As the Spanish football season limps over the finish line after what has been a thoroughly uninspiring competition, it would seem that the final day could provide the kind of excitement that has been missing for a while in La Liga. The sports paper's are calling it heart attack Sunday as four clubs prepare to fight it out to avoid relegation on the final day of the season.
The season may be over in terms of deciding first, second and third place in La Liga, but there are a large number of clubs who still have everything to play for with just two games remaining in the Spanish football season…
Continue reading "La Liga Preview: Week 37 The Relgation Battle" »
La Liga Review looks ahead to all of the midweek Spanish football action as Real Madrid get ready to celebrate their 31st league title win by throwing a party when they host rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu on Wednesday. Elsewhere there is still planty left to play for as Valencia and Zaragoza go head to head to avoid relegation and Atletico seek to secure Champions League football for next season. Includes Team news and form guides...
La Liga Review looks ahead to all of this weekend's Primera Liga Spanish football action, where Real Madrid could be crowned Primera Liga champions on Sunday at Osasuna: before they have even kicked a ball. Includes team news, squads and form guides...
Continue reading "La Liga Week 35 Preview: Madrid Set To Claim Title" »
La Liga Review asseses Barcelona's chances ahead of their Champions League semi final second leg against Manchester United at Old Trafford...
Continue reading "Manchester United - FC Barcelona Preview" »
Last weekend's 2-0 win at fifth-placed Racing Santander left Schuster's Real Madrid side 10 points clear at the top of the La Liga table with only five games remaining. With Barcelona going down 2-0 at Deportivo last night - and if Villarreal fail to win their game at Real Betis - then Real Madrid could clinch the title with a win over Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu this evening...
Continue reading "La Liga Preview: Real Madrid - Athletic Bilbao" »
Real Madrid could secure the Spanish Primera Liga title this weekend: if their closest rivals Villarreal lose to Betis and Barcelona fail to win at Deportivo. La Liga Review looks ahead to this weekend's Spanish Football action - with form guides, team news and squad lists...
Match Preview, Team News, Form Guide & Squads
Sevilla go head to head with their visitors in a battle for European qualification : something that would have been almost impossible to imagine at the start of this season for newly promoted Almeria.
La Liga Review looks ahead to all of this weekend's Spanish football action: with match previews, team news, form guides and squads...
Team News & Form Guide
Overachieving Getafe and underperforming Valencia go head to head in Wednesday's Copa de Rey final at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid. The fact that the smaller of the two clubs, Getafe sold out their entire allocation of 21,500 tickets, while Valencia can't even give theirs away, tells the tale of the difference in the two club's seasons.
Continue reading "Copa del Rey: Valencia - Getafe Preview" »
A full match preview of Sunday's La Liga clash between top of the table Real Madrid and second from bottom Real Murcia: includes team news, squads and form guide....
Continue reading "Real Madrid - Murcia Preview: Clemente Taunts Schuster" »
After spending almost the entire season in the relegation zone, defeat for Levante at Real Betis this weekend could, finally, confirm their inevitable demotion from Spanish football's top flight...
Previews all of this weekend's Primera Liga Spanish football action: including team news & form guides...
Continue reading "La Liga week 32: Fixtures & Match Previews" »
Valencia's league position means that they cannot afford to be distracted by next Wednesday's Copa del Rey final as they prepare to face Racing Santander on Saturday evening...
Continue reading "Liga Match Preview: Valencia - Racing Santander" »
Recreativo Huelva - FC Barcelona Preview
With just seven Primera Liga games remaining in the current Spanish football season, Lionel Messi returns to the FC Barcelona squad for the first time since picking up a thigh injury against Celtic six weeks ago.
FC Barcelona have the upper hand in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against FC Schalke 04 at the Camp Nou. The Catalan side go into the game with a 1-0 advantage following their 1 April away win and history is most certainly on their side: To put matters into context, Barcelona have only lost two of the previous 34 European ties where they have returned to Spain with a first-leg lead....
La Liga Review Previews all of this weekends top flight Spanish football action: including Form Guides and Team News...
La Liga Review looks ahead to all of this weekend's Spanish League fixtures with Match Previews, Team News and Form Guides...
La Liga Review looks ahead to all of this weekends Spanish League fixtures...
