Carlos Espí arrives in style, Julián makes a swift exit & Barça hit five: LaLiga Matchday 2 recap

Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Harry Gillies for their MD5 LaLiga analysis, with reaction from Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) on Valencia’s sacking of Carlos Corberán. The first coaching casualty of the season is joined at the exit door by CEO Ron Gourlay. The guys discuss the sporting restructure at Mestalla, and the problems still facing the next manager in charge, whoever they may be… Fully recovered from his fury at VAR decisions, José Mourinho is somewhat happier after a convincing win against Rayo, but the Real Madrid manager admits they are still missing too many chances. Barça have scored 21 goals in the opening five matches, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha combining to devastate Levante, although Luís Castro’s side nearly pulled off a late comeback. The Pichichi already has some interesting contenders, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang starring once again for Dépor in a 1-1 draw with Getafe, while Morocco striker Yassir Zabiri looks a real talent for Racing. Some of the best young managers in the league have struggled at the start of this season. We review what is going wrong for Celta and Claudio Giráldez, and look ahead to Villarreal V Betis, where Iñigo Pérez will be desperate for his first win as manager of the Yellow Submarine. Thanks for listening in, and remember, we’ve got more pods and articles coming your way in our Substack: lllonline.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the MD4 drama and talking points unpacked by Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) in our recap pod of the weekend.Who had it on their cards for Atlético and Real Madrid to both collect their first defeat of the season so early on and on the same weekend? Definitely not us! But aside from those shocking results, we also had plenty of entertainment and goals from other LaLiga sides.Deportivo A Coruña stunned the Estadio de la Cerámica with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (who else if not?) scoring a later winner against Villarreal, while Alavés slammed five past Osasuna for their best-ever start in LaLiga, now second in the standings with 10 points.Matt and Román also review Espanyol's late and desperate draw vs Sevilla, Barça annihilating Valencia and Rayo Vallecano finally finding their first win through an inspired Sergio Camello. Catch it all in this recap pod!Thanks for listening in, and remember, we've got more pods and articles coming your way in our Substack: lllonline.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out our Matchday 3 review with Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee)!Three games into the new campaign, and the early picture is already starting to take shape. Real Madrid remain perfect after another convincing win, while Atlético Madrid finally got their first victory of the season after an impressive first half. Meanwhile, Levante’s 5-2 demolition of Real Betis and Racing’s 3-2 win vs Elche were some of the highlights of the weekend, with most of the newly promoted sides making encouraging starts.Three matchdays is too soon to draw any definitive conclusions, but there is already plenty to get excited about!As always, thank you for listening to us and remember that you can subscribe to access our bonus podcast and multiple weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The LaLiga train goes steaming on, as Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Harry Gillies break down eight games from Matchday 2. The guys discuss José Mourinho’s second debut as manager of Los Blancos, who were saved by their new star man up top. There was a goal feast in Barça's clash against Elche, with Hansi Flick’s side managing just fine without a recognised striker. That won’t be good news for Julián Alvarez, who has sacrificed almost everything to try and secure a move to the Catalan club. The boys analyse how Atleti did on the pitch while the transfer saga surrounds the team. And there were plenty more matches to get through, including a tough opening game for Athletic’s Edin Terzić. Stay tuned for non-stop LaLiga coverage during a jam packed start to the season! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

La Liga is back, and so are the LLL pods!Join Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Harry Gillies as they go through the first four games of match day one. The guys discuss new managers, dubious penalty decisions, and a future Scottish star in Sevilla.There was plenty of room left for transfer talk, including Rodri’s move to Barcelona. We give our thoughts on how the big clubs have strengthened, and what they still might be missing ahead of deadline day. The focus turned to Barça’s striking options, as Culers will still be dreaming of Julián Álvarez in a blaugrana shirt.It’s going to be a great season for the pods, and we can’t wait to share more episodes with you, including the weekly bonus pod on lllonline.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the new season! We are back and better than ever for another LaLiga campaign, the best league in the World (yes, we are biased).Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) for the full lowdown on the season ahead. We begin with the raft of new additions at Real Madrid, including a certain Portuguese manager back in from the cold for another crack at the big time, plus a new defence, a renewed Vini Jr, and the small matter of their most expensive acquisition of all time!Barcelona have been a little quieter, but have added pace and tenacity in the forward lines, but thus far no big replacement for Robert Lewandowski. What impact will the Julián Alvarez saga have on him, and both the affected clubs? Can Hansi Flick's side retain the title again, or will Los Blancos wrestle it off them?Will Atleti challenge? How will Villarreal do under new management? Who else might be the surprise package? Who looks to be in trouble? What about the promoted teams? Who are the new faces on the scene?All these questions and more are answered inside an hour!With exciting new features ahead for the new season, including an extra free article every week, head to lllonline.substack.com to subscribe to our content.This podcast was produced by Nick Bell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The end of the season calls for a special pod. So join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08), Ben Sully (@SullyBen), Paco Polit (@pacopolitENG) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee) as they get together to pick out the good and bad from an eventful 2025/26 LaLiga campaign. The season review pod starts with a ‘Team of the Season’ category before the focus turns to the standout player, which yields some picks from Barcelona and even a player from a relegated club. After piling the praise on a certain overachiever in our ‘Coach of the Season’ discussion, the positive vibes flow as we pick out our top surprises. But it can’t all be positive, which is why we then choose our major disappointments, and it's not a good section for the two big Madrid sides. The bumper podcast wraps up with talk of key moments and a particular turning point of Real Madrid’s tumultuous season.If you enjoyed the discussion, why not let us know who your picks are for: Team of the season Player of the season Coach of the season Surprise Disappointment Moment of the seasonThanks for listening throughout the season and supporting over at lllonline.substack.com. And stay tuned for our coverage of Spain’s upcoming World Cup campaign. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for the recap of the final matchday of LaLiga's 25/26 season with Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee)!So many outcomes, so many possibilities... but finally Mallorca and Girona are the two unlucky sides who will no longer be a part of Spain's top tier football league next season. Mallorca won, Girona got a point, but that was not enough to escape the bottom three, with Elche, Osasuna and Levante surviving the battle.On the other end, Getafe sealed their European spot with a win over Osasuna with a meagre total of 32 goals throughout the whole campaign. A miraculous feat led by the mastermind José Bordalás. Villarreal finished third after thrashing Atlético de Madrid 5-1, in what was a perfect farewell for Dani Parejo and Marcelino. We also said goodbye to legends like Dani Carvajal, Antoine Griezmann, Robert Lewandowski, Marcelino and Ernesto Valverde. Meanwhile Barça’s Femení team lifted their fourth Champions League against Olympique de Lyon, and Deportivo de La Coruña joined Racing in winning promotion to the top flight.Thanks for listening to us this season! We hope you enjoyed the pod and articles, and hope to have you on board for next season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out our matchday 37 review with Ben Sully (@SullyBen) and Román de Arquer (@Aeroslavee)!The relegation battle takes centre stage in our latest podcast. The Sunday results favoured Alavés, Sevilla, Espanyol and Valencia, who are now safe and will play the final fixture with no pressure whatsoever. In fact, Espanyol and Valencia now have a slight chance of playing in Europe! But should we be surprised? Swinging from one end of the standings to another has been a very common theme this campaign...Levante, on the other hand, are very close to pulling off a miracle after defeating Mallorca 2-0 in what was a “final” for both teams. Only a dramatic combination of results in the last day would see ‘los Granotas’ go down. Osasuna, Elche, Girona, and, of course, Mallorca, are the other teams involved in the relegation fight for MD 38. In the pod, we also went through their games and options for the final fixtures, which will certainly have a lot of drama.As always, thank you for listening to us and remember that you can subscribe to access our bonus podcast and multiple weekly articles over at lllonline.substack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Matt Clark (@MattClark_08) and Román De Arquer (@Aeroslavee) to recap the title-deciding weekend in LaLiga. It’s official: Barcelona are champions. We knew it was coming for a good while now, but at last, Hansi Flick and his team can celebrate a second consecutive title. They won their 11th consecutive match to seal the title and for the first time ever, they confirmed the result by winning the Clásico. We salute the champions, discuss their record-equalling pace and begin to unpick where it all unravelled for Real Madrid. We also pay tribute to Hansi Flick, who was present at the game despite the passing of his father. Understandably emotional at full time, we evaluate his brilliant contribution to the club in the last two seasons.Elsewhere, there is still the race for Europe and the battle to avoid the drop. Celta closed the gap on Betis, but have they left their Champions League charge too late? Below them, no one else won this weekend, so it is still all to play for in the remaining weeks.At the bottom, Oviedo are all but done following their stalemate against Getafe. The result encapsulates their season: fighting and resisting against the odds, but ultimately coming up a little short. Above them, Levante, Sevilla and Valencia recorded big wins to help their respective causes.Levante came from 2-0 down to win on Friday night with forgotten man Etta Eyong scoring the winner in stoppage time. There was also a late winner for Sevilla, who condemned Espanyol to an 18th game without a win. Valencia went to Bilbao, missed a penalty, but still won thanks to Umar Sadiq, and they look almost home and hosed. Worryingly, Nico Williams went off injured, and his brother spoke ominously after the game. Beyond that, Elche and Alavés shared the spoils and Mallorca got a point against Villarreal with another goal from Vedat Muriqi. Rayo host out-of-form Girona on Monday night before Matchday 36 begins on Tuesday. Hold on to your hats!Subscribe to us and support our work at lllonline.substack.com for the only place to get all of our content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.