Weekend Preview

The winter break is at an end: all hail the return of La Liga! How will the christmas parties and new year celebrations affected our stars? Will they be waddling around, weighed down by three weeks of excess and booze? Will they be chomping at the bit, itching to grace the stage once again with gusto and verve? The big news is the return of Diego Simeone to replace Gregory Manzano as head coach at Atletico Madrid. His arrival has conincided with the only big-name transfer of the re-opened window: Jose Reyes' return home to Sevilla.



Elsewhere, bottom of the table Real Zaragoza put Javier Aguirre out of his misery and replaced him with AEK Athens coach, Manolo Jiménez, and Villarreal welcome José Molina to the helm to replace the outgoing Juan Carlos Garrido.

Leaders Real Madrid (1st) have been given the chance to ease it in gently with a kindly home tie with Granada (13th) at the  Bernabeu on Saturday. With Barcelona playing Sunday, Mourinho's men will surely extend their lead at the top to 6 points. Real welcome back Sergio Ramos from injury. Portugease centre-back Pepe is out with suspension. Di Maria is doubtful. Granada managed some great results in the first half of La Liga, including wins at Bilbao and Sevilla, and despite being one of the lowest scoring sides in the league, they boast one of the best defences. Goalkeeper Roberto is one of the outstanding performers in the league so far and will need to be at his best if Fabri González's side have any hope of taking anything from this game. This game will surely see Real hand out yet another multi-goal beating.

Prediction: 5-0. Ones to watch: Ronaldo, Di Maria, Benzema, Marcelo

Meanwhile, back in Catalonia, Barcelona have the awkward prospect of a visit to their neighbours Espanyol. Espanyol haven't enjoyed much luck against their illustrious neighbours down the years. Last year, they were crushed 5-1 in the same fixture. Barca come into the tie on the back of a 4-0 defeat of Osasuna in the midweek Copa del Rey, while Espanyol suffered a shock loss to Cordoba. The Periquitos have had an excellent first half to the season, and are further bouyed by the news that playmaker Romaric is to be available throughout January having been dropped from the Ivory Coast African Cup of nations squad.  However, Barca are bound to have too much once again for their neighbours.

Prediction: 0-2. Ones to watch: Messi, Fabregas.

Villarreal (17th) v Valencia (3rd): Last season this would have been an eagerly anticipated battle for 3rd place, but now, The Yellow Submarine languish in 17th place. With new coach Molina in charge, fans will be hoping hard for a change of  fortunes after a wretched first half to the season. The vultures are circling for stars such as Nilmar. Wakaso has a broken nose and Catalá is likely to miss another month with a knee injury. Joan Oriol is still out. Valencia are still without Canales, Maduro and Tino in the middle. Albelda is suspended. After their impressive win at Sevilla in midweek, Los Che can be expected to take all three points. Prediction: 1-0 Valencia. Ones to watch: Soldado

Fourth placed Levante host Mallorca (15th) with the home-side determined to continue their excellent run of form and prove it wasn't all just a dream. Levante suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Alcoron in the Copa del rey on Tuesday. Del Horno, Valdo and Juanlu are doubts while Nano and Javi Venta are suspended. Prediction: 2-0. Ones to watch: Barkero, Kone.

Osasuna sit in 5th and visit Real Sociedad (15th). Osasuna have a pretty poor away record, with just one win so far but Sociedad have just two home wins. Sociedad have been one of the most unpredictable Liga sides so far. Sociedad's manager Phillipe Montanier has coaxed some excellent displays out of Carlos Vela and the Arsenal loanee will be the key danger man for the home side. Prediction: 1-1. Ones towatch: Vela

Sevilla (6th) visit Rayo Vallecano (16th). Sevilla will be hurting from their defeat to Valencia in the Copa del Rey. Reyes will be the star attraction as he returns to the side where it all started, but is unlikely to feature. Manu del Moral is suspended while Kanourte is doubtful. Prediction: 0-0. One to watch: Varas

Malaga (7th) v Altetico Madrid (10th) is one of the most hotly anticipated games of the round. The last time Atletico Madrid had Diego Simeone on their payroll, they managed a league and cup double (1995-96).



Imagine that! The Argentinian hardman has naturally brought in a new wave of optimisim to the rojiblancos. However, he has his work cut out. Atletico have the worst away record in the league with 1 point. He will need to inspire the likes of Diego and Falcao against a strong Malaga side. Joaquin is out for Malaga. Prediction: 2-1. Ones to watch: Cazorla, Rondon.

In the best of the rest, Racing Santander (19th) host Zaragoza (20th) in the old fashioned relegation 6 pointer. A spicy start for new Zaragoza coach Jimenez. Prediction 1-0 Racing. Getafe (12th) host Bilbao (9th) and Betis (11th) host Sporting Gijon (18th). Predictions: both 1-1.

W17 preview

With Barcelona proving they’re the best team in the world by beating
useless sides no-one’s heard of in Japan this week, Real Madrid have
an ideal opportunity to reclaim their 3 point cushion at the top of
the Liga before the winter break. Egos in the Real dressing room are
bruised and battered after last week’s humbling in El Clasico. Despite
the increasing feeling that the power balance may have been shifting
at the top after years of Catalunian dominance, Barca’s 3-1 victory,
and Cristiano Ronaldo’s ineffective display were an all too familiar
return to the status quo. All Real can do in response is do what they
have been doing all season (before last week’s interruption) and win.