Match Preview & Team News
Thursday evening's Copa del Rey semi final second leg between Valencia and Barcelona will decide which of the two sides will meet Getafe in the final on the 16th April. A stoppage time goal from Xavi salvaged a 1-1 draw for Barcelona after David Villa had given Valencia the lead in the first leg at the Camp Nou a fortnight ago.
Continue reading "Valencia - Barcelona Preview: Copa Del Rey Semi Final" »
Copa Del Rey Match Preview & Team News
Racing Santander coach Marcelino believes that his side will prove the pundits wrong when they face Getafe in the Copa Del Rey semi final second leg on Wednesday.
Liga Match Preview & Team News
FC Barcelona must travel to newly promoted Almeria without a number of key players for their Sunday afternoon La Liga clash. The Catalans should be ambitious, however, after rivals Real Madrid lost at Deportivo on Saturday, handing Barcelona a gilt edged opportunity to close the gap to 5 points in the race for the Spanish league title...
Match Preview & Team News
La Liga Review previews this weekend's Spanish football action as Real Madrid head north to the Riazor where they face Deportivo on Saturday evening. The Merengues will be hoping that they can extend their lead at the top of the Spanish league table to 11 points, before Barcelona play their game on Sunday. However, a La Liga win at Deportivo is something that Real Madrid have not managed in 17 years, since the 1991-92 season; Real's recent form and their record at the Riazor suggests that the visitors might need to wait another year for that elusive victory...
Previews
La Liga Review brings you all this weekends Spanish football action and previews...
Liga Match Preview & Team News
Ninth placed Valencia host Sixth placed Sevilla at the Mestalla on Saturday in a match that typifies the idea that there are no grey areas in Spanish football: according to the Spanish press anyway. Turning every drama in to a crisis while heralding every win as the dawn of a golden age is all part of life in La Liga, just ask the fans of these two clubs…
Match Preview & Team News
Michael Laudrup has said that, in spite of his Getafe side's 2-1 advantage over Benfica after the first leg in Lisbon, there is still a lot of hard work to do in Wednesday's 2nd leg last 16 UEFA cup clash at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in Madrid…
Match Preview and Team News
FC Barcelona host Villarreal at the Camp Nou this evening and the home side will be hoping that they can keep up the pressure on Real Madrid after the Spanish league leaders extended the gap at the top of La Liga to 8 points by beating Espanyol at the Bernabeu last night…
Match Preview and Team News
Fourth placed Atletico Madrid travel to fourth from bottom Zaragoza in Saturday's only other La Liga fixture…
Match Preview and Team News
Real Madrid boss Bernd Schuster is under intense media pressure ahead of Saturday's La Liga clash with Espanyol at the Bernabeu...
FC Barcelona and Celtic FC face each other in another bout of UEFA Champions League football at the Camp Nou as this first knockout round, second-leg tie looks set to be a passionate encounter....
La Liga Review looks ahead to Saturday's remaining fixture.
Espanyol, with just one win in their last eight games - losing the other seven - host an improving Valencia under Ronald Koeman. The home side have almost undone all of their good work in the first half of the season and now find themselves outside of the top four and just four points above today's opposition...
La Liga Match Previews and Team News
In spite of the significant gap in league positions between the two sides, Sevilla's trip to the Riazor does not present them with the chance of an easy away win over lowly Deportivo....
Match Preview and Team News
Real Madrid have found themselves under the spotlight after a recent bad run has seen rivals Barcelona close to within two points of their position at the top of the La Liga table. After slumping to their fourth defeat in five games last weekend, Real Madrid will have plenty of reason to be apprehensive ahead of this weekends trip to Recreativo Huelva. It would seem that the visitors do not like playing in Andalucía after losing on all three visits to the region already this season: Sevilla, Almeria and Real Betis.
Continue reading "Recreativo Huelva - Real Madrid Preview" »
Match Preview and Team News
On Saturday Barcelona travel to the Vicente Calderon for what is always a tough game against Atletico Madrid. Just two points below Madrid, Barcelona will be hoping that their recent league form can prompt a repeat of last season's 6-0 win in the same fixture. Ronaldinho returns to the Barcelona squad, while Aguero shakes off his injury in time to make the Atletico squad....
