five things from la liga (12/03/12)
one: Zaragoza are toast. What is that smell? Oh no, that’s the bread you put in five minutes ago slowly starting to burn. It’s not quite inedible but for most it’s probably beyond rescue. It appears to be the very same smell drifting out of La Romareda. Saturday’s 3-0 defeat against Sociedad admittedly comes after a magnificent late turn around against Villarreal last week, but with twelve games left and nine points (minimum) to make up the fat lady is warming up.
two: Racing have a new coach. Staying with the drop zone Racing’s new coach is Alvaro Cervera- poached from Heulva in bizarre circumstances. Cervera was travelling with the team to Almeria when he received the call from Racing. He stopped the bus at a Sevilla motorway station and left. He couldn’t stop Barcelona though, nor Messi. Sporting meanwhile are having better luck under their new manager Javier Clemente, who got one over his old enemy Michel. They moved level with Racing with a 1-0 win over Sevilla.
three: Valencia are hitting their heads against a brick wall. Los Che squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Mallorca on Sunday. The men of the Mestalla seem to be struggling with motivation, stuck in the abyss that is third in La Liga. The gap to fourth is now down to just four points though. Maybe that will serve as a kick up the arse.
four: Here come Malaga. WWW is how Malaga’s last three games in La Liga now read. With that little burst of form they have established themselves in the final Champions League spot. Levante, who had previously occupied the coveted position, were this weekend’s victims falling to a solitary goal from Rondon. Also in the same battle Simeone’s Atheltico continue to creep on with a 2-0 home win against Granada. Athletic on the other hand fell 2-1 in Pamplona, not even the half-time introduction of Llorente and Herrera could rescue a point.
five: Barca’s production line continues to chime. Obviously. However, at futbolgrande, we still feel it’s worthy of a mention. Of Guardiola’s nineteen man squad on Sunday fourteen had come from the youth academy. The latest names include Isaac Cuenca, who started, and Cristian Tello who emerged from the bench. Unused were Sergi Roberto, Marc Bartra and Marc Muniesa.