Sevilla have been awkward opposition for Los Merengues over the past
few years, having won four of their last six Liga meetings between the
two sides at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. Saying that, Jose
Mourinho bucked the trend when his side registered a 6-2 thrashing in
this fixture as recently as May this year with Ronaldo scoring four.
This season, Los Blancos have been devastating away from home with 21
goals from 8 games. However they come up against a Sevilla defence
that has looked far more organised this year and put in a magnificent
display to earn a clean sheet at Camp Nou earlier this term.

Real have no new injury worries, with just Ricardo Carvalho out
long-term. Sevilla’s Argentine winger Diego Perrotti is struggling
with a knock. This should be a victory for Real. 3-1 Real, look out
for a vengeful display from Ronaldo.

Third placed Valencia also had a wobble last week when they stopped
playing after 89 minutes and conspired to lose against Real Betis.
This week, It’s a case of “old money” (maybe that should be, “no
money”) versus “new money” as they take on the nouveau riche Malaga.
Los Che need to get back to winning ways with Levante rediscovering
their form and breathing down their necks in fourth place. Unai Emery
welcomed back the classy Ever Banega during the midweek Copa del Rey
visit to Cadiz and the Argentinian schemer could be back in the
starting line-up this weekend. I’ll tip a Valencia win. 2-1 Ones to
watch: Soldado and Tino Costa.

Levante have a tricky visit to Granada but should prevail against the
promoted side who have one of the meanest defences in the Liga. This
is likely to be a low-scoring affair with Aruna Kone the best bet to
nick a goal.

Osasuna have had an excellent start to the season in stark contrast to
Villarreal who they host this weekend. The Pamplonans have been free
scoring and great entertainment value. They welcome back born-again
midfield maestro Raul Garcia this week, and in tandem with attacking
dynamo Alvaro Cejudo, Los Rojillos are more than capable of heaping on
further misery for the Yellow Submarine. 2-0: Ones to watch: Nino,
Ibrahima.

Espanyol and Sporting Gijon go head to head after both sides recorded
impressive wins last week. Expect a low score draw. Ones to watch:
Romaric (Espanyol), Nacho Novo (Gijon)

Athletic Bilbao take on the struggling Zaragoza at San Mames. This is
an ideal opportunity for Bilbao to get back to winning ways after a
stuttering spell in La Liga. Underachieving wing-wizard Jermaine
Pennant suffered some kind of anterograde amnesia in 2009 after he
signed for Zaragoza: he was always late; forgot where he parked his
car and seemed to lose all footballing ability during his stint on the
continent. A similar collective sickness appears to have gripped a
side who have become totally devoid of talent, ambition or desire and
are now rooted to the foot of the table. Bilbao are without suspended
captain Andani Iraola and Fernando Llorente is a doubt. 3-1 home win.
Ones to watch: Ander Herrera, Toquero, Muniain and Susaesta.

Atletico Madrid come galloping into their home tie with Real Betis off
the back of their triumphant Europa Cup performance in midweek.
Despite the fact their fans hate them, Gregory’s Manzano’s boys love
playing at home and with Falcao, Ada Turan and Diego all starting to
purr, expect another home win. 3-1 Atletico.

On paper, Mallorca versus Getafe may look like the sort of game that
any neutral would rather poke their own eyes out than endure. However,
it excites me, if only because Mallorca are starting to look like they
can win and this could be one of the most one-sided games of the
weekend. Getafe are useless. Victor knows how to score

Racing Santander versus Sociedad is up there in the tedium rankings.
Sociedad keep squeezing out the points and Carlos Vela is starting to
fulfill his potential as the poor man’s Lionel Messi. Racing Santander
can’t excite me unless Kennedy Bakiricoglu is playing, and he’s still
a doubt. A deathly 1-1. Snooze fest

Team of the week 31



Soldado (Eurosport)

 FORWARDS

*Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 37 pts*

Hero of the week for second week running. Scored twice and got 37 pts as Valencia thrashed Villarreal 5-0. Gap between Valencia in 3rd and Villarreal in 4th is now 6 pts.

Lionel Messi (Barca) 27.5

Brace ensured Barca eased to victory 3-1 despite going a goal behind to struggling Almeria.

Juan Mata (Valencia) 23.5

The young spaniard registers a long over due big score in the Villarreal rout.

MIDFIELD

Banega (Valencia) 24

Argentinian wunderkid makes his mark with dominant display. Also represents value of the week being 5.24 going into the game.

Bertolo (Zaragoza) 20

Crucial match winning goal to help Zaragoza move 3 points clear of relegation zone.

Jose Reyes (Atletico Madrid) 16
Another heavily involved performance as Atletico hand a 3-0 drubbing to Sociedad, outscoring the Kun Aguero despite not getting on the score sheet.

De Guzman (Mallorca) 16
Scores for the second week in a row in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Sevilla.

DEFENCE

Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid) 19
Scores his first of the season in Atleti win.

Jose Angel (Gijon) 12.5
Another impressive display from the Gijon wing back as they earn a crucial 1-0 home win against Osasuna. (David Barral with the goal)

Drenthe (Hercules) 12
Dutch master appears in top 11 for 2nd week in a row but can't bring Hercules a much needed home win against Espanyol.

