The Trainspotting Weekend Predictions

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Saturday

Real Zaragoza (20th) v Sporting (17th)

La RealâÂÂs latest clash sees Raúl Tamudo coming face-to-hamster face with his old teammates, having left Espanyol in the summer after 38 years running frenetically around the clubâÂÂs big wheel of destiny. 

âÂÂI donâÂÂt think you can say IâÂÂm desperate for revenge,â mused Tamudo, as he twitched his whiskers thoughtfully. âÂÂI donâÂÂt want the game to be Tamudo against Espanyol.âÂÂ

And the big question of whether he would celebrate a goal against the Pericos? âÂÂDonâÂÂt know. I havenâÂÂt really thought about it.âÂÂ

However, there was better news in the financial world of Mestalla with the announcement that the club has managed to reduce its debt over the past 12 months to a trifling â¬400m, although there still isnâÂÂt enough cash floating about to restart work on the new stadium which has seen â¬150m of ValenciaâÂÂs cash poured in and so far wasted. A sort of concrete version of Real MadridâÂÂs latest transfer dealings, as it were.

The more stable financial footing for the league leaders does mean that âÂÂthe club doesnâÂÂt have to sell any more players,â according Valencia president, Manuel Llorente, much to the disappointed of the still-want-away and very underpaid compared to his teammates, Juan Mata.

Sevilla (7th) v Atlético Madrid (5th)

Atlético Madrid are doing the right thing by getting themselves knocked out of the Europa League as fast as humanely possible, although the Rojiblancos did trip up on Thursday night at the Calderón with Simao preventing what would have been a very handy 1-0 defeat with a second-half equaliser.

It was more serious stuff for Sevilla in their first game under Gregorio Manzano which produced a 1-0 win away at Borussia Dortmund in their âÂÂGerman Hellâ as AS put it rather over-dramatically.

Getafe (10th) v Hércules (8th)

If Hércules had not spent so much money on incentives in getting promoted to la Primera - payments to their own players LLL would like to make very, very, very clear - then the Alicante club could have had the forgotten man of Spanish football, Dani Güiza, banging the goals in for them instead of the forgotten man of French football, David Trezeguet.

Already exiled in Turkey with Fenerbahce - apparently the only club willing to cope with his night-life loving ways Güiza - the GeezerâÂÂs profile dropped even further over the summer when he failed to make SpainâÂÂs World Cup squad.

âÂÂI had my bottles (notice the plural - LLL) of champagne ready for when they gave out the list, but they stayed there,â recalled a sorrowful Güiza, currently in Spain recovering from surgery on his Achilles tendon. âÂÂThey took away my dream IâÂÂve had from when I was a kid of playing in the World Cup with my country.âÂÂ

With the most sophisticated of flicks, LLL has just turned the page on its Spanish Railways calendar (which it was given for free, it would like to add) to welcome in October. And the month to come is pictured by RENFE by what appears a goods train pulling some...goods...through somewhere green. 

The new month also sees the blogâÂÂs first - and probably last because it will almost certainly have forgotten in 30 days time - player of the month award. And SeptemberâÂÂs goes to Santi Cazorla for both some lovely midfield play pushing Villarreal into second and his ability to store food in his rodent-like cheeks during games.

With both Xavi and Cesc Fabregas sitting out SpainâÂÂs upcoming clashes against Lithuania and Scotland and Diddy David Silva suffering at tad at City it could be a fine spell for Santi in la Seleccíon, too

âÂÂI wasnâÂÂt myself before,â explained the Villarreal man over last seasonâÂÂs struggles to find form. âÂÂI didnâÂÂt feel completely well, there was always something holding me back.âÂÂ

Almería (13th) v Málaga (12th)

This game is all about speed, speed, speed with the home side fielding probably la LigaâÂÂs fastest player in Albert Crusat and the wondrous visiting wingers for Málaga of Quincy and Eliseu.

The Almería man has boasted that âÂÂwhen I was a kid, they gave me a diploma for running the 100 metres under 11 seconds,â claiming that he can do the distance in about 10.5 seconds.

The Málaga duo have yet to race each other, they reveal in AS, but both form perhaps the most exciting team in la Liga at the moment with 11 goals scored and 11 conceded, making the Málaga the most prolific and leaky team in la Primera at the same time.

LLL has always considered itself to be part of the media élite. So it was a little concerned to read during the week, that it may have been partly responsible for the worrying mental state of one particular Scandinavian gentleman in this weekâÂÂs News from Sweden, thanks to thelocal.se.

"A Swedish man returned from an extended vacation to find a massive hole in his living room wall. Charges have now been filed against the manâÂÂs neighbour, who said the âÂÂmedia eliteâ made him do it.

It was back in April of this year when the 67-year-old man returned to his apartment in Nyköping in eastern Sweden and discovered that several items were out of place, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports.

âÂÂWhen I went up to the hole I could see into my neighbourâÂÂs,â the 67-year-old later told police.

It didnâÂÂt long for the man to deduce that his neighbour was responsible for carving out the crawlspace, but he was surprised to learn that the 55-year-old had made almost nightly trips into the 67-year-oldâÂÂs apartment while he was away.

The 55-year-old, who is now facing charges for violating the domicile of another, admitted to police that he made the hole, but claimed that did it at the behest of the âÂÂmedia eliteâÂÂ, who had controlled him for years."

The latest to be jettisoned is Josep Pons who has got himself into a bit of a sticky situation - metaphorical for the moment, unless proved otherwise - with an employee at the Spanish embassy in Vienna, where Pons is the countryâÂÂs ambassador but where he faces allegations of sexual harassment.

Pons has declared himself innocent and is most unhappy about his dismissal at Mallorca. âÂÂI have nothing to hide,â he declared