and Reyes then maybe you can't expect too much.

Baba looked a bit raw up front. Fazio and Spahic can be a bit clangery at the back, and maybe Botía and/or Maduro will replace one or both of them.

Real Madrid drop two points, 1-1 at home v Valencia. Onda Cero suggest they dominated the game, especially in the second half, without taking their chances. Maybe typical first day cobwebs and need to get into their stride.

Athletic fans demonstrate their jovial, tolerant side with wantaway striker Fernando Llorente. Can't have helped their mood that they've just lost 3-5 to Betis.

We are all tremendously fortunate to be alive during Leo Messi's prime.

Assuming that he's reached it, of course.

Bilbao were 3-0 down, then hauled themselves back to parity, then let in two more in the final minutes. For all the plaudits that Bielsa gets as a technician, he doesn't win too many matches.

I watched extended highlights last night of Barcelona-Real Sociedad last night and the commentator mentioned that Messi had scored eighty-two goals for club and country during 2011-12. Unreal, even if the Spanish league is not exactly what it used to be.

Puyol and Villa made their comebacks, opening and concluding the scoring respectively. Dani Alves was caught slumbering for Real Sociedad's goal. He seems to have learned absolutely nothing as a defender since the 2006 UEFA Cup final, when his doziness handed Albert Riera a goal for Espanyol.

It'll be good to see Deportivo La Coruna back in business tonight, at home to Osasuna. Their name is a Proustian signifier of the days when La Liga was ultra-competitive.

Not that it mattered, but the entire defense looked as if they had just gotten off a 17 hour flight for the first meaningless friendly of the pre-season.

Speaking of meaningless friendlies, the Gamper Trophy (against Sampdoria) is tonight, and the SuperCopa (against Madrid) is Thursday, while they are away to Ossasuna on Sunday.

That typically brilliant scheduling accounts for the early substitutions last night.