Copa Del Rey Preview: Getafe v Racing Santander
Following Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Valencia in the first leg semi final tie last night, it’s the turn of the less glamorous semi finalists to compete for a place in the final of Spain’s Copa Del Rey. Don’t be put off by the lack of star appeal. Getafe v Santander brings together two decent sides in a fascinating encounter that means a great deal to both clubs…
Copa Del Rey Semi Final: Preview & Team News
Ronaldinho has been left out of the FC Barcelona squad as the Catalans play host to Valencia at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey semi final. The home side must be considered firm favourites to win the tie and progress through to the final....
Match Previews and Team News: Sunday 24 February
17:00 Osasuna - Atletico Madrid
17:00 Athletic - Villarreal
17:00 Racing - Almeria
17:00 Murcia - Valladolid
17:00 Mallorca - Betis
17:00 Deportivo - Espanyol
19:00 Barcelona - Levante
21:00 Real Madrid - Getafe
Can Barcelona keep up the pressure on Real Madrid after closing the gap to five points? Will Levante stage a protest at the Camp Nou? Will Aguirre lose his job at Atletico Madrid? Will Espanyol start winning again without Tamudo? Will Schuster stop whining and start winning? Read on...
La Liga Previews : Saturday's Spanish football fixtures
20:00 Valencia - Recreativo
22:00 Sevilla - Zaragoza
A look ahead to both of Saturdays La Liga matches as a resurgent Valencia look to grab a European spot at the expense of struggling Recreativo, and Sevilla hope to build upon their excellent home record against terrible travellers Zaragoza...
A busy afternoon for Spanish footballs 'also rans', as former Barcelona team mates Koeman and Laudrup go head to head when Getafe host Valencia, whilst Recreativo and Deportivo scrap it out to avoid relegation, Villarreal and Racing fight over Europe, Almeria appear favourites against Murcia and Atletico chase their Champions League dreams in Bilbao...
There is a danger that Osasuna are underestimating their opponents Rangers in tonight’s Uefa cup tie. The Spanish press and even some of the Osasuna players seem more preoccupied with the fact that the match is being played in the same stadium as the final is due to be played, than they are the opposition.
Looking ahead to Saturday we have one of the biggest games of the season so far. Second placed Sevilla face sixth placed Valencia in what should be a fascinating encounter in Andalusia. Valencia’s injury list is nothing short of astonishing and there are potentially eight first team players who could miss the weekend’s game.
David Albelda, Jaime Gavilan, Edu, Mario Reguiero , Emiliano Morretti, Asier Del Horno, Carlos Marchena and Vicente Rodríguez have all been keeping the medical staff at the Mestalla working overtime this week.
In comparison, the loss of their best player, Jesus Navas, will mean that Sevilla are pretty much up to full strength.
The only other match on Saturday features Real Madrid, at home to host Racing Santander. Racing are now seven games unbeaten after grinding out a goalless draw with Sevilla last weekend.
Real Madrid had no trouble scoring last weekend, or should we say Ruud Van Nistelrooy had no trouble scoring, in their 4 goal hammering away at Osasuna. David Beckham is reportedly struggling with a knee injury and likely to miss the clash.
There is good news for Racing on the injury front. In spite of reports to the contrary, it is likely that Zigic returns unscathed from Serbia in midweek and is likely to join up with Munitis in attack on Saturday. The pair have linked up well and been quite a handful for most opponents this season as the Spanish defenders struggle to come to terms with the Serbian’s height.
Anyone who has ever spent time in Spain in the build up to a Real Madrid – Barcelona derby will know just how pervasive the coverage of this match is. It dominates the sports pages for the entire week before the match, the radio talk shows talk of nothing else and even television programmes that have no connection to sport whatsoever will spend time debating tactics. As a result it is very difficult to find a decent news story that involves neither of the two clubs and very easy to forget that the other teams are even playing. So, in case you were wondering, here's a look at the weekend's other fixtures.
Continue reading "Spanish football is more than Barcelona and Real Madrid" »
Aside form a fascinating match between Barcelona and Sevilla on Sunday, there is plenty of interest elsewhere in La Liga this weekend.
Some exciting games to look forward to this weekend in Spanish football with some teams still looking for points whilst others are desperately in need of a convincing performance to erase the doubts and silence the critics.
