La Liga Weekend Preview: Round 14

Sat 6 Dec 2008 (all times local)
20:00 Villarreal - Getafe
20:00 Sporting - At. Madrid
22:00 Barcelona - Valencia
Sun 7 Dec
17:00 Mallorca - Recreativo
17:00 Osasuna - Valladolid
17:00 Deportivo - Malaga
17:00 Numancia - Almeria
17:00 Racing - Athletic
19:00 Betis - Espanyol
21:00 R. Madrid - Sevilla

Villarreal start the weekend with the chance to pull within a point of Barcelona at home to Getafe.

The Yellow Submarine, having already qualified for the next stage of the Champions League, are likely to field their strongest side for this encounter.

But they should nonetheless be wary of the Azulones, who have in the past two weeks drawn at Camp Nou and defeated none other than Real Madrid.

Sporting Gijon, meanwhile, will seek to use home advantage to oust an Atletico Madrid side who are back in the top six.

While Javier Aguirre's men have been a bit too draw-prone of late, they are at least on an unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back all the way to October 18th.

Caution is needed, though, against a Sporting outfit who sit top half after their third win in four last week, away to Espanyol.

Later on Barcelona can extend or at least maintain their lead at the top of the Primera - but they need to get past Valencia first.

Thankfully for Barça history is on their side. They've lost 11 times in the Liga at home to Los Che, compared to 41 wins for and 21 draws.

Still, the Mestalla men need only look back five years for their last victory at Camp Nou, a certain Ricardo Oliveira netting back then.

Moving onto Sunday, Mallorca welcome a Recreativo side that is in real danger of being cut adrift at the bottom.

The Huelva side have managed just one win all season and are now on a four game losing run in the Liga.

That's hardly the form you want to be in when hopping across the Mediterranean to the Balearics, although they can at least take heart in the fact that San Moix isn't the fortress it once was: two wins so far at home tells its own story for the Barralets.

Still, that's one more than Osasuna have got. The rojillos may be off bottom spot but they're still in dire straits ahead of Valladolid's visit.

The Pucela are well-known for their great form at home at the Jose Zorilla, but their one away win - at Villarreal, and by three goals in fact - shows that they can't be taken lightly.

Deportivo's great run continues as they prepare to meet Malaga, another worthy pretender for the European places.

Curiously the boquerones have a fairly positive away record - two wins and a draw out of six - which is unusual for a newly-promoted side.

However the Riazor is fast becoming one of the more watertight venues in the Liga, too.

Of all the new arrivals to the Liga, Numancia are the worst off. The Soria men fell back into the relegation zone with their loss at Athletic last week and sorely need a win.

They may be confident as Almeria seem to be running out of steam, not least on their travels.

The early-evening match brings Espanyol to Betis, the perequitos playing their first match under the tutelage of new coach Mane.

The former Alaves hero has been around the block, and he'll know more than anyone that a trip to Andalucia is seldom to be relished.

Betis have eased their own relegation woes with three wins in their last four: their ten-man loss at Valencia last week sticks in the throat.

Finally Real Madrid, buoyed by the imminent arrival of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, face a real test in the form of Sevilla.

The rojiblancos utterly thrashed their European opponents, Partizan, by three goals to nil on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Madrid are still licking their wounds after that 3-1 defeat at the hands of Getafe last weekend...

Almeria, meanwhile, aren't quite the side they once were, having won just once in five league games. They are in real danger, in fact, of falling further.

Next up it's a northern derby of sorts between Racing and Athletic.

Both of these sides have found their feet in recent weeks, with Racing's 4-1 loss at Atletico in fact masking a rather decent performance.

The Lions, meanwhile, have climbed out of the drop zone after some well-deserved home wins. On their travels, though, they've yet to pick up a victory at all.