If Barcelona fell short of their usual standards when suffering a shock defeat to Hercules in their opening home game, they atoned with an excellent three points against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday evening.

Barcelona v Sporting Gijon
If Barcelona fell short of their usual standards when suffering a shock defeat to Hercules in their opening home game, they atoned with an excellent three points against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday evening.

Now Pep Guardiola is entitled to believe the champions are back on course for a third straight title because those are three points they didn't get in the previous two seasons and we should expect them to put Sporting Gijon to the sword with customary panache on Wednesday. 

They will, of course, be without Lionel Messi who faces at least a fortnight on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage in the wake of Tomas Ujfalusi's reckless challenge in the closing stages at the Calderon but that shouldn't matter a great deal in the context of this clash.

After what happened against the newly-promoted Alicante club, you can be sure Guardiola won't take too many risks with his team selection and though Barca (-2.0) at odds-on represents questionable value in the Asian handicap, we'd probably prefer to be on that side of the bet.

As ever, most of the usual avenues for punting on a live game are closed off by miserly quotes at the Camp Nou but we do like the look of Andres Iniesta to score anytime at 2.87

The classy midfielder doesn't find himself on the scoresheet as much as you probably think but that's hardly down to profligacy in front of goal, his priority is simply to find the killer passes that provide for others.

However, Messi's absence should see Spain's World Cup winning hero shifted further forward into the first line of attack of the 4-3-3, so he seems like a worthwhile interest for those of you watching at home.

Valencia v Atletico Madrid
Valencia maintained their 100 per cent record with victory over provincial rivals Hercules in Alicante on Sunday but the early leaders will be well aware that the visit of Atletico Madrid represents by far their stiffest test yet.

Mind you, the timing should be ideal for Los Che with the Colchoneros coming off the back of a tough encounter with Barcelona and the opportunity the avenge their painful Europa League exit at the Vicente Calderon in April will no doubt spur them on.

With the Spanish media acting surprised by the sight of Los Che topping the pile after three relatively straightforward matches, Unai Emery has now come out and confirmed what we predicted would happen in our ante-post preview - his team are benefitting from better equality in all departments.

It's a situation best illustrated by the degree to which goals are now being shared about in the absence of David Villa, with seven different names on the scoresheet in the four matches to date.

So Quique Sanchez Flores will have a job on his hands trying to contain his former club and given that he might focus on a strategy to limit space in the final third, we reckon there could be excellent value in Hedwiges Maduro to score first and anytime at 29.00 and 10.00 respectively.

The big Dutch defender is now establishing himself as a first-team regular in his favoured central defensive position after a couple of frustrating years as a utility man on the fringes and he has the aerial presence to make an impression at set plays.

Indeed, it was Maduro who plundered the points in a difficult game against Racing Santander in their last home, bagging the only goal with a header on the stroke of half-time.

The bookies are right to make Valencia clear favourites but we're not overly excited by Bwin's standout 2.05 quote, so a small interest on Maduro seems like the best way to go.

Best of the rest:

At the risk of becoming painfully predictable, let's take chunky odds on moneybags Malaga for the third game in succession by backing them to beat Getafe at 4.45 on Thursday night.

The bookies usually scurry for cover whenever a British club attracts a rich benefactor but they seem to be slow off the mark in responding to Abdullah Al-Thani's takeover at La Rosaleda.

The Costa del Sol outfit finished fourth from bottom last season but new coach Jesualdo Ferreira has acquired ten new players and now the mood within the camp appears to be one of great excitement.

The Boquerones brought home the bacon for Bettingzone followers with a stunning 5-3 success against Real Zaragoza the weekend before last, but came up short when we followed up on them against local heavyweights Sevilla in the Andalusian derby on Sunday night.

So we're still in profit overall and we've seen nothing in Getafe's performances so far to justify them being chalked up at odds-on across the board for Thursday's clash at the Coliseum.

The Madrid minnows have scored six goals to collect four points from their last two matches against Levante and Deportivo but those results could prove to be quite deceptive with the former likely to head straight for the trapdoor and the latter facing a struggle to maintain a top-half position.

PICKS:
Andres Iniesta to score anytime at 2.87 (Bet365).
Hedwiges Maduro to score first against Atletico Madrid at 29.00 (Bet365).
Hedwiges Maduro to score anytime against Atletico Madrid at 10.00 (Bet365).
Malaga to beat Getafe at 4.45 (Bwin).