GK

Cesar (Val) 18/ De Gea (Atleti) 18
Big displays from the spanish custodians showing their respective sides' victories weren't all down to attacking prowess.

In other news:

Real Madrid made whole sale changes to their starting line up meaning Kaka started and scored 2 pens.

Full side

R. Soldado VAL forward 37
L. Messi BAR forward 27.5
Juan Mata VAL forward 23.5

�. Banega VAL midfielder 24
N. Bertolo RZG midfielder 20
J. Reyes AMR midfielder 16
Jonathan de Guzmán MAL midfielder 16

Filipe Luis AMR defender 19
José Ángel SPO defender 12.5
R. Drenthe HER defender 12

D. De Gea AMR goalkeeper 18
Cesar VAL goalkeeper 18

Week 30 review: Soldado and the kings

A dark horse

A stunning weekend in La Liga as a host of dark horses stole in to grab the headlines while the more notorious show ponies were bumped to the sidelines.

The main story is obviously Mourinho's first loss at home in 10 years: the game which allowed Gijon's GK Juan Pablo (John Paul to you and me) to score a whopping 29 points! Naturally, the Mou wheeled out his "they parked the bus" complaints, but the fact that Pablo had to make 11 saves, rather suggests it was the Real forwards rather than Gijon's defence that was responsible for the defeat.

Juan Pablo holds Hernandez (reuters)

His charges were hopelessly shown up by the ruthless efficiency of Miguel del la Cuevas who snatched a rare opportunity and match winning goal to earn himself 14.5 pts, a place week's best XI and give Gijon the win. Real, without Benzema and Ronaldo, had to rely on Adebayor to lead the line, and the Man City loanee had a shocker missing a host of chances registering a meagre 5 pts. Half-fit Higuain was dragged off the bench in the 2nd half to save his side but the Argentinian could not save his Mou. Fortunately for Fantasy pickers, his tiny 4.5 will surely see his value drop below 20 and make him an appealling pick for next week. Di Maria with 12 and Ozil with 8 returned their value as expected but Arbeloa let me down with a measly 0.5.

Roberto Soldado was the ubermensch of the weekend, plundering 4 goals and 45 points as Valencia crushed Getafe 4-2 and jumped to 3rd. Soldado had 5 goals in 28 appearances before this but his uneering display ensured Valencia bounced back to winning ways after two defeats in a row going into the international break. The man tends to blitz. He got 29 pts in week 13 but has been quiet since.

Diego Costa hattrick Photo EFE

Diego Costa, (valued at just 5.8!) started ahead of Diego Forlan and scored a hattrick to help Atletico win a difficult tie 3-2 away at in form Osasuna. A bit of a shocker all round there. On a personal note, I was pretty chuffed with the prescience of my Kike Sola pick, as the centre forward scored for the home side (but only got 9.5). Was a bit disappointed in Camunas for OSA who only got 1.5.

Levante did the unthinkable and scored a load of goals without Caicedo featuring. Stuani took on the mantle and again at the astonishingly cheap rate of 6.31 scored twice and got 31 as Levante beat relegation rivals Malaga 3-1.

Rakitic had another superb week at the heart of Sevilla's midfield. Who is this guy? I was pleased I forked out on the 16.4 million man as he got 16.5 points without a goal as the southerners crushed Zaragoza 3-1. Former Chelsea man Jarosik had another fine game for the away side scoring a goal.

Osvaldo

Another ex-prem reject, Giovani dos Santos was also amongst the goals as Kennedy Bakircoglu's Racing Santander snatched a surprise 2-1 win at Espanyol. Espanyol's season is going steadily down the pan after they looked so good earlier on. For my part, I was again pleased to have Osvaldo as the striker returned to the starting 11 to score a pen, but a bit miffed that he only got 11 pts.

Hercules delivered another blow to my week as they beat Sociedad 3-1 away thanks to the dutch Gareth Bale - Royston Drenthe (registered a defender, plays left wing, Hercules' best attacking threat). The cheaky scamp scored twice to ensure Sociedad's and my GK Bravo registered -1. I took some solice in defender Gonzalez (valued 3) scoring 4.5. 150% return! Hercules haven't done anything away from home since they beat Barca at the Nou Camp at the start of the season.

Barca in the mean time continued their tedious march to the title, and two of their defenders complete this week's top XI. Pique poked one in to score the only goal and Dani Alves must have done everything else as he got 15pts. Messi came off the bench to get 5. Awarded a rare start, Affellay scored more than 0.5 points for the first time since arriving with 5!

So here is this week's star 11. Of course, this could all change following tonight's match between Almeria and Athletico Bilbao.

player-team-(price) score

R. Soldado - VAL - (12.92) 45.00
Diego Costa - AMR - (5.80) 35.00
Stuani - LEV - (6.31) 31.00

Giovani dos Santos - RAC - (9.90) 17.00
I. Rakitic - SEV - (16.40) 16.50
J. Jarosik - RZG - (6.19) 15.00
Miguel de las Cuevas - SPO - (13.49) 14.50

Dani Alves - BAR - (18.13) 15.00
G. Piqué - BAR - (7.78) 14.50
R. Drenthe - HER - (14.17) 26.00

Juan Pablo - SPO - (8.39) 29.50

Week 29: Team of the week

Varas, Sevilla - Golden Man

Javi Varas was Week 29's golden player and his 28 points shows us just how good he and Sevilla's defence had to be to secure their surprise 1-0 win at Valencia. A staggering points haul from the Sevilla no. 2 who was worth just 4 a few weeks ago, and worth just 11.9 at the start of this week.

