La Liga Superthread 2009/10

jaykay74

Headshot wrote: »

(anybody else find boards real slow)

yes for the last 15 min or so. madrid conspiracy...

Headshot

van der vaart is coming on

dreamers75

Kanoute :eek:

Headshot

go on zokora

jaykay74

I was sure madrid were going to equalise there. it would have been a lovely goal. delgihted they lost :D:D

dreamers75

FT

Zokora or Casilias MOTM

bring on barca :cool:

Headshot

get the fu'ck in there

sevilla were a class above madrid, well deserved win

re

madrid, I think utd dodged the bullet with benzema anyway and kaka was very poor

but Casillas really shows why he's one of the best keepers around,unreal stuff

kinaldo

am feeling quite breathless after that, what a game

Namlub

Jaysus, imagine the amount of goals Sevilla would have scored if it wasn't for Casillas.

yahoo_moe

Well-deserved win. Baffles me how Madrid could leave so many holes at the back without ever really threatening in attack, though - where were the spare men?

First blood Barca (and, indeed, Sevilla) but obviously a long way to go yet.

jaykay74

la liga is generally great to watch. loved the game tonight.

dreamers75

Dunno whats up with Kaka doesnt look like he fits into spain, always slowing the game down and trying to play the single pass ala italy.

madrid still trying to get that elusive 0-9-1 formation, Marcelo should think about playing a different sport or position

jaykay74

Madrids defence will cost them any chance of league or CL I think. They could easily have conceded 4 tonight. when is the 1st game against barca. looking forward to that.

dreamers75

29th november in nou camp

tdv

Well one question has been answered tonight & that is that Real Madrid are no where near good enough to challenge Barcelona this season. There a absolute shamble in defence. They don't have a defender who can actually defend.

But full credit to Sevilla they did there homework & exploited Madrids weaknesess. Do Navas & Adriano ever get tired? They can run up & down them flanks all day long.

Looks like it will be a race for 2nd place between Madrid & Sevilla this season. Nobody is going to do better than Barca this season.

dreamers75

Barca still have to play Sevilla and not like they were on fire themselves last night.

eZe^

My god Sevilla when they want to play absolutely breath taking football. The mix it up by being able to play great possession football, but they have killer instinct with great wingers like Navas. 3 years ago they played the best football in the league, looks like they are back to that level again, fairplay to Jimenez, especially after all the stick he got for being so 'defensively orientated'.

Slash/ED

Sevilla could easily win some big trophies this season, they were the far far better team and the scoreline, and unreal goalkeeping, flattered Madrid.

Mr.Nice Guy

Seen Sevilla a few times this season and haven't been disappointed. Hope they can keep up their form. I think they play Deportivo next so that should be another good game.

kryogen

God i enjoyed that tonight! i have had madrid bandwagonners (is that a word)? a who cares! in my ear about how they will win everything this season cause of the attacking talent and blah blah blah

this is the first real decent/good team they have played and they failed misreably, it could have been alot worse for them and probably should have been

there is no point in having creativity flowing from your forward line and not being able to defend if their lives were on it

Marcelo looked good when he first came but he genuinely seems to be getting worse with each year at Madrid.....I feel they make you a bad defender, i mean Cannavaro went there as World Player of the Year and he didnt exactly cover himself in glory in his time there

Cant wait for the first game with Barca!

gimmick

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

. I think they play Deportivo next so that should be another good game.

Not if Depor have their way

kryogen wrote: »

this is the first real decent/good team they have played and they failed misreably, it could have been alot worse for them and probably should have been

Failed miserably is a tad strong, they only lost by a single goal. I know people will say "if it were not for Casillas" etc. But Casillas is there, and he will continue to save Reals hide as he is the best keeper in the world.

That was a great great game last night. Navas, on form, is incrdible. Zakora looked a different player than what he was at Spurs. Capel did some damage as well when he came on. Fabiano had a poor game by his won standards, really should have scored at least one.

Madrid for theor part were quite terrible. Raul was anonymous, Benzema is overpriced, Guti was absolutely awful, Kaka did nothing. About the only bright light for them, aside from Casillas, is how well Mo Diarra played.

