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This weekend in Spain, matches of the 14th round of "La Liga" will be played, including some very intriguing encounters. The central match of the round will undoubtedly take place on Sunday in Villarreal, where the local team will host the league leaders Barcelona, but very interesting and tough matches will also take place in other Spanish cities.
Saturday
Vigo - Seville
The 14th round of the Spanish championship will start in Vigo, where the question will be answered: "Will Betis, playing in the UEFA Champions League, finally manage to climb out of the bottom of the La Liga table?". Indeed, Betis this year resembles Celta two years ago. Back then, Celta also played in the UEFA Champions League, but performed very poorly in the Spanish championship and dropped to a lower division. The situation of Betis and their fans' hopes in this match is further diminished by the fact that on Wednesday, unlike their opponents, the Seville team will have to play in the UEFA Champions League. In these matches, we will definitely not see the injured and no longer playing attacking leader Ricardo Oliveiros. Sevilla will also be unable to count on attackers Dani and Nano, defender Miguel Angel, midfielder Canas, and goalkeeper Pedro Contreras. Meanwhile, there are no major losses in the Celta camp before this match.
Madrid - Madrid
15 kilometers in reality and one point in the table separate the two completely different Madrid clubs, who will face each other in the Madrid derby on Saturday.
Real Madrid have returned their most prolific player Ronaldo and Danish goalkeeper Thomas Gravesen from injury for this match, while the French Zinedine Zidane has recovered from a minor injury. However, they will be without injured defender Jonathan Woodgate, captain striker Raul, and suspended defender Sergio Ramos. The only noticeable negative for Real Madrid in this match is that they will have to play in the UEFA Champions League in the middle of the week, while Getafe will undoubtedly give their all. The intrigue is that Getafe players, always in the shadow of giants from the city, will not miss the chance to outdo their richer opponents.
In this match, Getafe will be missing one of their leaders, defender Luis Garcia, and defender Gavilano.
- Madrid
The clashes between Basques and Spaniards have always had and still carry a special color. Although it's "just" a sport, Basque pride, represented by one of the most titled Spanish clubs of all time, Athletic Bilbao, must defeat the wealthy opponents from Madrid. Recently, the last-place Basque club, led by famous Spanish coach Javier Clemente, narrowly defeated Mallorca in the previous round. This victory gave hope to Athletic fans that the club will start climbing out of the bottom of the table, and a victory in this round, especially against Atletico, would allow them to do so. For the hosts in this match, defender Julen Guerrero will return, but forward Fernando Llorentes will be missing. On the other hand, the visitors will be without their defender Antonio Lopez due to a minor injury, along with injured Juano Velasco and Ivan Cuellaro. Spanish international forward Fernando Torres, Frenchman Peter Luccin and defender Pablo Ibanez will also miss the match due to five yellow cards.
Sunday
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A match between teams located in the lower half of the table. The visitors are expected to have three players back for this match, including Brazilian Savio. The intrigue for this match is heightened by the fact that "Cadiz" defender Armando called this match "one of the most important this season."
Vitoria -
Hector Cupero's "Mallorca" team, who have suffered two consecutive losses, undoubtedly have a great opportunity to win against the also inconsistent Vitoria team. It is worth mentioning that both teams have an equal number of points, but due to a worse goal difference, Mallorca is below Alaves.
San Sebastian -
After being "pummeled" 4-1 by Barcelona stars in the previous round, Racing Santander players will try to prove that they can compete. The biggest problem for the hosts this season is their weak attack. Racing Santander players have scored only seven goals in 13 Spanish championship matches.
In this match, we certainly will not see the injured forward Darko Kovacevic among the away team.
Barcelona -
Nine points separate these teams in the table, but it's never easy at the Olympic Montjuic stadium. Last week, Valencia players, who defeated Celta 2-0, seem to finally be finding form. The visitors will likely be without defender Rufete, who will not play due to a two-week suspension for unprofessional behavior when the Spaniard publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the coach's decision. Valencia will also miss two Spanish internationals: defender Carlos Marchena and midfielder Ruben Baraja.
Pamplona -
A defeat for Pamplona's Osasuna team, currently tied for first place in the Spanish championship (along with Barcelona), against "Malaga" in 12th place would be a blow below the belt for the leaders. The away team will certainly give their all to silence skeptics who claim that the impressive play of the team without stars is just a temporary thing.
In this match, Espanyol will likely not see top scorer Salva Ballesta, but defender Nacho Perez and Portuguese forward Edgar will return. On the other hand, the away team's condition raises doubts regarding the French Ludovico Delporte and Jose Izquierdo.
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Quietly, without loud victories, Villarreal, currently holding the third position in the table, is considered one of the teams this year that can stop the momentum of Barcelona. Impressively, Argentine Juan Roman Riquelme, who returned from injury in the last round and contributed with a goal and assist in the victory against Deportivo, has received a lot of attention before this match. The leader of the "Yellow Submarines" will not fuel the intrigue ahead of this match against his former team: "This will not be a match between Riquelme and Ronaldinho."
Although the hosts will not be able to play last season's "Golden Boot" winner, Uruguayan Diego Forlan, the mood is more somber in the Barcelona camp: during Friday's training session, defender Xavi suffered an injury that will require treatment for the rest of the season. He joins Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel on the list of injured players. It is worth mentioning that Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard has missed several training sessions in a row due to a lung infection.
- La Coruna
The away coach Joaquin Caparros will be able to rely on all key players but tactical changes in the lineup are expected compared to the team that lost 0-2 at home last week to Villarreal.
A similar situation is in the Sevilla camp. The home coach will not have to worry about injured players.