Osasuna have the most representatives in the top 11: 2 defenders and one midfielder. This reflects the dominance they exerted in their emphatic, and somewhat astonishing 4-0 win at Hercules. Los Rojillos are in a rich vein of form and with 11 points, even without a goal, no wonder defender Nacho Monreal is being targeted by the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal.

A worthy mention must go to Osasuna's Goalkeeper Ricardo who had another inspired game between the sticks and racked up an excellent 22 points with 6 saves. Man Utd, in the hunt for a replacement for Van der Sar, could do a lot worse than "doing a Wenger" and bringing back an ex-golden oldie goalie. 39 yr old Ricardo was barely given a sniff in his brief stint at United between 2002 and 2005.

Sergio Aguero and Jose Reyes once again proved that you don't have to be a winner to get a good points haul. While Atletico went down 2-1, the Kun, Aguero, continued his outrageously good form with a goal and 22 pts (4 goals in his last 3 games). No clamours for the wunderkid to move to a bigger club keep bubbling to the surface.

The Guardian's Sid Lowe suggested that Aguero played virtually by himself against Real in the derby, but Reyes' total of 15, without a goal would tells us the ex-Arsenal forward showed plenty of attacking threat even if he couldn't trouble the scorers. Whilst wearing the Arsenal shirt he once got a 30pts in a week in the EPL version of the game without scoring a goal.

Rondon (left), Malaga

Malaga stiker Jose Rondon also continued his excellent form, bagging a brace to help Manuel Pellegrino's relegation threatened side ease to a 2-0 over European hopefuls Espanyol and secure their second win on the bounce. Rondon now has 12 goals, as many as Aguero and Peppe Rossi.

Racing's Kennedy and Sociedad's Griezmann were the dominant forces for either side, scoring a goal apiece as Santander edged a 2-1 win over the Basques. Spurs' Giovanni Dos Santos sealed the win to get his second in eight Liga games for Racing.

After a quiet few weeks Jonathon De Guzman popped up to re-assert himself as Mallorca's leading points scorer with the only goal in Mallorca's 1-0 win over Zaragoza. His 15 points takes his tally to 158 for the season.

The surprise package of the week has to be Villarreal's defender Musacchio. Without scoring a goal, and from a value of just 2.79, Mussachio registered 12 points, as the Yellow Submarine capitalised on Valencia's loss to re-capture 3rd place

Personal Higlights?

Farinos

FARINOS (HERCULES)

Despite Hercules' taking a 4-0 pasting at home to Osasuna, the midfield maestro almost made the team of the week, managing 14.5 points from a value of 5.79.

Team of the week 29

How the best scoring XI would have looked:

Name,team,position,points
J. Varas SEV Goalkeeper 28.00

Nelson OSA Defender 19.50
M. Musacchio VIL Defender 12.00
N. Monreal OSA Defender 11.00

J. Camuñas OSA Midfielder 17.00
J. Reyes AMR Midfielder 15.00
K. Bakircioglü RAC Midfielder 15.00
J. de Guzmán MAL Midfielder 15.00

S. Agüero AMR Forward 22.00
J. Rondón MGA Forward 21.00
A. Griezmann RSO Forward 16.50

Total: 192

My team:

The winning team:

Week29: Saturday

Sergio Aguero, top scorer in Fantsay football last night with 22 points. Next closest scorer was Casillas with 18.

Week 25 preview: Atletico Madrid v Sevilla

Ok Koke?

Atletcio Madrid 9th v Seville 7th

A massive game for two of the liga's most unpredictable sides. Both sides having an up and down season, with inconsistent form, although both scrapped 1-0 wins last week. Some are billing this as a Europa Cup 6 pointer. A win for either side would be a massive boon.

Predictions:
Atletico are favourites.

• Reyes is a persistent threat even when Atletico struggle, and especially at home. Has scored 20+ in three of his last seven appearances.
• Aguero is back amongst the goals, but expensive at 22.
• One outsider it may be worth taking an inexpensive punt on is Koke. This youngster had a great game at Zaragoza last week and may well have more responsibilities if Forlan misses the game with injury. He's had four appearnaces, averages 3, and got 3 pts last week. Priced only 4.68.
• For Seville, the main temptation would have to be GK Varas, but only if he was drafted in for 4.8 the week before last. He kept a clean sheet and made a few saves to earn 16pts. Palop has a knock.

Fantastic statistical forecast here at Accuscore

Predicted score: 2-0. Goals for Kun and Reyes.