People are writing Madrid off too asily. They have lost one game, narrowly, to another contender in their backyard. Admittedly Real were totally outplayed last night, but very few teams will go to the Pizquain and fair much better.

kinaldo

David Villa is said to be out for 3 weeks so Barca look set to dodge a bullet at the Mestalla in their next league outing. Grrr..

gimmick

That is great news for Barca, but Valencia have plenty more than just Villa in their arsenal!

dreamers75

Slash/ED wrote: »

Sevilla could easily win some big trophies this season, they were the far far better team and the scoreline, and unreal goalkeeping, flattered Madrid.

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Seen Sevilla a few times this season and haven't been disappointed. Hope they can keep up their form. I think they play Deportivo next so that should be another good game.

cheers guys :mad:

pathetic performance today, beat real madrid then change the team W T F!!!!!

dreamers75

Valencia barca is a 0-0 yawnfest still 5 to go but barca aint the all wonderful bestest team in ther world tonight. games like this they need to win 1-0 honestly cant see a goal in this for barca.

Real won 4-2 earlier

JPA

Sporting Gijon 0-0 Real Madrid, final score.

tdv

Sevilla 0-0 Espanyol

Lots of 0-0's latley. The defences in La Liga must be getting better well either that or the attackers getting worse.

dfx-

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Mallorca too

I watched most of the Real match and all of the entertaining Sevilla match. Espanyol and Kameni were well worth it a draw and really really should've snatched it in injury time..

kryogen

dfx- wrote: »

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Mallorca too

I watched most of the Real match and all of the entertaining Sevilla match. Espanyol and Kameni were well worth it a draw and really really should've snatched it in injury time..

yeah to repeat what was said on commentary, he really had to hit the target there, would have been a huge win for Espanyol

Kameni has looked very good lately, he was a little calamatus before but he is a different prospect lately, maybe he is fulfilling the potential i saw in him in Football Manager

Mr.Nice Guy

Anyone watching Barca? Only in the first-half but they're comfortable and some of the football they're playing is a joy to behold.

dreamers75

Barca are not playing well, just enough to be beat a poor Zara team.

4-0 atm could be 10


pablo scored a cracker for valencia earlier

JPA

Barca 6-1, Keita hattrick.

eZe^

dreamers75 wrote: »

Barca are not playing well

Are you mental? That was Barca's best performance of the season, they looked as dangerous as last years Barca with added control thanks to Ibrahimovic. 73% possession and a 6-1 win is hard to bloody argue with! Things that struck me were Messi is still struggling to be as consistently brilliant as he was last year, he drifted in and out of the game but took his goal beautifully.

Keita played so well, he was powerful and aggressive all game, he was swapping with Iniesta as the right sided winger, him and Ibrahimovic linked up very very well.

Finally, Ibra was definitely my man of the match, the amount of times Xavi just lumped the ball up top and Zlatan controlled it perfectly was amazing. He is adding a new dimension to the Barca attack, he is just so dynamic, the last time I've seen a player ooze that much class was Ronaldinho, he can do things with a football I've never seen before. It's definitely down to his weird double jointed knees or whatever. Look at them here.



That's apparently how he can generate so much power, well, and the fact he's a 6 foot 5 monster.

gucci

That is a great picture.......

eZe^

gucci wrote: »

That is a great picture.......

Ya, check out these clips to see how weirdly his legs can bend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDr71KzFy9c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sdDmiv2SCI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eraTrQ90FE

kinda freaky that he can still generate power from his legs being in those uncomfortable positions!

Mr.Nice Guy

Had a look at Malaga vs Valencia and Deportivo vs Gijon this evening. Was a day for the goalkeepers. It was very interesting going from watching Given produce a top class display for City and effectively win them a point to then see the Malaga and Deportivo keepers produce some absolute howlers and cost their teams points. It made me all the more appreciative of Given's ability.

Thought Malaga vs Valencia was pretty poor although I didn't catch the first 45 minutes. Villa looked a bit frustrated throughout. Was impressed with Malaga's Obinna. He looks a promising talent.

I found Deportivo vs Gijon much more engrossing. Didn't like the antics of the Deportivo players however throwing themselves to the ground all the time. Juan Rodriguez in particular was a joke in that regard so I was very happy to see Castro equalise for Gijon, though the goalkeeper was unbelievably bad there.

gimmick

Excellent article on Real Madrid in Football365

The Lesson Madrid Will Never Learn
Posted 02/11/09 09:53
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Now the last thing that this peace-loving column wants to do is to begin by insulting that strata of Spanish society that are both Real Madrid fans and Marca readers by calling them mindless, half-wit drones incapable of independent thought.

