With the Champions League looming large on the horizon, Spain’s three representatives in that competition, all play their La Liga fixtures on Saturday. Sevilla, Barcelona and Real Madrid are in all action on the road providing an exciting treble bill of top quality Spanish football.
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Despite the absence of striker, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, last weekend Real Madrid produced the most emphatic win of the season with a 7-0 home win over Valladolid, maintaining their 100% league record at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Arjen Robben and Royston Drenthe both broke their league ducks in the seven goal mauling, as the Galacticos reinforced their position at the top of La Liga, now leading Barcelona (who drew at Sevilla) by eight points.
Coach, Bernd Schuster, now takes Los Blancos on the road to Seville to face struggling Real Betis. Betis are celebrating their Centenary year, but despite a huge fire-sale of players in the summer, and several replacement acquisitions, such as Mark Gonzalez from Liverpool and goalkeeper, Ricardo, from Sporting Lisbon, they are struggling near the foot of the table. The Beticos biggest problem is consistency. They have produced creditable results, such as wins over Villarreal and Espanyol, but cannot sustain winning runs. They have lost their last two league games, and failed to score in the last five meetings with Real Madrid.
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Last weekend Barcelona recorded their third successive 1-1 draw away from home – at Sevilla – allowing Real Madrid to extend their lead at the top of La Liga to eight points. Ronaldinho was again used in a substitute’s role and was largely ineffective for the 45 minutes he played. Frank Rijkaard was without Zambrotta, Deco, Krkic, and Puyol, so will be glad that Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure have returned from the African Cup of Nations. However, on his return Eto’o – the leader goal-scorer in Ghana – reported a potential muscle problem, which would be a huge blow ahead of this game. Barca cannot afford a further slip-up, visiting Real Zaragoza, if they are to stand any chance of catching Real Madrid.
Only Valladolid have beaten Zaragoza at La Romareda this season, where they are undefeated in their last six fixtures. Four of those games, were drawn however, which given Barca’s recent propensity to stalemates on the road, suggests this game could easily end up all square. Barca were 4-1 victors when the sides met earlier in the season at the Nou Camp, but the Manos are notoriously poor on the road, and their record at home to the Catalans stands up to scrutiny. Zaragoza have lost just two of the last eight encounters at La Romareda, winning this fixture 1-0, last term.
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