Week 24 Liga preview: Goalkeepers

Gustavo Munua - great form

• Levante's Munua is the second most valuable keeper (valued 15.17) and has been on an excellent run of form since returning to the first team fold in week 21: 10, 18, 16.5
• But Levante come up against Real at the Bernabaeu this week for whom Antonio Adan will be making his first league start. Adan registered a week high of 20 pts at Espanyol last weekend. Good value at 13.65
• Of last week's losers, several high flying keepers are now representing tempting value. Seville's Palop had a mare at Santander and is now 7.58, Valdes dropped to 18.96, and Atletico's De Gea dropped to 11.45. Palop has a relatively straight forward home tie against Hercules, while De Gea's out of form side travels to Zaragoza.
• Reliable home picks include Ricardo at home for Osasuna against Espanyol, Diego Lopez
  at home for Villarreal and Sociedad's Bravo at home to Mallorca.

Week 21: team of the week. Valdo invited to Messi's party

Buried under all this tedious transfer titilation, was the news last night that Week 21's action was rounded off with an ill-tempered 1-1 draw between Racing Santander and Valencia. The stats suggest Tino Costa and Ever Banega were the men of the hour for Valencia. Costa got a goal and 8 points, while Banega did crosses, corners and assist to get 9 points.


Racing Santander 1-1 Valencia
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Kennedy Bakircioglü got 3.5 for Santander. Goalscorer for Racing was Ariel Nahuelpán with 10pts.

We are now able to announce the team of the week:

L. Messi, Barcelona, Forward, (value)46.46, (points)33.00
G. Toquero, Athl Bilbao, Forward, 14.10, 26.50
A. Negredo, Sevilla, Forward, 16.51, 20.50

Duda, Malaga, Midfielder, 20.96, 21.00
Valdo, LEV, Midfielder, 9.34, 19.00
D. Castro, Sporting, Midfielder 15.48, 18.00
André Castro, Sporting, Midfielder, 7.01, 15.00*

I. Ansotegi, RSO, Defender, 9.20, 18.00
Dani Alves, Barcelona, Defender, 20.39, 17.50
A. Iraola, Athl Bilbao, Defender, 13.89, 17.00

G. Iraizoz, Athl Bilbao, Goalkeeper, 15.62, 24.00

There were three midfielders on 15 points:
N. Bertolo, Zaragoza
D. López, Athl Bilbao
J. Camuñas,Osasuna

Andre Castro deserves the accolade because his current stats suggest he never set foot on the pitch:

So mainly the big hitters, but plenty of new names to learn about, and many of the points concentrating around a few games and teams:

3 from Bilbao @ A. Madrid
2 from Barca @ Hercules
2 from Sporting @ Mallorca

(new feature) Who are you and why were you good?

Valdo 19pts

Valdo - great  week

The Levante midfielder had one hell of a game:

1 Match Winning Goals
1 Goal
2 Successful crosses
1 Corners won
3 Fouls won
3 Shots on target
5 Passes intercepted

Great for a guy who was worth 4.63 at the start of the week. This, along with a sparing Wikipedia entry, suggest it was a one off, a blip. Find out more.

Week 21: Sunday review - Sporting hits

The story of the week will be this: Real's title challenge is over. It was more or less over a couple of weeks ago when they drew at Almeria, but this sealed the deal. Mourinho's men have been grasping and stumbling to stay on their feat in the title race but a 1-0 loss at Osasuna, while Barca cruised to another effortless win, 3-0 away win at Hercules hammered the points home. Barca are 7 clear.



So much of prescient sporting prediction is about assuring that the statistical probable truths stay firmly at the forefront of one's thinking: any whiff of hopes and dreams about what may occur must be kept securely under wraps. We must not confuse what is going to happen with what will. Thus, just because a team who's record breaking form is proving that they are one of, if not the, greatest teams in history had a blip against a minnow side at the start of the season, does not mean it is going to happen twice (or that you should cast off their most consistent scorers); nor does it mean that a top 10 side who have emphatically won two home games on the trot will repeat the feat against a side from the bottom half of the table.

Osasuna 1 - 0 Real Madrid... down and out in the autonomous community of Navarre

Javier Camunas - PES likeness

For the whites, once again, Ronaldo top scored in stats (11.5pts 2 SOTs and 5 Fws) but didn't score a goal, once again no other player evidenced any kind of attacking threat - of the rest Di Maria top scored with 4 pts.

For Osasuna, Ricardo - as in week 18 - was superb in goal, scoring handsomely with 15 pts (4 saves) and was joint top scorer for the reds alongside match winning midfielder Javier Camuñas. Defender S. Fernandez got a notable 10.5 and has scored 9+ in 3 of the past 6 weeks. Ex Birmingham City striker Walter Pandiani reminded us of his qualities with a -1.5.

Hercules 0 - 3 Barca... top banana

Messi got 2 goals and only his 2nd +20 score in 6 weeks with 33 points. His value is still 43. Pedro (who I inexplicably dropped) got another goal and 19.5 pts. Dani Alves returned to score 2 assists and 17.5 points. Quite pleasingly, Villa (worth 29) scored -0.5. Such a risky pick.

Mallorca 0 - 4 Sporting Gijon... A tale of two Castros

This has to be the shock scoreline from Saturday night's results. Mallorca may have lost their last two games - away to the Madrids - but they had been in good home form and put up a strong fight at the Bernabeau. They had won their last two home games 4-1 and 3-0. But, alas, the warning signs were there: only last week Sporting's "shock" defeat of Atletico was being praised on these pages.