So this is why it will merely repeat the cold hard fact that, after a less than sensational spell for the Bernabeu club that saw defeats to AC Milan, Alcorcón and a goalless draw at Sporting, one poll in the sports daily claimed that 62% of voters wanted Manuel Pellegrini fired after just eight league games in charge of the club.

Another poll published on the same Friday said that just 13% thought that the Chilean coach was actually to blame for the side's early season teething problems.

And herein lies the fundamental problem at Real Madrid.

Everyone, from the club president to the cleaners know quite well that the manager is rarely to blame whenever the good times go bad at the Bernabeu. But that doesn't stop them being booted out at regular intervals to manage the mood of the masses.

As an under fire Pellegrini pointed out, last week, "Real Madrid have had eight coaches in five years and only won two out of eighteen titles." The former Villarreal boss failed to mention that those two trophies were the league titles of 2007 and 2008 and were won by coaches who were fired either minutes after celebrating their success as in Fabio Capello's case, or in a matter of months as with poor Bernd Schuster.

"The same criticism, the same names," sighed the club's latest scapegoat at Friday's press conference, which continued to be dominated by Tuesday's 4-0 reverse in the first leg of a Copa del Rey match against Alcorcón - a side the size of an English non-league outfit lying to the south of the city.

Pellegrini wasn't even able to blame the weakness of the squad sent to face the fixture. There were no wide-eyed youth teamers to be seen. 250 million Euros spent over the summer means that Karim Benzema and Raúl was the forward line that faced the lowly opposition.

Instead, the professorial manager had to ride with the punches as sections of the Spanish press called for his head on a platter, after the defeat. Or more accurately, Marca did - the paper whose main role these days is to make sure that El Presidente remains blameless and stain free at all times.

"Florentino has played his role. It's Pellegrini who not fulfilled his part of the deal," tutted an editorial in an edition that had the paper's director listing twenty reasons why the perfectly capable Pellegrini should be sacked after just five months and replaced by Sven Goran Eriksson, just one of the candidates for the new boss suggested by Marca.

Whilst Marca were right to say that Real Madrid have been outclassed by the only two strong sides they have played, Sevilla and Milan, and have yet to find their feet in the new season, Pellegrini cannot be completely blamed for a less than spectacular start to the year.

Over the summer, the Chilean coach announced that he was planning important roles in the new campaign for the Dutch duo of Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder. Unfortunately for Pellegrini, both were bundled out of the Bernabeu fairly late in the day with the excuse that their sales were required to balance the books.

However one of the main real reasons for the double flogging was that the massively petty Florentino wanted to purge the squad of the players signed by Ramon Calderón, the previous president, irrespective of the damage to Pellegrini's plans.

The money raised was apparently required to fund the purchase of Karim Benzema, from Lyon. A far smarter move would have been to have hung on to Robben and kept Spanish international striker Alvaro Negredo, who has been in fantastic form for his new club, Sevilla.

Unfortunately, Negredo's media profile is not high as Benzema - a player who has shown signs of a bright future, but only in flashes. Pellegrini's problem is that he is under pressure play Benzema in every encounter despite a record of just three goals - or one every 256 minutes so far this season.

The Frenchman's inclusion often comes at the expense of a system that sees Kaká pushed out to the wings and relied on the genius of the still injured Cristiano Ronaldo in the early stages of the season.

The Chilean coach must also put up with the likes of Guti, too, a player that his bosses opted to keep over Sneijder. The 'maverick' - and take that word as you will - midfielder began his latest week at Madrid by turning up for training last Sunday two hours late, giving the clocks going back as his excuse.

He continued by being utterly useless in the Copa del Rey defeat, sticking his middle finger up at fans, and telling Pellegrini to "shove it up his arse" when told he was being substituted at half-time.

But it's not just the top-performing players who have been forced out of the club to make way for Florentino's dream team that have caused issues for Pellegrini this season, but the footballers that are still there but sidelined for not being sexy enough.

