Saturday
Villarreal (13th) v Betis (12th) - 18.00 (local time)
In a moment that was pure Alan Partridge, José Antonio Bosch tried to answer the simple question of whether the Betis board were supporting coach Pepe Mel during the clubâÂÂs unfortunate run of form. Unfortunately, a fairly simple task was made more complex when the Betis director declared that âÂÂconfidence was like a hymen, you either have it or you donâÂÂt.âÂÂ
Digging deeper into a hole of peculiarity, Bosch argued that âÂÂyou canâÂÂt have a little bit of confidence âÂÂyesâ or a little bit of confidence âÂÂnoâÂÂ, in the same way you canâÂÂt be a little bit of a virgin. While the confidence is there, itâÂÂs there and the club maintains confidence in the coach.âÂÂ
The blog suggests that the more simple response âÂÂyesâ should be used next time.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Barcelona (2nd) v Zaragoza (16th) - 20.00
A tired Messi on the bench or a tired Messi on the pitch should make no difference at all to SaturdayâÂÂs clash at the Camp Nou, despite fighting talk from Zaragoza, a club having picked up just the single point from four games. âÂÂThe dressing room canâÂÂt wait until the match comes,â claims midfielder Pablo Barrera.
Then again, perhaps Zaragoza do have a chance with 'former Spurs flop Helder Postiga' now becoming 'free-scoring Hélder Postiga', after knocking in four for Zaragoza this season and banging in a couple in PortugalâÂÂs 6-2 win over Bosnia in midweek.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Valencia (3rd) v Real Madrid (1st) - 22.00
One of the questions often asked by Real Madrid fans looking for the club to save their pennies a bit and reinforce their squad with Spanish chorizo is why the talented bunch of players sold by Valencia in the last year or so weren't signed by the Santiago Bernabeu side. Or, in Juan MataâÂÂs case, why the forward was allowed to leave Real Madrid in the first place.
While a deal could never be put together for David Villa back in the day, David Silva looked a good âÂÂun, according to Valencia president Manuel Llorente. âÂÂEverything stopped after the change of coach,â said Llorente, referring to the arrival of José Mourinho, âÂÂfor a long time I felt that we were going to reach a deal. In Valencia we have the sensation that Madrid pay more for a player from a foreign club than one from here.âÂÂ
The Valencia boss also spoke about the ongoing exile of Roberto Soldado from the Spanish team, despite the fact that a certain Chelsea striker is not much cop these days. âÂÂBetween Soldado and Torres for the national side, IâÂÂd go with Soldado. But Torres has more influence in the capital.âÂÂ
LLL Prediction - Draw
Sunday
Real Sociedad (20th) v Espanyol (7th) - 12.00
Joan Capdevila, the forgotten man of forgotten men of Spanish football - which might technically make him remembered in a double negative kind of way - has had a rotten time of it since joining Benfica over the summer. And the former international left-back is looking for a way out in the winter window, according to his agent Horacio Gazzo.
âÂÂHeâÂÂd love to go to Espanyol. It would be a great way of ending his sporting career,â claimed Gazzo, on a possible switch back to la Liga in what would represent something of a footballing graveyard shift. It certainly has been for Carlos Kameni, anyway.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Osasuna (10th) v Rayo Vallecano (10th) - 16.00
A quick Twitter headcount to gauge who wants Guti now that the midfielderâÂÂs contract had been cancelled at Besiktas showed an even split between those in love with the idea of having the former Real Madrid man at their club and those opposed to the concept. That split largely depended on whether the teams in question were any good or not.
It seems that Rayo supporters - very much part of the âÂÂor notâ - crowd form part of the half that wants Guti to make a move to Vallekas with #Gutirayo becoming a trending topic in Madrid. Oh, if only the universe were that much fun.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Sporting (17th) v Getafe (14th) - 16.00
In fact, the universe is such a miserable place that not even Getafe are coming forward to offer Guti a new home in the winter. âÂÂThereâÂÂs no chance that Guti will come here,â announced a firm Coliseum president, Angel Torres.
LLL Prediction - Draw
Sevilla (5th) v Athletic Bilbao (9th) - 18.00
The loss of Carlos Gurpegui potentially until the end of the season with a ligament injury has hit Athletic Bilbao hard on every single level claims the clubâÂÂs coach Carlos Bielsa who is looking to keep the midfielder around and about the squad as much as possible during the footballerâÂÂs recuperation.
âÂÂOn a football level, itâÂÂs his versatility and effectiveness,â said âÂÂEl Locoâ naming GurpeguiâÂÂs various attributes. âÂÂOn a personal level, heâÂÂs a teammate without rival and in spirit heâÂÂs always an inspiration for us,â claimed Bielsa before going on to giggle about good the midfielder makes him feel about himself.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Atlético Madrid (11th) v Levante (4th) - 20.00
Belly-button watching has been the pastime of the week in the Rojiblanco camp, with navel-gazing the theme of the fortnight after AtléticoâÂÂs disastrous 3-2 defeat to Getafe. In this period manager Gregorio Manzano has managed to hang on to his job, helped a tiny bit by a friendly win in Egypt against Zamalak. âÂÂIf I waste time thinking about my future, IâÂÂll do my job badly,â claimed the Atlético boss who is doing his job badly even without thinking about his future.
A fading Levante should be an easy opportunity for a quick bounce back from the catastrophe in the Coliseum a fortnight ago, but nothing is ever a given at the Vicente Calderón especially after some fine fighting talk from feisty opposition midfielder, Juanlu. âÂÂWe donâÂÂt know what version we are going to face, but itâÂÂs always better to fish in choppy waters,â warned the Levante man.
LLL Prediction - Home win
Granada (19th) v Mallorca (15th) - 22.00
Home team fans who, just a couple of seasons ago, were in the third tier of Spanish football and supporting a pretty much bankrupt club appear to be surprised to find themselves in the relegation zone after 11 games, when perhaps the Champions League places were what was expected. This disgruntlement was the root cause of jeering towards Granada striker Ikechukwu Uche in the sideâÂÂs last clash, something that caused Granada boss Fabri to come out on the attack against the fans in support of his player.
But this outburst and GranadaâÂÂs situation which sees just four goals scored all season has not changed FabriâÂÂs position at the club says the sideâÂÂs sporting director, Juan Carlos Cordero. âÂÂThe confidence in Fabri is the same as it was on day one. WeâÂÂve never thought about any change in the technical team. Doubts or uncertainty donâÂÂt help anyone.âÂÂ
Meanwhile, Mallorca have tried to cheer up goal-starved fans by unveiling their new striker, Marvin Ogunjimi. The problem is that due to a bureaucratic mix-up on deadline day, the Belgian cannot play until January. HeâÂÂll still be the goal-shy clubâÂÂs top scorer by the end of the month, mind.
LLL Prediction - Away win
Monday
Racing Santander (18th) v Málaga (6th) - 21.00
In last weekâÂÂs episode of La Liga Loca, the blog left you with the nail-biting news that Racing werenâÂÂt very good at all, had a collection of irked, unpaid players, a president who had just a quit and an owner, in the form of Ali Syed, who had been very absent indeed and was being investigated by Interpol. Those last two facts may well be connected.
Well, not too much has changed expect to say that Marca reports are rumblings from Mexico that there is a group interested in taking a controlling stake in the club. LLL can only hope that those in charge of the Cantabrian club use Google this time to look into their potential suitors, as that was all that was required to discover that their current owner was dodgier than an Atlético Madrid defender.
LLL Prediction - Away win