Last night's results saw these two sides consentinaed together: Mallorca plummeting to 11th with Gijon leaping to 12th. Punting for Mallorca's keeper Dudu Aouate (-14) was a grievous error; hotly tipped defender Nunes folded (-2); striker Pierre Webo (brought in for Barca's Pedro) limped to 0.5; at least midfielder Gonzalo Castro put up some resistance with 9.



For Sporting, another Castro (Diego) was the hero with a brace from midfield and 18pts. Former Rangers striker Nacho Novo also got on the scoresheet and notched a worthy 10.

Real Sociedad 2 - 0 Almeria... this is Basque country

Real Madrid and Mallorca took account for 7 of my 11 and cumulatively left me a little queasy. Luckily RSO didn't "do a Mallorca" and Basque boys Tamudo and Xavi Prieto gave me a little more faith in myself. Tamudo got a goal and a delicious 20.5 pts (from value 6). Xavi got a respectable 8.

Espanyol 0 - 1 Villarreal... gunning for you

This was a huge win for The Yellow Submarine (s?) over the excellent Espanyol and will have Real Madrid looking over their shoulders: 3rd place villarreal are in form and 6 points behind. The match winner once again was Rossi (18 points) and Diego Lopez in goal found his gloves (now that I dropped him) with 17 pts!

I was happy to have Sergio Garcia for the Catalans. Valued 11, the striker got a respectable 9.

Deportivo 3 - 3 Seville 

Didier Zokora - gorgeous ball

An exciting match, unusually for the obdurate Deportivo. Julien Escude scored again for Seville and striker Alvaro Negrego got a brace and 20.5 points, his second scored "via a gorgeous ball from Didier Zokora". Inexplicably, I held on to Martin Caceres from last week and he got 3 pts.

Lassad Nouioui did the business for Depor with two himself and 20 pts. A quick look at Deportivo's team stats tells me that, yes, the legendary Juan Valeron does still play for them, but is sadly worth just 3.5, his highest score of the season being 2.5.

Other results:

Atlético Madrid 0 - 2 Athletic Bilbao

Lots of big points for Bilbao as they stretched the gap between themselves in 6th and Madrid in 7th to 5 points. Toquerro 2 goals and 26 points (the striker's first goals of the season). GK Gorka Iraizoz 24 points. Defender Iraola a majestic 17.

Pongolle - On call

Levante UD 2 - 0 Getafe CF

A goal and assist for Caicedo
Del Horno 13 pts

Málaga CF 1 - 2 Real Zaragoza

Duda got 21 points yet oddly his price plummeted from 21 to 16.
Sinama Pongolle was amongst the goals for Zaragoza.

Still to play: Racing Santander v Valencia

Week 20: Barral of laughs

Gijon goal hero David Barral - on sea

Wins for the top 5 give the illusion of another predictable week in La Liga, but scratch beneath the surface and aberrations soon become apparent. For the second time in a row, neither Messi (19.5 pts) or Ronaldo (8.5pts!) would feature in the top starting 11 of the week; Atletico Madrid lost to relegation threatened Sporting "Hee-Haw" Gijon; and Benzema managed to score a goal!

Barcelona stretched their lead at the top briefly to 7 points on Saturday, yawning to a 3-0 defeat of Racing Santander at the Nou Camp. Iniesta (1goal, 14pts), Messi (1 pen, 1 assist, 19.5 pts) and Pedro (1 goal, 1 assist, 20.5 pts) were the heroes. Pedro has now scored 10+ points 9 weeks in a row! (Messi has managed this 3 weeks running). Adriano, in at full back, exceeded expectations and managed a handsome 9 pts and was 5th top scorer for Barca. Victor Valdes was joint top scoring keeper with 16 pts, suggesting Barca didn't have it all their way. Kennedy Bakircioglü managed 4pts (2 successful crosses and 4 intercepted passes) for the visitors.

Real Madrid strained to a 1-0 home win over Real Mallorca, courtesy of Benzema's 60th minute strike with the Frenchman scoring 15.5 overall. He got a Tackle Won too. Points were spare at the Bernabeau though: Kaka (2pts), who was subbed at half time for Ozil (1pt) and Di Maria (6pt) are proving to be the albatrosses around my fantasy neck: it may be time to shoot them down.



With these losers hogging my midfield, I rewarded my last midfield berth to last week's top scoring midfielder, Villarreal's Cani. Of course though, another prediction was to come to bare as Santi Cazorla (18pts) returned to assume responsibility for the best of the Yellow Submarine's attacking play, laying on two assists for Peppe Rossi as the 3rd placed side triumphed 2-1 over Real Sociedad.  Cani stepped aside, managed 1 measly SOT and a YC to get himself a tedious 3.5 (for an investment of 13). Of course, all in all, this also meant no goals for baby Ruben (4.5), and minimal returns for GK Diego Lopez (3) and Gaspar (3.5) in defence. Curses on Sociedad and their persistant ability to cause problems away from home.

Old (or no) money conquered over new as Valencia romped to a thrilling 4-3 victory over plucky Malaga. Still glad I stayed away from this one though. Goals were scored by Mata, Soldado, Adruiz (14pts) and wunderkind, Ever Banega (12pts) but only the latter two were able to return more points than their value (which leads me to wonder how often players ever do this anyway). Julio "the Beast" Baptista got his first for Malaga and other new signing Martin Demichelis was sent off!