Gonzalo Higuaín is a case in point. The 21-year old banged in 22 league goals in 34 games for Madrid, last season, and has dug his side out of numerous holes with a string of astonishing last minute winners.

However, because of the political impossibility of Pellegrini dropping Benzema, Ronaldo or Kaká - and not to mention Raúl - the Argentine international has made just two league starts this season.

Luckily for Higuaín and Real Madrid, the club captain was rested ahead Tuesday's Champions League clash against Milan, and the young striker got his chance to begin Madrid's game on Saturday night and grabbed two brilliantly taken goals to give Real a much-needed 2-0 win against Getafe.

"He's Madrid's secret weapon," screamed AS the morning after, as if they had just discovered the player called up to Diego Maradona's latest squad that takes on Spain in a fortnight's time.

Although Florentino Pérez claimed on Sunday that he was "happy with Manuel Pellegrini and is sure that he will end the season positively," there is no good reason to believe a man with a reputation in Spain as 'the devourer' of managers.

The club president's sense of self-preservation and the personal risk to his all-important reputation is far too strong to allow Pellegrini to have any sense of security of the Bernabeu bench.

The memory of the suited and booted Real Madrid president sitting in a grotty municipal stadium on a Tuesday night, watching his expensively assembled outfit going through what the Spanish press called "the club's biggest humiliation" is not one that will be forgotten anytime soon.

Johan Cruyff wrote over the weekend that "everyone knows that the coach isn't in charge at Madrid, but others are." The Dutchman was quite right in his opinion, especially when compared to the current situation at Barcelona.

When Pep Guardiola said he wanted Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o gone, they were gone. And when he said he wanted Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Swedish striker came, despite the doubters in the Catalan capital.

The only control that Manuel Pellegrini has at Real Madrid is over the DVD player in the team coach. And even then you suspect that it's Raul who really holds the remote control.

And this is why an Arsene Wenger did not come to the Bernabeu last summer. And this is why Jose Mourinho never will, the second of the managers that Florentino wanted to lead his Galactico reboot.

But this is a message that Madrid's rulers will simply never get through their thick skulls.

Almost any manager in the world could be tempted with the opportunity to stand on the touchline at the Santiago Bernabeu with the knowledge that he was in charge of the team from top to bottom with the range of powers of Sir Alex Ferguson.

But with the size of egos of the presidents at the club, it's never going to happen. And Real Madrid will forever be just two bad results away from sacking another scapegoat.

The bit Ive bolded made me laugh a bit.

everdead.ie

Article from the daily mail on about the current low tax on foreigners income could be coming to an end
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1225166/Spanish-big-guns-threaten-La-Liga-strike-government-looks-change-David-Beckham-law-tax.html?ITO=1490
Basically says the spanish clubs could go on strike and not pay because the players all negotiate after tax salaries so the club would have to pick up the difference it would add about 2 million onto the cost of ronaldo's contract per year!

The again it's the daily mail:cool:

Mitch Connor

EDIT: What everdead.ie said....

eZe^

Have a feeling I'm going senile. I could have sworn Gudjohnsen was still playing for Barca, he was just completely relegated from the squad. I mean, I've seen him at a good few of our home games this season in the crowd. Never remember him leaving for Monaco.. Oh well.. ;):p

dreamers75

eZe^ wrote: »

Have a feeling I'm going senile. I could have sworn Gudjohnsen was still playing for Barca, he was just completely relegated from the squad. I mean, I've seen him at a good few of our home games this season in the crowd. Never remember him leaving for Monaco.. Oh well.. ;):p

Sure you got Ibrahaimovic , you will be fine

gimmick

"CR9" is out for a further month with his ankle injury according to Sky Sports News. I assume this means he is certainly out of El Clasico in a few weeks?

gimmick

Some good articles here from Sid Lowe and Phil Ball.

Even the most evil men are capable of beauty once in a while
Sid Lowe

It's not supposed to be this way. Carlos Marchena's not supposed to score and he's certainly not supposed to score the same day David Albelda does

Something was rotten in the Kingdom of Navarre. Really rotten. Vegetable drawer rotten. A furry, greying blob wallowing in some unidentified liquid, stuck to the bottom of your fridge, laughing at you for being deluded enough to have bought it in the first place. Surely there was some mistake; it just wasn't right, it couldn't be. Even as they reported it, they half expected someone to reveal it had all been an elaborate practical joke. "Valencia's jugones – their stylists, their superstars – were Albelda and Marchena," said AS's headline. "Albelda and Marchena pull on top hat and tails," said Marca's. They might as well have found a bus on the moon. With Freddie Starr tucking into their hamster on the top deck.

