Atlético Madrid are still clutching to fourth spot and entrance to the Champions league, but their fingers are beginning to slip and tension is rising at the club. The president of Atlético, Enrique Cerezo, was caught speaking openly about the team and coach Javier Aguirre when he thought the microphones were switched off, and this has caused a furor within the dressing room. To be fair to Cerezo, it was a private conversation and he is quite right about the state of the team. They are dropping points to weaker teams and will have to be very careful if they want to qualify for the Champions league next season. Racing de Santander are right behind them in fifth and just two points away, while Sevilla are next with a three point gap. Even Deportivo de la Coruña, who have been fighting relegation all season, are now six points from Atlético Madrid after an astonishing run of five consecutive wins.
As for Recreativo, they need a win desperately in order to get themselves away from the relegation zone. They are currently on forty points, two more than Zaragoza who occupy the last relegation spot. I can’t believe Zaragoza are bad enough to go down this year as they have an outstanding squad, but saying that they have a very complicated calendar, taking on Deportivo, Valencia, Real Madrid and finally Mallorca. Recreativo have it a little easier, but only just. After the Atlético Madrid game they take on Villarreal at home, Almeria away, and finally Valladolid.
Recreativo coach Manolo Zambrano will have to make a number of changes to his side that beat Levante by two goals to nil last weekend. Quique Alvarez has to sit out a one match suspension, while Portuguese defender is very doubtful due to a throat infection. Atlético Madrid also have some important absentees. Simao Sabrosa is still out through injury and this has made a great impact on their results. Also out is Jose Antonio Reyes and Thiago Motta, so Aguirre will have to modify his midfield.
Although Atlético Madrid haven’t won in three matches, I can’t see them having too many problems to overcome Recreativo, unless they put in another terrible display like their last home game against Betis. I’m going for a home then, which should set them out nicely for the visit to Espanyol.
Prediction: Home win (3-1)

Atlético Madrid missed a great chance last weekend of practically securing their Champions league place next season, by drawing away to Valladolid in a game they should really have own. At the moment they are playing some very irregular football. The league game before last they beat a good Almeria outfit by six goals to three, but before that lost three – nil to Villarreal. Now Racing de Santander are breathing down their necks in fifth spot and just one point behind them, so anything other than a win here and they could be in serious danger or not getting into the top European competition.
Betis meanwhile lost weekend at home to Levante by three goals to nil. This rather surprising defeat leaves Betis pretty much in no man’s land. They are ten points from a UEFA cup spot, which, with just six games to go would seem to be impossible to reach now. The good news is that they are seven points from the relegation zone, which means they are practically safe for another season. Coach Paco Chaparro has done a great job though with this Betis side. He took over when the team was third form bottom and has practically saved the club from relegation for the second time in two seasons. He is now in talks with Betis chiefs regarding his renovation for the next campaign and everything points to him continuing.
I’m opting for a home win here as Atlético do seem to be stronger in front of their home fans. They have lost just four times at home this season which is one of the reasons why they are where they are. Betis seem to be happy with just surviving in the top flight, and after watching them lose to bottom side Levante last weekend, their season seems to be petering out rather quickly.
Prediction: Home win (2-0)

Both teams in this match got important wins at the weekend. Atlético Madrid traveled to Racing de Santander and had an exceptional match, winning it by two goals to nil. Before the game the outcome was very much against Atlético, as they had had some very poor results and Racing are having an historic season, especially at home. However, Diego Forlan put two away to earn his team three vital points which allowed his team to get back into the Champions league spot. They are now fourth in the league and their season seems to have kick started again owing to the results going their way of the other clubs around them. The two Forlan goals ended his eight match duck and was the first time he had scored twice in one game wearing an Atlético shirt. They now have to face Bolton in the first leg of the UEFA cup and really needed this victory to bring morale back up.
Athletic Bilbao meanwhile were also victorious but at the other end of the league. They defeated Levante at home in a tense game that had Athletic begging for the final whistle. They got the three points thanks to a Fernando Llorente header at the start of the second half, but Levante were allowed back into the game by a weak Athletic defense and the visitors were unlucky not to equalize at the very least. The win gives Athletic Bilbao a bit of a breather in the league, but they shouldn’t relax just yet. Now they are two points above the relegation zone in fourteenth, but they are well aware that a defeat against Atlético here at the Calderon stadium will put them right back into the survival fight.
Athletic Bilbao still haven’t been able to string two wins together in the league this season, and everything points to them losing here. You would have to go back to the 1999/00 season to find their last league victory against Atlético Madrid in the Calderon stadium, and I think that statistic will remain the same for at least another year.
Sergio Agüero played most of the match at the weekend and seems certain to start the game against Bolton in midweek. I’m going for a comfortable home win here, depending of course on any injuries that Atlético might pick up during the UEFA cup match.
Prediction: Home win (2-0)

