3 club race for Spanish Primera Liga title?
It’s halftime in the Spanish Primera Liga season, and the title race has come down to three clubs.
Sevilla may be the “winter champion” going into the two-week winter break, but second-placed Barcelona may well have the broadest smile, while Real Madrid offers only an envious grimace from third.
Sevilla ensured itself happy holidays with a 4-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna last Wednesday. As Real suffered a 3-0 upset in an emotional game against Recreativo Huelva and Barca was a day later held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid, that leaves Sevilla three points clear at the top going into
the New Year.
That will come when leading striker Samuel Eto’o returns from a serious knee injury which has seen him most of the season so far. Eto’o tore knee ligaments in late September, and although he was initially ruled out for five months, he has sounded increasingly optimistic about making an earlier return and could even be back when fixtures resume on Jan. 7.
That will be a major boost for Barca, which has otherwise been relying on Eidur Gudjohnsen — a superb all-round player but not a natural goalscorer — to play upfront on his own in the meantime.
The only other club capable of challenging is, of course, Real. But it did itself no favours with Wednesday’s 3-0 home loss to Recre, a game that very nearly did not go ahead after four Recre fans were killed in a serious road accident while on their way to Madrid.
The defeat overshadowed the unveiling of Argentinian youngsters Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain later this week. The pair, both considered outstanding prospects, have joined in deals worth around 13 euro million a piece from Boca Juniors and River Plate, respectively.
They illustrate Real’s continuing financial muscle, but although there has been noticeable improvement since last year, new coach Fabio Capello is still not getting the results he wants on the pitch.
Capello had better use these next two weeks to figure it out or it will be left to Sevilla — an excellent team but without the depth or resources of Barca — to keep the Catalans from landing a third successive Primera Liga title.
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Spanish Primera Liga Prediction: BET on Barcelona to win the title.