9pm, Sunday night, the Reyno de Navarra. Osasuna versus Valencia, the last game of Jornada 11 – not quite a weird weekend but a slightly strange Saturday and Sunday. Jorge Valdano had admitted that he was "bored" but "crisis-ridden" Real Madrid had still gone top – properly top – for the first time since 2007-08. Unbeaten in 11 games, Barcelona were talking about "getting ourselves out of this". Málaga and Zaragoza found themselves on the front page. And Mallorca were sixth, officially Spain's best side at home. Now Valencia had won 3-1 in a game in which the linesman was hit by a sandwich, Osasuna had two sent off and José Antonio Camacho complained that the only thing referee Velasco Carballo didn't do for the visitors was "kiss them".

But that wasn't the surprise. This is the stadium where David Beckham was pelted with missiles by the ballboys; Osasuna have long defined themselves by their dirtiness; and their coach Camacho admitted that he "expected" red cards after a week in which the Valencia coach Unai Emery asked the ref to show some "personality". No, that was no surprise; that's not what saw this match round off a weekend of unusual phenomena. Nor was Walter Pandiani getting sent off, or Carlos Marchena helping it happen. Nor, in fact, was David Villa getting the opener – the Valencia striker is La Liga's top scorer on nine. What was a surprise was Villa getting it from a wonderful chipped assist from Marchena, and Marchena himself scoring a brilliant third. What was a surprise was that Valencia's second was a superb lob from David Albelda.

That's David Albelda and Carlos Marchena. Carlos Marchena and David Albelda.

The incredulous sub-heading on the back of one paper said it all: "Maarcheenaaa!" All it lacked were the multiple question marks. It's not supposed to be this way. Marchena's not supposed to score. He's certainly not supposed to score the same day Albelda does. He's only got seven in nine seasons; Albelda has only six in 12. More importantly, he's not supposed to score nice goals on the same day Albelda scores nice goals. "Albelda and Marchena scored goals worthy of a stars," declared Marca. By which they meant: not worthy of them. AS, meanwhile, gave Albelda the Dandy award, for only the fourth time in his entire career. Marchena was declared the game's Crack. For him, too, it was only the fourth time ever.

"Valencia are a mine," declared El País's headline. And when it comes to Albelda and Marchena, most would agree, Valencia are a mine: dark, dirty and dangerous. The Crack? For Marchena, that's normally just the sound of violence – the noise that accompanies his elbow as it shudders into an opponent's cheek. Marchena is the dirtiest, cheatingiest, evilest player in La Liga. A fouling, elbowing, pulling, diving, whinging, faking hardman who learnt from the master of nasty bastardry – a sneaky, clever, utterly Machiavellian master by the name of David Albelda. "Albelda and Marchena are used to bossing, kicking, clearing, protesting and running in every game, this time they added class," Marca said; "as well as fighting, they joined the symphony of quality," agreed AS. It didn't make sense; this weekend, nothing did.

Only, perhaps it did. Mallorca have the best home record but they've played Xérez, Tenerife, Valladolid, Getafe, Racing and Almería, who have managed five wins in 34 away games. Which also helps to explain Madrid's position: their home wins have come against Deportivo and Xérez, Tenerife, Valladolid, Getafe, and Racing. Zaragoza and Málaga graced the cover of Sport You but only because they'd disgraced the game, producing the "ugliest match on earth". Barcelona are unbeaten but they've not won in three away matches, they look tired, and Leo Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are injured. And, as for Marchena and Albelda, well, even the most evil men are capable of beauty once in a while. After all, they say Hitler loved dogs and the Krays loved their mum.

There's something about Albelda and Marchena that doesn't fit the image, either: Albelda is an intelligent left-winger who counts the Valencia author Ferran Torrent amongst his friends, while Marchena spends his spare time cooking, painting, reading about the Renaissance and tending to his collection of bonsai trees. Playing for Valencia rather than Madrid or Barcelona makes slamming them too easy; playing the way they do makes overlooking their ability easier yet. Few seemed keen to note Marchena's impeccable displays at Euro 2008 or the fact that Albelda only missed out because Juan Soler's disastrous presidency left him in court instead of on the pitch.

