{"id":97312,"date":"2023-12-12T18:30:26","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/?p=97312"},"modified":"2023-12-12T18:30:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T18:30:26","slug":"bellingham-records-and-araujo-exit-ten-things-we-learned-in-laliga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/soccer\/bellingham-records-and-araujo-exit-ten-things-we-learned-in-laliga\/","title":{"rendered":"Bellingham records and Araujo exit… TEN THINGS WE LEARNED in LaLiga"},"content":{"rendered":"
What a difference a week makes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Atletico Madrid were beaten by Barcelona last weekend but now sit above them in the table with a game in hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joao Felix was the man of the hour eight days ago but on Sunday he was taken off as Barcelona conceded four.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Jude Bellingham keeps scoring, VAR keeps trying to ruin football, and Girona are starting to look a little bit like Leicester 2015-16.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are 10 things we learned from LaLiga.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jude Bellingham scored his 12th goal in 14 games for Real Madrid in 1-1 draw at\u00a0Real Betis<\/p>\n
Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n
With 12 goals in league 14 games, Jude Bellingham is still Spain\u2019s leading scorer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he stays out in front until the end of the season, he will be the first Brit to top score in LaLiga and become the first midfielder to do it since Luis Aragones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is no doubt he will finish the season with some new records to his name, the only question is which ones.<\/p>\n
They have 41 points from 16 games and the projection is that if they maintain the same level they will finish with 97 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barca won the league last season with 88.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Surely they can’t keep this up, can they?<\/p>\n
In August 2022, Kirian Rodriguez announced he was suffering from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He recovered to start the last four games of last season as Las Palmas were promoted and this season he\u2019s their star turn with three goals all from outside the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s goal was enough to give them a 1-0 win over Alaves.<\/p>\n
Bayern Munich have clearly been encouraged in their pursuit of Ronald Araujo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether that is by his representatives or by the club, still chasing money, time will tell. The player doesn\u2019t want to leave in January but next summer could be a different story and Barcelona will gladly accept if the offer approaches the \u20ac100million (\u00a385m) mark mentioned in Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was not quite himself on Sunday with Barcelona taken apart by La Liga’s top scorers Girona.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Barcelona defender\u00a0Ronald Araujo has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich in Germany<\/p>\n
Girona aren\u2019t the only imitation proving more convincing than the real thing at the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Las Palmas are eighth with former Barca B coach Garcia Pimienta coaching them.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a team replete with former Barca players and with one who is set to return \u2013 Julian Araujo has impressed at right-back and will return from his loan spell next summer.<\/p>\n
Diego Alonso hasn’t won any of his first seven league games but director of football Victor Orta is determined to stick with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beating Lens away on Tuesday night to scrape into the Europe League would certainly make that decision easier to justify.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego Martinez \u2013 sacked by Olympiacos but still well respected in Spain, and a former Sevilla youth team coach, is well-place if a change is forced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sevilla director of football Victor Orta is backing\u00a0Diego Alonso (above) despite his winless run<\/p>\n
Mallorca were 1-0 up against Sevilla when a pot-shot from Adria Pedroza flew into the Mallorca net taking a slight deflection off of Youssef En-Nesyri\u2019s backside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The goal was given and no one complained until VAR spotted that the ball may have grazed En-Nesyri\u2019s elbow after it hit his derriere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The image was inconclusive but after staring at it for a few seconds the referee ruled out the goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The coach who had benefited from the mistake, Javier Aguirre, said: \u2018I would be upset if I was Sevilla.\u2019<\/p>\n
Osasuna were 1-0 down when Chimy Avila\u2019s header flashed wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Replays showed the ball had grazed the hand of Momo Mbaye who was no more than a meter from Avila. Play continued until VAR piped up and after watching it pitchside the referee gave the penalty which Ante Budimir scored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Osasuna coach who benefited from the decision said afterwards: \u2018In modern football it\u2019s a penalty. But in my opinion it should never be a penalty\u2019.<\/p>\n
The 64-year-old Granada season ticket holder died of a heart attack during his team\u2019s home game with Athletic Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon who alerted the referee to the incident because he sensed the panic and concern behind his goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The game restarted but, with frantic supporters whistling for it to be stopped and for all the focus to be on the spectator, the players were finally taken off the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The game was suspended after 18 minutes and will be finished tonight at 9pm.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The game between Granada and Athletic Bilbao was suspended after a fan died on Sunday<\/p>\n
The club have cashed in by selling to the Premier League in recent years with Pau Torres and Nico Jackson the best examples.<\/p>\n
It’s left them considerably weaker though. They were thrashed 3-0 on Saturday and new coach Marcelino desperately needs more quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A quick winger to replace the injured Yeremy Pino and a centre-back are the priorities.<\/p>\n
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n