Espanyol kept a grip on 5th place with a 3-1 win at Getafe. More goals from Callejon (again), Sergio Garcia, and Luis Garcia showing they are more than coping without leading scorer Peter Osvaldo.

Athletic Bilbao leapfrogged "the other" Athletic (Madrid) to take 6th spot as the Basques crushed Hercules 3-0. Of course, Llorente scored (but only managed 10 pts) and so did reliable midfield force, Javier Marquez, and the lesser known forward Iker Muniain. Signor Muniain scored for the second game running to take his season total to 2 (from 17 games).

Sevilla continued their surge up the league, bouncing into 8th place, thanks to a 4-1 drubbing of Levante who are now rooted to the bottom of the table. Fabiano's hattrick (putting him top of the weekly scorers chart with 31pts) and a rare goal from forgotten french defender Julien Escude put the league strugglers to the sword. Ivorian playmaker Romaric (valued 5.96 at the start of the week) scored a super 11.5: 1 Assist and 5 Successful crosses being his key stats. However, it must also be noted that Kanoute failed to start, and neither did either of my defensive picks: Caceres and Alexis.



Which, sporting miscellany and regrets brings me to the end of the games featuring my chosen 11.

Aranda, great brace

In other results, Almeria scored an invaluable 3 - 2 win over fellow strugglers Osasuna to get off the foot of the table and go 18th. This game included a couple of braces to produce two of the week's highest scorers in Ulloa (21 pts and 2 goals) for Almeria, and Aranda for Osasuna (22.5 pts, 2 goals)


Real Zaragoza also scored a valuable 1 - 0 over Deportivo. A goal from bargain of the week Boutahar (18pts valued 1.82!!!) keeping Sinama Pongolle's side 2 points clear of the relegation zone.



Goal.com team of the week:

Team of the week:


Luis Fabiano, Sevilla, Forward, 31.50
G. Rossi, Villarreal, Forward, 31.00
J. Rondón, Malaga, Forward, 27.00 

S. Cazorla, Villarreal, Midfielder, 18.00
S. Boutahar, Zaragoza, Midfielder, 18.00
Javier Martínez, Athl Bilbao, Midfielder, 15.00
Xisco Muñoz, LEV, Midfielder, 14.50 

J. Escudé, Sevilla, Defender, 15.00
Marcelo, Real Mad, Defender, 9.50
Adriano, Barcelona, Defender, 9.00 

G. Iraizoz, Athl Bilbao, Goalkeeper, 16.00

Total 204.5


Winning team:

La Moupedia

My team:

Dos Donuts: week20

Week 19: preview

Almería (19th) v Real Mad (2nd) (Sat)

Back in November, Barcelona put 8 past Almeria in a ruthless visit to La Liga' s minnows, and surely it will only be a matter of how many for Real. Mourinho has no new injury worries and it seems he will go with the same front 4 that beat Villarreal with Kaka likely to come off the bench again. It seems worth hanging on to the Brazilian (market 11.78, bought at 10.38) whose value is only going to go up, and the same should apply to Karim Benzema (m 12.81, b 11.69) with Mourinho, sort of backing the Frenchman this week.

Barcelona (1st) v Malaga (16th) (Sun)

And surely another routine win and a record for Barca against the recently moneyed Malaga. The Boquerones have added Julio Baptista, Ignacio Camacho, Sergio Asenjo, Enzo Maresca and Martin Demichelis, but this surely will not be enough to resist Messi et al. Unsurprisingly, in fantasy terms there are no great bargains to be had. Of the front three - Messi (45.83), David Villa (28.14), Rodriguez (21.14) - only the latter looks great value. Villa averages 13 but even when he scored last week, he only got 12.5. In midfield, it is tempting to take a punt on new signing Ibrahim Affellay (4.07), who was on the bench for the past two games and is surely due a first team opportunity soon.



Villarreal (3rd) v Osasuna (15th) (sat)

Surely a home win for the Submarine, who by many accounts gave Real a run for their money, despite losing 4-2 last week. With Ruben starting and scoring in that game in the place of the long term injured Nilmar, this unknown quantity looks set to continue up front with Rossi and looks a bargain at 6.55. In midfield, the attacking options of Cani (10.71), Carzola (15.26, averaging 8.03) or Valero (11.77) appeal. Also, Diego Lopez has to come into the fantasy goal, his price having sank to 11.26 thanks to his conceding 4 at Real. But the yellows can take nothing for granted; Osasuna's Ricardo was the top scoring goalkeeper last week at home to Getafe. Although, this may also say a lot about Osasuna's defensive short comings.

Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal, not to be confused with Ruben, Villarreal

Valencia 4th v Deportivo 13th (Sun)

Valencia have to be clear favourites, cruising into the game on a great run of form, while Deportivo will still be recovering from the 4-0 battering at home to Barca last week. Valencia's Juan Mata scored the only goal last week in their one nil win at Levante and, with the striker penning a new deal this week, looks a safe pick. Although, priced at 18.38, there may be some better bargains around (e.g. Ruben).

Sevilla 10th v Espanyol 5th (Sat)

This is the most closely matched tie of the round with both sides in fantastic form heading into this game. Sevilla have won 4 on the trot and in Kanoute and Fabiano have an in form, dangerous strike force. But, Espanyol have one of the best keepers in the league at the moment in Carles Kameni.