This summer, Valencia turned down bids totalling over €115m. Marchena and Albelda were among the few ignored. But while Valencia fought to keep the rest they've been thankful for keeping their two veteran midfielders. Valencia have won four of the last five and should have won the fifth – against Barcelona. It's not entirely coincidence that the run coincides with Albelda's return to fitness and the departure from the side of centre-back Alexis in favour of David Navarro. Just as it is no coincidence that, when fit, Marchena plays every game. Or that, powerful, competitive, organised and lightning quick on the break, Valencia have the best away record in the league.

Valencia are fourth, four points behind Madrid, and while it is the astonishingly mobile, skilful attack of Villa, Pablo Hernández, Juan Mata and David Silva that has led them, it is at least in part the fact that they're not alone that makes you think they could mount a challenge. Valencia don't care if Marchena and Albelda are sons of bitches because they are their sons of bitches. Besides, this weekend they proved they can play a bit too. Valencia fans knew that already. The stunned reaction showed that almost everyone else clearly did not.


Talking points

• A stone thrown from the stands at the Calderón hit Manuel Pellegrini in the face during the derby. The fine: €150. What price the sandwich at Osasuna?

• Atlético Madrid just keep on being Atlético Madrid. Coach Quique Sánchez Flores – who had missed most of the week with swine flu – had to rush on to the pitch and clamp his hand around the mouth of Sergio Agüero as he tried to get at the referee for giving a 92nd-minute penalty (finally taken in the 95th and the last kick of the match). Agüero seemed to overlook the fact that it actually was a penalty. It was committed by Pablo when there was no need whatsoever to make the challenge. It's not like the world's clumsiest centre-back hadn't been warned, either – he'd committed pretty much the same mistake earlier in the game only for the linesman's flag to rescue him after the ref had given it. Atlético have made their worst start for 56 years. Depor continue to win from dead balls.

• Speaking of refs, Racing Santander had a perfectly good goal ruled out against Real Madrid that would have made it 1-1. The linesman's flag went up but it wasn't even close. Madrid will point to the penalty they might have had for a challenge on Karim Benzema. They won't point to that Villarato stuff, though. Somehow, they are top – and most are not impressed. But, still, top, going to Camp Nou and with Ronaldo now back; the psychological outlook has changed completely. Especially as Barcelona's short squad is starting to show and they have a nightmare month ahead of them. The game's best performer at the Bernabéu was the man who scored the 'goal' – an 18-year-old called Sergio Canales, who looks like he may be pretty special.

• The top of Marca's cover today: "If Barcelona force Messi to play, they could see him break down". The middle of Marca's cover today: Cristiano: "It hurts but I'm going to play the clásico no matter what".

• Sevilla continue to look very strong indeed. Nine players out, no problem. Two very nice goals defeated Tenerife. Meanwhile, Villarreal continue to improve – as they were always going to.

• Pennant watch: not playing, still injured. Missed a cracker.

Results: Tenerife 1-2 Sevilla, Deportivo 2-1 Atlético, Madrid 1-0 Racing, Athletic 1-1 Barcelona, Xérez 0-0 Sporting, Villarreal 3-1 Valladolid, Espanyol 0-2 Getafe, Mallorca 3-1 Almería, Malaga 1-1 Zaragoza, Osasuna 1-3 Valencia. Real Madrid 0-1 Real Oviedo [OK, OK, Real Madrid Castilla].

EL CLASICO AWAITS
Apocalypse Now
By Phil Ball

The trouble with the 'clásico' (Barcelona v Real Madrid, in case you didn't know) is that in the week preceding this apocalyptic fixture everything seems conditioned by its looming presence. It might have been better for the clubs themselves to have played the game on a weekend which neither preceded nor succeeded a Champions League midweek, but the gods of destiny preferred to keep things boiling over, sitting up there in the clouds this summer, poring over the fixture list. As such, it's even managed to silence the Hand of Henry controversy, by far this past week's juiciest talking point.

