Getting into La Liga

[u/Salty-Cup-5386]

Hi, I've been seeing a lot of La Liga content lately and was thinking about getting into it. Got a few questions.

1. What is the best way to watch matches from the UK? I remember seeing something about Disney getting broadcast rights I think?

2. What is a good team to support (not Real Madrid or Barca)? Slightly drawn to Real Sociedad as they are my 'local' team haha. What are they like as a club?

3. How does the season differ to English football? I know about the league and Copa del Rey but are there any other competitions or major differences in how the league works?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[u/fionn14]

Disney has ESPN+ which La Liga is on.

Real sociedad is a very Basque oriented fanbase, maybe not as much as Athletic Club but they’re up there. As a team, they aren’t great. Worse than they have been in recent years. If you want a fun, competitive team that isn’t Barça or Madrid, I suggest watching Rayo Vallecano or Villarreal.

No huge differences to the top division as far as comparisons go. The super cup is like the carabao cup except it’s just the 4 best teams in general Spanish football. So this year it’s Atleti, Real Madrid, Barça, and Athletic club. Stuff doesn’t really start changing until you get below the 2nd division

[u/Salty-Cup-5386 → u/fionn14]

I like the kit and the whole thunderbolt thing Rayo Vallecano have going on. Thanks for help!

[u/fionn14 → u/Salty-Cup-5386]

Absolutely. Anything else you want to ask I am happy to answer. I like yapping about the league lol

[u/Wellgrubbedoldmole → u/fionn14]

Tangentially related, but what are your expectations for Rayo this year? I’ve adopted them after attending their Europa Conference League-clinching nil nil draw against Mallorca last year, on the last match day, which unironically was an incredible experience.

My sense is that they’re again aiming for mid-table, but could be in a relegation fight? Hoping for a deep run in Europe though…

[u/fionn14 → u/Wellgrubbedoldmole]

With being in 3 competitions this year, depending on what happens in them, their league season might be tougher. I don’t think they’ll be fighting relegation but I think they could be close to teams who are. I don’t think they lost anyone from last season so they’re just as high energy. Stomped on Girona last week so hopefully it will give them some confidence heading to Bilbao on Monday

[u/Ok-Release4878 → u/fionn14]

Even tho they have 3 competitions i think they can place similar to last year.. depth might be their biggest enemy but their manager is good

[u/Qyx7 → u/Wellgrubbedoldmole]

They highly overperformed last year. I'd expect them to be around 10-15th once the tough European matches start

[u/mdubs17]

Watch the league and find out who to support that way.

[u/ytk10 → u/mdubs17]

🫶🏿👏🏿

[u/Qyx7]

What kind of football do you like?

Obviously teams kinda change over time but they have some general traits that are kept:

Atleti is all about working as a team, altho they are sometimes a bit risk averse

Getafe is all about long balls, getting a lead and then defending the whole match, losing time and all

Girona always tries to make plays from the back

Betis has some very good technical players in the attacking half like Isco and Lo Celso

Villarreal is very lethal and always has someone in the top goalscorers, they are kind of the Spanish version of Monaco, Borussia, Ajax...

Real Sociedad is all about the academy players. They've been fighting for Europe intermittently these last years

Athletic only fields Basque or Basque-raised players (with some exceptions, admitedly) Historically the 3rd most successful club, currently fighting for 4th with a high-pressure football

Sevilla and Valencia are the teams that complete the historical top 6, but due to mismanagement they were fighting relegation last year and can barely spend on signings.

[u/w1nter]

Athletic Bilbao is probably one of the most special La Liga teams. Extremely tight knit to the community, the transfer policy and great fans, while the team is strong itself and plays fun football.

[u/ErwinC0215 → u/w1nter]

Fun is debatable at times but when it works it's real fun. But let's be honest here, none of us are here supporting Athletic because of "fun football", we're here because it's a special club.

[u/LaLigaDan]

Premier Sports has the coverage mate, they have an app on firestick and you can chromecast. Not sure how much I pay a month for it but it's not too bad a deal. The Saturday 8pm game is now exclusively on ESPN+.

I highly recommend'The Spanish Football Podcast' by Sid Lowe and Phil Kitromilides (and producer Al). All 3 are British born journalists that live and work in Spain, they have a patreon too for extra podcasts.

Regarding team, try watch a few fjrst and see who you get into. My LaLiga team is Barca, due to Pep, but I have a soft spot for Betis after going to Benito Villamarín and being blown away by the atmosphere.

[u/Howling_mad_7 → u/LaLigaDan]

That podcast is great! I usually listen to it while going for a walk or doing stuff at home. Helped me a lot to improve my English, plus as a Spaniard is always interesting to see what foreign people think about la liga

[u/LaLigaDan → u/Howling_mad_7]

They're great are Sid, Phil and Al. The British journalists are very reactionary as that's what sells here in Britain, but these 3 are far from it, they put journalism first. I highly recommend Sid's book 'Fear and Loathing in LaLiga' and if you sre wanting to improve your English, you will know some of the stories so it may help a lot.

[u/BoonDoggle4]

Disney+ was airing the Levante v Barcelona game last night in the UK

Not sure how many games they will show overall though

[u/Cotasfer]

If you like to win there is a team with an advantage, Barça, they always play with 12 players, one of them is the one with the whistle. Boldness what he has set up in the League, federation and referees committee

[u/Right_Buy_1620 → u/Cotasfer]

Spotted the Madridiot.

[u/jon27383838 → u/Right_Buy_1620]

madridiot got a laugh out of me I won't lie