Athl Madrid 6th v Mallorca 8th (Mon)

This should be one of the games of the week but both teams are likely to cancel each other out. Forlan is tempting at 17 but the Uruguayan hasn't scored in La Liga for 6 weeks. Likewise, Aguero (20), is unlikey to have a great time against a decent Mallorca defence.

And the rest...

Saturday

Getafe 7th v Real Sociedad 12th 
Zaragoza 20th v LEV 17th 
Sporting 18th v Hercules 11th 
Athl Bilbao 9th v Racing 14th

Week 18: Kaka returns

Kaka came off the bench to score his first goal and points of this season, in only his second game since returning from the knee injury which has kept him out thus far. The Brazilian scored the 4th as Real Madrid extended the gap between themselves and third placed Villarreal to 11 points with a 4-2 victory at the Bernabeau.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and assisted Kaka to score 37pts and take his tally for the season to 376.5, and his value to 46.84. Like Ronaldo, Messi hogged the points in his side's victory, scoring 25 as Barca tonked Deportivo 4-0 at the Rizor. (Total 330, value 45.83, avg 22 from 14 games.)

Ronaldo and Messi aside, the other striking performance of note was Seville's Freddy Kanoute who booted a mighty 27 as the southerners continued their recovery with their 4th straight victory. The Mali man scored twice in a 3-2 victory at Real Sociedad and Seville now lie 10th.

I had focussed my attention this week exclusively on Real Madrid (v Villareal), Mallorca (v Almeria), and Santander (v Gijon). 5 of my 11 came from Real Madrid. Ozil (paid 5.45, now 11.51) and Di Maria (6.11, 11.15) joined Kaka in midfield, and managed a miserly 4 and 0.5 respectively. I handed Benzema a striker's berth and he coughed up a reasonable 7.5 for his 11.56 value. The Frenchman has scored 10+ only twice (1 goal) in 17 appearances. With Higuain out for another 4 months, it seems likely he'll get another crack at the cherry against Almeria away next week. In defence I replaced card prone Carvalho with bargain R.Albiol, who at 2.81 managed -1 point.

Real Mallorca were an excellent resource this week as strikers E. Nsue (14.5) and M Perreira (8.5) and defender Ivan Ramis (11) all netted for me as the islanders battered lowly Almeria 4-1 in Palma to go 8th.

In goal, Racing Santander's Tono scored me a decent 14.5, despite the home side only managing a 1-1 draw against bottom of the table Sporting Gijon. The lad has done well considering I have him at 8.8 (now worth 12.9). Racing defenders Torrejon and the expensive Henrique were less impressive, registering 0.5 each.

Overall, the pick of the keepers was Osasuna's Ricardo (now worth 14.38), the former Manchester United keeper top scoring with 21 as 15th placed Osasuna held 7th placed Getafe at home in a scoreless draw. Espanyol's Carles Kameni remains second most expensive keeper (15.9 behind Valdes 20.38), scoring 18 as the 5th placed catalans thumped Zaragoza 4-0.

In defence, the top players were:

Didac, Espanyol, 15.00
Jose Angel, Sporting, 13.5
Rafa, Getafe, 13.00
Miguel, Valencia, 11.5

None of these guys scored a goal, and Jose Angel didn't even keep a clean sheet.

Jose Reyes

In midfield, former Arsenal forward Jose Reyes top scored with 20 and got his first goal of the season even while his team, 6th placed Atletico Madrid, were hammered 4-1 by the unpredictable Hercules (now 11th). Malaga's Duda deserves a mention with the 4th highest midfield score of 12.5 as he has emerged as something of a mystery. The former Porto man is the highest price midfielder by far at 20.17 (4 more than the nearest contender, Reyes), but has yet to score a goal this season and averages a relaxed 7.7 from 7 games.

Jose Reyes, A.Mad, 20.00
J. De Guzman, Mallorca, 16.00
Javier Martinez, At. Bilbao 16.00
Duda, Malaga, 12.5

Ex Premier league Quincy Owusu Abeye also plays for Malaga and scored 2.5. The former Arsenal, Birmingham and Portsmouth striker has not scored more than 5 since week 6.



Best possible side this week (not including Messi or Ronaldo)?

Kanoute, Sev, 27.00
Luis Garcia, Espanyol, 20.00
Luis Fabiano, Seville, 16.5

Jose Reyes, A.Mad, 20.00
J. De Guzman, Mallorca, 16.00
Javier Martinez, At. Bilbao 16.00
Duda, Malaga, 12.5

Didac, Espanyol, 15.00
Jose Angel, Sporting, 13.5
Rafa, Getafe, 13.00

Ricardo, Osasuna, 21

Total = 174.5


Winning side:

LUNG - 133pts

Ronaldo, Real Mad, 37
Kanoute, Seville, 27
Trezeguet, Hercules, 13.5

Vicente, Valencia, 2.5
Ozil, Real Mad, 4
Alonso, Real Mad, 2.5
Khedeira, Real Mad 0

Ramis, Mallorca, 11
Pique, Barca, 10.5
Carvalho, Real Mad, 1

Ricardo, Osasuna, 21