Nevertheless, the weekend's action in La Liga seemed to have its every action subordinated by, or linked to, next weekend's game. Pep Guardiola came in for some criticism for even fielding Leo Messi in San Mamés on Saturday night, as if he should have been saved for the two subsequent games, which were deemed more important. The fact that he went off injured then became a talking point for next Sunday, particularly given the imminent return of Cristiano Ronaldo for the big event. Messi's injury (which has turned out to be not as serious as initially thought) was only a problem in terms of the clásico, not the next few games - not even the Inter match on Tuesday. Champions League? Who cares? Real Madrid visit on Sunday.

Well - I exaggerate. But you could have been spared the thought that Barcelona's season, which may well pivot on Tuesday's game, depended more on the clásico than on beating Inter - which is obviously untrue in concrete terms, but in psychological ones it makes sense. Real Madrid have found this particular incarnation of Barça rather hard to take, especially given the 2-6 defeat of last season, and would love to exact some sort of revenge, or at least wrest back some dignity. A good result in the Nou Camp - and a draw would constitute that - might begin to turn the tide that has so fervently washed the Catalans' away in the last year and a half.

The truth is that neither side are playing particularly well, going into the game. On Saturday morning, to boot, Spain woke up to the headlines that H1N1 had hit the Barça dressing-room, with Abidal and Touré its fallen victims. Marquez was soon to follow. You could almost see the headline writers at Marca rubbing their hands in glee, almost exhorting any undercover Madrid fan in Barcelona (with 'the flu') to break into the Nou Camp and sneeze. Then on Saturday night, Athletic Bilbao recovered remarkably from the first 20 minutes of a game in which Barça ran them dizzy, slowly turning the tables on the visitors and ending up looking almost the better side.

Messi limped off after a fantastic start, but then Xavi and Iniesta came in for some rough stuff, particularly from the hound from hell, Carlos Gurpegui. A few weeks ago, he wandered down the streets of Bilbao with my son and myself after midnight, chatting away as if he were the most mild-mannered man on the planet. On Saturday night, Barça must have wished he'd been elsewhere. At one point - dare to breathe the phrase - Gurpegui put Xavi so off his stride that he misplaced a pass to Iniesta, which rolled out of play. The world tilted on its axis, rivers dried up and the stock market fell. It was the first time that a Xavi pass had not hit a Barça player since 2006, or so the story goes. Is this the beginning of the end?

Dani Alves actually scored at a point when Barça were not playing particularly well, a fact that would have knocked the wind from most opponents' sails, but not Athletic's. Indeed, with reference to my friend Eduardo Alvarez' debut quiniela last Wednesday, this was a fixture where his prediction was spot-on, although Guardiola put out most of his big guns. Not so many were rested, as Eduardo predicted - but the result was right. Rather better than the total - five out of 10, but we'll forgive him the first time. Definite room for improvement. Glancing at my own attempt, I managed six, but blew three of the five second division games. Ho hum, work another week, as my father used to say. Whatever, it will be interesting to see what is predicted for the clásico. It would take a brave person to predict a Madrid win, but such an outcome would truly put the cat amongst the proverbials.

It seems unlikely because Real Madrid are playing so poorly, and yet a haul of 28 points from a possible 33 represents their best start in 17 years. Then again, one might argue that they are only playing poorly in relation to the expectation generated around them pre-season, and the Alcorconazo, as the famous defeat to the minnows has been baptised, has managed to steal several headlines. This roughly translates, in cultural (if not literal) terms, as 'Alcorcongate', just to keep you in the picture.

Real Madrid's 1-0 win over struggling Santander did little to assuage the feeling among Madridistas that despite a whole bundle of presents arriving in the post over the summer, the absence of the biggest and best (Ronaldo) has put the other toys into the shade from where they have rarely emerged. The exception, particularly in the Santander game, was Xabi Alonso, who is beginning to approach the best version that so often lit up the English Premier League. And all this coming on the back of his two decisive goals for Spain against Argentina last week.

Elsewhere in the side, various players - Drenthe, Marcelo, Granero - continue to sow the seeds of doubt as to whether they really belong as valid supports to their galactic company, since they seem unable to pull the side together when the big names are not performing - I refer to Kaká and Benzema in this instance. Gonzalo Higuaín continues to score decisive goals, but is a much poorer team player than Raúl, for example. That one should often replace the other, and that this should generate such debate, rather contributes to the feeling that Real Madrid have not really moved on much from last season. Galácticos what? Where are they, and what are they doing exactly? Ask their manager.

