Gareth Bale has spoken personally with Real Madrid directors and told them of his intention to fuck up Zidane's plans this season.
https://en.as.com/en/2019/06/08/football/1559984796_020477.html

This Athletic vs Barcelona game is shaping up to be a good game. Inaki has started with a real hunger. He had a fierce shot from 25 yards that Ter Stegen just palmed out.
Interesting seeing Barca’s maturity with passing between defense and keeper. When defenders pass to keeper under pressure, they do a good job of moving away from the strikers to crate sufficient space for quick return passes.

Barcelona are exceptionally unthreatening without their leprechaun. Lots of passing in midfield that ends up with interceptions or errant passes in the final third

Btw, Raktic only came on in 2nd half - perhaps being preserved for a Neymar trade. But his two man pivot with De Jong is one of the finest I’ve seen. Their footballing ability is second to none. They have a sixth sense for what others are going to do around them and De Jong especially already moves into positions in anticipation of balls before moves happen. Passing is crisp, movement is fluid. Together they’re footballing magic.

Footballing magic in the middle, Dembele and Griezmann up top, but without Messi nothing seems to happen.

Omigod! What a winning (I expect) goal.
Bicycle kick from 14 yards by Aduriz!!

Barcelona have been awful. Dembele needs to get out of there, the looks completely out of place and shorn of belief

Aduriz hit them with a high class sucker punch

Dembele has that Mkhi air about him. Lots of quality shrouded in misplaced passes and mistimed runs.
I keep thinking he should ask for a straight Neymar trade and go to Paris

Griezmann isn’t good enough for Barca

Most overrated player I’ve ever seen

I'd rather have Jovic for 60m than Griezmann for 60m, but Barca went ahead and paid double for Griezmann.

Barca should've dumped Valverde, haven't seen a player improve under him. His main tactic is to rely on Messi for everything.

Bryant wrote:

Barca should've dumped Valverde, haven't seen a player improve under him. His main tactic is to rely on Messi for everything.

Hasn’t that been Barca’s tactic for the last 15 years?

Pep's Barca wasn't 15 years ago.

Claudius wrote:

Omigod! What a winning (I expect) goal.
Bicycle kick from 14 yards by Aduriz!!

Great goal, but jesus christ that defending was Arsenalesque. Barca have a backline full of Mustafis. Just look at Semedo, the absolute clown.

Just getting caught up with highlights. That was a fantastic winner.

Barcelona look relatively (relative to their peaks) average without Messi. Much like Real without Ronaldo, they remind me of their sides back in the day. No doubt possessing some top players but you feel like you can beat them on any given day. Don't know how good it will be for us, as it gives our English lot a stronger chance of winning the CL. Messi and co. were the only reason why United don't have another 2 CL's in their cabinet.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Griezmann isn’t good enough for Barca

Most overrated player I’ve ever seen

I was going to say the same. He's not good enough for them.

Real and Barcelona simply operate on a level that us mere mortals can't even begin to fathom. There was discussion about Jovic in another thread and I don't believe he is ready to be playing for Real, either. Hazard and Griezmann as the two big money signings is as underwhelming as it's ever been for them. Neymar and Mbappe would have been blockbuster and what they actually need. PSG are going to be a pain in the arse for these two, as in the past, they would have had no competition aside from each other.

Hazard's last season in PL is so underrated. Anyone else and it would've been an absolutely world class season, but Hazard doing it for a shit poor Chelsea side for some reason isn't enough to catch people's attention.

Griezmann was always the wrong fit for Barcelona. His best position is where Messi plays. Play has to go through him for him to be at his best. Essentially a poor man's Messi. Potentially another big money flop on their hands following Coutinho.

Talking about handballs, Coquelin with an absolutely retarded handball to hand Sociedad a penalty and a point in the 101th min of the match after Gameiro missed a penalty in the 95th minute

deardevil wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Hazard's last season in PL is so underrated. Anyone else and it would've been an absolutely world class season, but Hazard doing it for a shit poor Chelsea side for some reason isn't enough to catch people's attention.

Don't get me wrong. Hazard is a great player, but being a great player often isn't enough to succeed at Real/Barca. You need to be top 5 selected. Let's not forget Ozil, Sanchez, Fabregas were great players too, and none of them were resounding successes in Spain.

Think almost every Real Madrid supporter will disagree with you regarding Özil. 

Joao Felix went on a ridiculous run bamboozling all before him and earning a penalty.
The La Liga refs are enforcing the new substitution guidance that players should leave at the closest point

Claudius wrote:

Joao Felix went on a ridiculous run bamboozling all before him and earning a penalty.
The La Liga refs are enforcing the new substitution guidance that players should leave at the closest point

https://streamable.com/ycvrt

Reminds me of Kaka. 

That nutmeg is so insanely good

Getafe have some kind of affinity for allowing these kinds of runs. Didn’t Messi have an iconic one against them as well from a similar position?

Joao Felix will be worth every penny of 120m if he continues this trajectory.

I don't know what to make of Dembele after watching him play over the weekend and even last season.

The guy has every tool in the locker but fails at some of the most basic stuff on the pitch.

Bryant wrote:

Claudius wrote:

Joao Felix went on a ridiculous run bamboozling all before him and earning a penalty.
The La Liga refs are enforcing the new substitution guidance that players should leave at the closest point

https://streamable.com/ycvrt

Reminds me of Kaka. 

I agree.  
He may not be at that level yet or have the same pace but he doesn't have to be as Kaka was some player.
He first came to my attention when we were linked to him but, unfortunately, he went to Milan where his class made him my favourite non-Arsenal player.
When Milan battered manu 5-3, i loved how he made Evra take out Heinze to clear a path for a goal.

He lacks the grace of Kaka. That being said, I'm happy to crown him Kaka Mk3.

I keep seeing the Kaka comparisons, and I find them to be a stretch....I see more of a Luis Figo player.

Seems to lack the acceleration of Kaka, which was a massive part of his game.

He has the same lanky build and similar hair but that's where the comparisons end. He's not remotely on the same level physically, Kaka was an incredible athlete. Joao Felix might become a similarly good player overall though as unlikely as it sounds, he probably has better close control and while he looks as frail as a twig he somehow has deceptive strength and a rocket of a shot.

Better close control than Kaka? Big shout.

Only saw prime Kaka once in the flesh, was unbelievable.

Saw the same goal live. Robbed Messi of the ball, if I remember correctly.

Captain wrote:

Better close control than Kaka? Big shout.

Yeah I think so. Kaka was hard to dispossess because he would use his strength and pace to get around you. Joao Felix is more the Cazorla kind of dribbler who lures you in and takes five touches in quick succession to get around you.

Agreed with Jones.

Felix seems to have that timing and spatial awareness that lets him overcome a lack of high end physical traits (like Kaka had). I think he's a special player and I'm hopeful it works out for him, as he seems a devoted player and good person.