It’s the Madrid derby again and for once there is no clear favorite to take the three points. Atlético are now in third position after a one nil home win over Valencia at the weekend. They suffered greatly though and were very lucky to take all three points as Valencia finally remembered how to play football again. The only thing that let them down was their disastrous form in front of goal. Atlético finished the first half of the season in the best position for the past decade, with the strong defense and the attack partnership of Diego Forlan and Sergio Agüero making Fernando Torres’ name fade rapidly into Atlético’s history. Portuguese midfielder Maniche has agreed terms with Inter Milan and packs his bags this week also, so that is another problem off the shoulders of coach Javier Aguirre.
Real Madrid are also breaking records. They finished the first half of the season with more points than any other team in the history of La Liga, and have a great seven point advantage over second placed Barcelona. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is proving he is the perfect candidate of best goalkeeper in the world by going five league games without conceding a goal, and if he can continue this great form here against Atlético he will go second in the all time number of games with a clean sheet. Only Cañizares (who has now been denied the right to play for Valencia) has gone more time without conceding a goal.
This will be a very difficult match to predict. Real Madrid earned another win at the weekend against bottom placed Levante, but didn’t produce any attractive football and were at times hard pressed to get the ball out of their half. Only Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s two late goals saved them from an embarrassing draw and coach Bernd Schuster now has a derby to contend with.
I’m going for an away win here. Even though Atlético are playing some of their best football in years, Real Madrid have a devastating affectivity and just need one or two chances which they very seldom miss.
Prediction: away win (1-2)

Just when Valencia thought things couldn’t get any worse, things go and get worse. A lot worse. At the weekend, Valencia fans watched their team play out a pitiful goalless draw at home to bottom club Levante. True, Levante did go into the game with a draw in mind, keeping more players behind the ball and seldom going on the attack, and Valencia did have seventeen shots on goal, but their lack of accuracy cost Valencia dearly, and when Zigic was shown the red card twenty minutes after coming on as substitute, there clearly wasn’t any football left in the team. Levante earned their first point away from home in the entire season, as well as carving a draw for the first time in their history at the Mestalla stadium. This leaves Valencia without a win in the last six games, and three points from eighteen. In fact, coach Ronald Koeman has only won one game since his arrival (as a savior) in early November.
Atlético Madrid on the other hand, are quite clearly having the opposite season to Valencia. At the weekend they chalked up a three nil away win to Deportivo de Coruña and go fourth. This win was the first at the Riazor stadium in fourteen years, which shows how the team has changed in the last six months. Sergio ‘El Kun’ Agüero was again the man of the match, grabbing the second goal in a brilliant personal attack. Diego Forlan also got on the score sheet, and this partnership is proving to be one of the best in La Liga.
I doubt very much whether Valencia will be capable of getting anything from this match. Indeed, it is more likely they will be a good thumping from this well organized, attack minded Atlético side who will almost certainly end the season with a Champions league place, and rightly deserved too.
Prediction: home win (3-0)

Atlético de Madrid is a team on fire at the moment. Their latest victory, a two – one home win against Greek side Panathinaikos in group B of the UEFA cup, means they win the group and can look forward to easier opposition when the draw is made known on Friday. They are unbeaten now in nine games –something that never happens to Atlético- and have only drawn two of those games. This has shot them up to third in the league and just three points from second placed Barcelona.
This match though will prove much more difficult for the home side. Espanyol is also having a great season so far, and are currently in fifth spot and just one point from a Champions league place. Espanyol’s form is maybe even more impressive than their opponents. They have gone twelve matches without losing, winning seven and drawing five. A win will leap frog Atlético and put Espanyol in a Champions league place to end the year on a high. As is expected, both teams will want to go out and give it everything to win, so a great game is on the cards. The visitors have history on their side, too. In the last seven confrontations between these two teams, Atlético hasn’t been able to pick up the three points even once, regardless of where the games were played.
In team news, Espanyol have the difficult task of replacing some important pieces of their squad after the King’s cup match against Deportivo de Coruña which ended in a one-one draw. Midfielder Valdo, Luis García and David Chica will have to make last minute fitness checks to see whether they can play, as well as ‘Lola’ Smiljanic and Francisco Rufete. The latter was making his come back into the side after being sidelined for the last five months. He managed thirty minutes against Deportivo but had to come off after a reoccurrence of the injury.
While Espanyol do have some injury worries, they usually do well against Atlético. However, the home team’s form has been very impressive recently and it will be very difficult to predict the outcome of this match. I’m going for a draw here. Both sides will be out to get the three points, but neither will want their winning streak to come to an end.
Prediction: Draw (2-2)