On Wednesday night it will be interesting to see how many of them are given a run-out against the theoretically weak FC Zurich, particularly Cristiano Ronaldo. Madrid, nevertheless, cannot afford to do a Rubin Kazan, and talking of which, Barça cannot afford to slip up at home to Inter, a fascinating game in itself, never mind next Sunday. Inter go to the Nou Camp like some sort of quasi-Spanish outfit, stocked with players who have trod the boards of La Liga, and most of whom have experienced el clásico. Samuel Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder, Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Walter Samuel, and Diego Milito (ex-Zaragoza) will all be there.

The other interesting fact about the Barcelona v Madrid game is that the latter go into it as La Liga leaders. Given all the wailing and gnashing of teeth at the Bernabéu, it is nevertheless a useful advantage at this stage. A draw would be most useful, but a win would potentially set the tone for the rest of the season. Barcelona cannot afford to let it happen, but it is difficult to predict at this stage, as I write this column, what effect the outcomes of the European games will have on the mood and result of the big game to come.

Not forgetting, as is often the case in these circumstances, that Sevilla are the side playing the best football in Spain at the moment, with morale sky-high and a low-key game in midweek from which they only require a point to ensure a top-of the-table finish to Group C. Moreover, they are only three points behind Real Madrid in the table and have two consecutive home games coming up, both of which look distinctly winnable (against Málaga and Valladolid). With Valencia tucked in a mere point behind Sevilla, the top four is beginning to take on a healthily competitive look, certainly more than was generally predicted at the start of the season.

Elsewhere, Kun Agüero was taking a leaf out his father-in-law's book for stretching the Spanish language to new heights, with a volley of imprecations aimed in the direction of referee Paradas Romero who had just awarded Deportivo a ridiculous penalty in the 95th minute of their home game against poor Atlético, a team for whom the fates seem to be dishing up poisonous plates on a weekly basis. It seemed to take several hours for Agüero, ably assisted by his team-mates, to actually cool down sufficiently for José Guardado to finally put the penalty away and send Atlético home pointless, just for a change. Next week they host Espanyol, in what must rank as a must-win game.

The results of this coming week look as if they may begin to shape the season to come in a more substantial way than we have seen so far. It's going to be pretty tasty, whatever happens. Book your places on the sofa, now.

Headshot

fabiano is such a class act

just a tad off World Class bracket

Slash/ED

Headshot wrote: »

fabiano is such a class act

just a tad off World Class bracket

I half agree, I think he's in that bracket. Can see him having a huge world cup.

That was some game

everdead.ie

Barca apearantly interested in signing Defoe with Guardiola looking for scouting reports on him

eZe^

everdead.ie wrote: »

Barca apearantly interested in signing Defoe with Guardiola looking for scouting reports on him

Link? Haven't heard anything about that ever. Bit weird, really wouldn't like that tbh, especially when there are proven La Liga goal scorers available on the cheap like Van Nistelrooy, and Guiza. I'd like if we made a move for Llorente, or just somebody else. Defoe would cost a pretty penny tbh, and I'm not sure if he's worth it.


El Grande Clasico tonight lads, anyone else nervous/ excited/ anxious? Barcelona have to win this, I need bragging rights over my Madridista mates for at least another season, I remember the heartache between 2006-2008. :P

everdead.ie

eZe^ wrote: »

Link? Haven't heard anything about that ever. Bit weird, really wouldn't like that tbh, especially when there are proven La Liga goal scorers available on the cheap like Van Nistelrooy, and Guiza. I'd like if we made a move for Llorente, or just somebody else. Defoe would cost a pretty penny tbh, and I'm not sure if he's worth it.


El Grande Clasico tonight lads, anyone else nervous/ excited/ anxious? Barcelona have to win this, I need bragging rights over my Madridista mates for at least another season, I remember the heartache between 2006-2008. :P

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11675_5731282,00.html

A bunch of trashy news papers too

eZe^

Seems a bit reactionary because he scored 5 goals in one game.

Slash/ED

Find that impossible to believe. Defoe is literally the opposite of a Barcelona type player.