Preview: Spanish Primera Division, Matchday 15
It takes more than shambolic preparation to stop this Barcelona team in its tracks, as last weekend's comfortable 3-0 victory at Osasuna served to illustrate.
Saturday
Sevilla - Almeria, 20.00
The enigma otherwise known as Sevilla is proving to be a real challenge for Gregorio Manzano and the sight of him cutting a perplexed figure on the touchline at the Sanchez Pizjuan is becoming a familiar one.
The former Real Mallorca boss inherited a team with bags of talent but a mindset so complicated that even Manzano himself, with a degree in psychology, hasn't been able to work out what makes them tick.
The Rojiblancos did give a fairly decent account of themselves in a 1-0 defeat at Villarreal last weekend as they pushed hard for an equaliser throughout the second half but sloppiness has generally been the dominant theme this term.
Even in victory, Sevilla seem to require a helping hand. Their last three triumphs have been achieved thanks in no small part to a red card and a goalkeeping injury against Valencia, a moment of stoppage-time tactical suicide from Zaragoza and a mysterious penalty against Athletic Bilbao.
Only in Manzano's first game against Atletico Madrid have we caught a glimpse of their full potential, so we see no harm in taking them on with a bet on Almeria (+1.0) on the Asian handicap.
When things are going well, the Sanchez Pizjuan can be a truly intimidating venue but the opposite is invariably the case when things aren't going swimmingly and the other Andalusian teams seem to enjoy playing there.
Over the past two seasons, Sevilla have won only three out of seven regional derbies on home soil - none of them by two clear goals - and it's a sample including three teams who have since been relegated.
Almeria have only won once all season but they're approaching things with a different mindset following the appointment of José Luis Oltra.
The new man hasn't made much of an imprint on results so far but performances have been vastly improved in the last two matches and you suspect they only need a break for the tide to turn in their bid for survival.
- Our bet: under 2,5 (2,05 on bwin.com)
Atletico Madrid - Deportivo, 22.00
Just when it looked as though the fixture list was opening up for Atletico Madrid to gather some momentum and stake their claim in the race for the Champions League places, along comes a crisis - their first under the guidance of Quique Sanchez Flores.
The Colchoneros suffered three straight defeats in seven days last week with Espanyol, Aris Salonika and Levante all taking the spoils from matches in which Atletico had been chalked up at odds-on, so the hosts would surely dread the sight of an 8/15 quote against Miguel Angel Lotina's men.
And of all the also-rans to be up against on the back of such poor run of results, Deportivo La Coruńa would probably be among the last you'd want to face.
The Galicians love nothing more than to prey on creative insecurity with their own brand of suffocation and they suddenly seem to be finding their stride on the clean sheet front with the 1-0 win over Hercules on Monday taking the shut-out tally to seven.
Depor have now conceded only twice in the last five outings and a prime-time slot on Spanish terrestrial television is unlikely to deter them from boring the nation to the verge of tears if they can have it their way.
Ordinarily we'd probably opt for a small punt on a goalless draw in this scenario but Atleti's problem appears to be stemming from a sudden bout of the jitters at the back with keeper David De Gea looking nothing like the hot prospect rumoured to be attracting Manchester United.
That said, it's easy to forget he's still only 19 and he was always bound to experience a dip in his development at some point.
Questions about Flores' future seem ludicrous but this is a club with a history of imploding at the first hint of turbulence and though you can only hope that common sense prevails, the elements are there for taking on the hosts.
Sunday
Real Zaragoza - Real Madrid, 19.00
Real Zaragoza picked up a point away to Almeria last weekend and only time will tell how valuable it proves to be, although defeat in that bottom-of-the-table clash might have been disastrous to their survival prospects even at this early stage.
Either way, it seems the Aragon club might have to wait for the much-desired upturn in form that usually accompanies a new manager with the visit of Real Madrid ending a sequence of five successive home matches against last season's top six.
Javier Aguirre will find the situation much more workable when he returns from the winter break with a two-month hiatus from the heavyweights and you suspect that will be the period in which Zaragoza's fate will ultimately be decided.
It's amazing to think that Madrid's confidence could be bruised by one defeat - humiliating though the Clásico was - but they did seem rather subdued for 70 minutes against Valencia last weekend.
In the end, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who made the difference, albeit only after the visitors had David Albelda dismissed for a highly dubioussecond yellow card. Prior to that, he was largely anonymous.
Nonetheless, the Merengues are back on track and though the outcome here might not be quite as clear cut as it might have been three weeks ago, we should expect Jose Mourinho's men to do what's necessary.
We'll refrain from taking odds of 2/7 about the away win but those looking for a sensible play to heighten the interest could probably do a lot worse than dutch the 0-1 and 0-2 correct scores at around 13/5.
- Our bet 1: Real Madrid beat Zaragoza (1,25 on bet365.com)
- Our bet 2: Bet on correct score 2:0 for Real Madrid (7,00 on bwin.com)
Barcelona - Real Sociedad, 21.00
It takes more than shambolic preparation to stop this Barcelona team in its tracks, as last weekend's comfortable 3-0 victory at Osasuna served to illustrate.
A strike by Spanish air traffic controllers brought the country's airports to a standstill, prompting the champions to make a mad dash to Pamplona, covering more than 300 miles by train and coach inside four hours for a delayed kick-off at the Reyna de Navarro.
It made little difference to their performance levels as Barca dominated possession of the ball from start to finish with a virtuoso display that made a mockery of suggestions they might be vulnerable to a sense of post-Clásico anti-climax.
As if we needed any reminding of just how dominant they are on today's world stage, it was announced this week that the final shortlist of three for this year's Ballon d'Or would be made up entirely of Barca players.
The winner of the coveted individual award won't be revealed until January but you can only assume they will take the acclaim of their own supporters and see out the calendar year at the Camp Nou with a comfortable victory over Real Sociedad.
The Basque outfit will head to Catalunya in good spirits after they continued their impressive home form with a deserved 2-0 win over local rivals Athletic Bilbao and they've also picked up a couple of handy wins on the road of late.
However, the absence of a single clean sheet away from Anoeta tells you everything you need to know ahead of this game. La Real like to play football but their lack of aggression and inability to mix things up is ultimately to their detriment when they come up against superior opposition.
