rlLast post on previous threadrl

rlDe La Redrl hopes to be back in the next fortnight. Hope he comes back as good as he was before and that what he suffered does not turn out to curtail a very promising career.

This weekend's fixtures:

Saturday November 22
22 Nov, 19:00 Real Madrid v Recreativo Huelva
22 Nov, 19:00 Villarreal v Valladolid
22 Nov, 21:00 Sevilla v Valencia
Sunday November 23
23 Nov, 16:00 Sporting de Gijón v Real Betis Balompié
23 Nov, 16:00 Mallorca v Málaga
23 Nov, 16:00 Osasuna v Almeria
23 Nov, 16:00 C.D Numancia v Atlético de Madrid
23 Nov, 16:00 Racing Santander v Espanyol
23 Nov, 18:00 Barcelona v Getafe
23 Nov, 20:00 Deportivo la Coruna v Athletic Bilbao

Jose Antonio Camacho will chalk up his 600th game of La Liga football this weekend with the home game against Almeria (over 400 as a player, the rest as a coach). He will do so knowing that, without a win in eleven matches and with just three goals scored, things are already getting desperate in Navarra. Valladolid, having heaped the pressure on Bernd Schuster last week, visit 2nd place Villarreal who will be without top scorer Joseba Llorente for the next few weeks. Barcelona, in the form they are in, should have no problem dispatching Getafe at the Camp Nou while two of the league's in-form sides, Sporting and Real Betis, clash at El Molinón.

My game of the round is at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Sevilla, propelled by Luis Fabiano who scored a hat-trick for Brazil against Portugal this week, take on a Valencia side who are level on points but have suffered a dip in form at the Mestalla recently. Who knows, maybe the trip away from home will do them some good. Make sure to catch that game on SKY this weekend, while John_D will also be pleased that Athletic are on telly for a second week in a row.

Another good chance of 3 points for the Verdiblancos in Asturia.

Third time this season already. Wow. That iffy 2-0 win over Osasuna (and you're right - Camacho is moments away from a vote of confidence) has made me think we can go to La Coruña and get another three points. Mind, it's based more on a belief that Llorente and Etxeberria creating and scoring more goals than that exceptionally youthful back four will concede.

A youthful back four indeed. Average age 22 by my reckoning.

Fun factincluding[/i Real Madrid and Barcelona.

I think I knew that. But then the current situation makes it easy to forget the rich history of the club.

it must be galling, therefore, to see a petrochemical sponsor adorning their shirts.

As for Racing, inconsistent though we are we must target Espanyol as a winnable fixture at home, they're in even worse form than we are. Pernia is doing his level best to get Nikola Zigic back on loan in January but it doesn't look like it will happen.

Any sponsor, really. When I first copped sight of the branded shirts, I believe my words were 'what heresy is this?'

More madness tonight with Villarreal losing 3-0 at home to Valladolid.

Real Madrid sneaked past Recreativo 1-0, and the Sevilla/Valencia clash was a bit of a let down, finishing 0-0 and not really getting going until the last ten minutes - both have a tricky run of games coming up and looked a little too worried about losing tonight IMO.

Barcelona should have a routine win against Getafe tomorrow so it looks like a gap may now start to open at the top.

Yes, that surprised me. I had money on Villarreal.

Their unbeaten record finally gone.

El Real looked once again very unconvincing against Recre, worse still as Higuain was stretchered off with an ankle injury. Sneijder also picked up a thigh strain and is doubtful for the midweek CL game. Marcelo once again looked a terrible liability at the back and Sneijder apart there were precious few ideas going forward. They're still up there though.

Agree about the Sevilla-Valencia game, lacked a bit of spark possibly due to the likes of Fabiano being in Brazil midweek. Thought Baraja and Romaric were excellent but am appalled at Aldo Duscher's haircut.

2 more points dropped by Atlético this afternoon, drawing 1-1 at Numancia after conceding the 4th injury time penalty of the season.

It had been coming though, after a strong first half the second half display was woeful.

Predicted top 4 in Spain this year?

I think it will look like this:

1) Barca
2) Madrid
3) Villarreal
4) Valencia


The race for 4th will be massive IMO, Atletico, Sevilla and Valencia will all want it, but I think if Valencia keep Villa and Silva fit, they'll just snatch it.

Also, I'd like to see them recruit in January, possibly a midfielder, De Zeeuw has been linked, but it has to be someone to add a bit of strength/control to the midfield.

Good luck predicting this one. I have absolutely no idea how its going to go now

Barcelona 1 Getafe 1
Deportivo La Coruna 3 Athletic Bilbao 1
Mallorca 2 Malaga 2
Numancia 1 Atletico Madrid 1
Osasuna 3 Almeria 1
Racing Santander 3 Espanyol 0
Sporting Gijon 1 Real Betis 2
Real Madrid 1 Recreativo Huelva 0
Sevilla 1 Valencia 1
Villarreal 0 Valladolid 3

Just when you think Barcelona are unstoppable, Getafe, who are in rotten form themselves, take a point from the Nou Camp. Deportivo won what was a thoroughly entertaining game at the Riazor to stay in 7th, with Guardado living up to his 'estrellas' billing. Aguirre continues to stutter with Atletico though they cling on to a European place on goal difference. Betis's excellent form continues as they downed Gijon, who weren't in bad nick themselves. Osasuna's winless run finally came to an end at the expense of Almeria (fair to say I didn't see that one coming) and Racing continued their bafflingly up-and-down season with a 3-0 trashing of Espanyol, who are officially now relegation-battlers.

Top scorers:

Samuel Eto'o Barcelona 13
David Villa Valencia 11
Gonzalo Higuaín Real Madrid 9
Álvaro Negredo Almería 8
Lionel Messi Barcelona 7
Joseba Llorente Villarreal 6
Mate Bilić Sporting de Gijón
Diego Forlán Atlético Madrid
Giuseppe Rossi Villarreal CF 5
José Javier Barkero Numancia
Juan Mata Valencia
Mohammed Tchité Racing de Santander
Raúl González Real Madrid

The tableBarcelona 29
Real Madrid 26
Villarreal 25
Valencia 24
Sevilla 24
Atletico Madrid 18
Deportivo La Coruna 18
Real Betis 17
Valladolid 16
Racing Santander 15
Malaga 15
Almeria 15
Sporting Gijon 15
Getafe 14
Mallorca 13
Espanyol 12
Numancia 11
Athletic Bilbao 9
Osasuna 8
Recreativo Huelva 7