Friday 30 September 2011

Spain La Liga Preview

Barcelona visit bottom side Sporting Gijon and Real Madrid are at Espanyol in Sunday's La Liga action.

Since their 2-2 draw with Valencia at the Estadio Mestalla last Wednesday, Pep Guardiola's side have looked invincible, cruising to a 5-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday before repeating that scoreline against Belarusians BATE Borisov in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi orchestrated much of the carnage, scoring a hat-trick against Atletico and following up with a brace in Belarus.

Guardiola's team is looking healthy, with Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol both back in action after injury, although Andres Iniesta (hamstring), Ibrahim Afellay (knee) and Alexis Sanchez (hamstring) are all unavailable.

Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid side, meanwhile, are in fifth place, just two points off the lead, and they will be buoyed by their 3-0 win over Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday as they head to 10th-placed Espanyol.

Defenders Fabio Coentrao and Pepe are under clouds for Real, but Mourinho will be delighted by the return to form of Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who scored a goal and played a starring role in the Ajax win.

But the surprise packet so far of the 2011/12 La Liga season is Real Betis, who have a one-point buffer at the top of the table over Barca, Levante and Sevilla after five games.

Betis host Levante at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Sunday, while Sevilla journey to Madrid to meet Atletico, and Real Sociedad welcome Athletic Bilbao.

Saturday's games see Mallorca journey to Osasuna, Racing Santander host league newcomers Rayo Vallecano and Villarreal will look to bounce back from their 2-0 Champions League loss to Napoli on Tuesday when they host Real Zaragoza.

Valencia, fresh from their 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, welcome Granada while Getafe visit Malaga.

No comments:

Post a Comment