Official La Liga Thread

[Colly]

That's tempting, I've even got some Estrella Damm in the fridge! Anderlecht and Barca can take my winnings to fifty squid for the weekend too.

[Liam]

WATCH!

[IAceI]

What are you doing down on Page 2? That's sacrilege - best league in the world this right here!

Barcelona laboured somewhat to a 3-1 win last night against second bottom Sporting. At 1-0 they lost Pique to a straight red card, instantly conceded before two relatively late strikes helped them to a 10 man win. Real Madrid take on Espanyol later on and will no doubt canter it and get that lead at the top of the league back up.

But most importantly, in 15 minutes we have the Basque derby. Athletic take on Real Sociedad in the nicest derby match of them all - whereby the fans mingle amongst each other. Between this, the Tyne-Wear derby and the Rome derby I'm having a derby-rific day! The Rome derby at 1-1 when I set it to record to watch later on.

Forza Athletic! I think a 2-0 win today with Llorente - unsurprisingly - getting on the scoresheet.

[IAceI]

Well it was a 2:0 win for Athletic in the Basque derby and that will take them up to fourth spot for the weekend most likely. Llorente didn't score one but I got the score right, Susaeta with both goals - a cute little flick at the front post from a low cross and a well taken free kick into the far corner. A good and deserved win, and a clean sheet. Watch out Champions League, Atheltic are coming for that fourth and final spot!

[Lineker]

Barcelona defender Eric Abidal is to have a liver transplant.

[Liam]

Madrid wearing shirts that had get well messages for both Fabrice Muamba and Eric Abidal. Nice touch.

[Baddar]

Haven't seen the game, but go 'ed Malaga!

[EddieG]

Game was meh, Madrid were in control for most of it. Go find Cazorla's goal though, 'twas a beauty.

[Baddar]

Oof, pick that out! It's always impressive when a player goes to the same corner as the goalkeeper, yet you can still say he had no chance of saving it. Could be a huge point for Malaga, that.

[Lineker]

Lionel Messi needs one goal to equal the Barcelona scoring record after Cesar Rodriguez's total was revised to 232 from 235 by the La Liga club.

Barca and La Vanguardia newspaper conducted a joint study to verify Rodriguez's tally from the 1950s.

The study showed he had scored three less than previously thought, Barca said in a statement on their website.

World Player of the Year Messi could overhaul the record when Barca host Granada in La Liga on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old forward, who is in his eighth season with Barca, has scored 51 goals in all competitions this season.

"After studying all of Cesar's matches, it has been confirmed that Messi is only one goal behind," Barca announced.

"It's worth noting that Cesar Rodriguez is the club's all-time top goalscorer in official matches, but the absolute record belongs to Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches."

The research was carried out by Barcelona's Centre of Documentation and Studies along with La Vanguardia.

Rodriguez played mainly for Barcelona, winning five La Liga championships in 13 years with them.

He was the league's highest scorer in 1948-49 (28 in 24 games) and topped Barca's goal charts for seven consecutive seasons.

The forward, who also coached Barcelona in 1963-64, was famous for his ability to score goals from corners.

He got six goals in 12 appearances for the Spanish national side between 1945 and 1952.

[Hobo]

I'd bet Barca were glad when they discovered that! Or fudged the numbers whichever it was.

[EddieG]

Don't think there's any point fudging the numbers, he's 24.. he's gonna break the record regardless.

[Baddar]

That was the joke, Eddie. Wakey, wakey.

[Lineker]

Goal for Granada!

[Liam]

And another!

[Lineker]

And Messi breaks the record!

[MJB]

5-3 at the Nou Camp.

Such a strange game, two penalties for Granada.

[Lineker]

And as well as Messi netting his sixth hat trick of the season, Alves gets sent off. Non-stop stuff.

[Lineker]

Fernando Torres (3 in 36), Andy Carroll (5 in 31) and Luis Suarez (10 in 36) have scored as many goals in a combined 103 league matches as Lionel Messi has in 7.

[MJB]

Fernando Torres (3 in 36), Andy Carroll (5 in 31) and Luis Suarez (10 in 36) have scored as many goals in a combined 103 league matches as Lionel Messi has in 7.

Fantastic.