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13.02.2010 12:18

Spanish League Preview Week 22

Barca play in Madrid late on Sunday, but it’s not the last game of the weekend, with Tenerife and Mallorca meeting in this season’s first La Liga Monday night game.

Below we look at all of the Spanish games in the 22nd round of the league competition.

Saturday

Sporting vs Valencia (18.00):
Saturday’s first game at the Molinon sees David Villa return to the club where he started his career, as Valencia seek to put an end to their recent dip in form on the road – just 1 win from the last four away games – against a Sporting outfit who’ve themselves won just 1 of their last 5 home games.

Jerez vs Real Madrid(20.00):
Cristiano Ronaldo returns from suspension, though Madrid are without the injured Benzama and Guti for the trip to the bottom club who’ve shown a marked improvement of late, beating Mallorca and going down narrowly at San Mames. Madrid need a win to keep the pressure on Barca, whilst Jerez will be hoping to pull a surprise.

Villarreal vs Bilbao (22.00):
Bilbao are seven points ahead of Villarreal in the hunt for a UEFA spot and the hosts come into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats. Villarreal will also be without Joseba Llorente and Cazorla, whilst Bilbao will be looking to their Llorente – Fernando – to repeat last weekend’s performance and score the goals to put an end to their recent poor away form, losing 3 out of their last 4 away games.

Sunday:

Racing vs Malaga, Valladolid vs Zaragoza (17.00):
Racing were duly despatched from the Cup in midweek, despite beating Atletico Madrid 3-2 in the second leg and their ex-manager Juan Ramon Muñiz will hope his Malaga team can take advantage of any tiredness in the Racing ranks. Although they are down in 16th spot, Malaga have a decent away record and have lost just one of their last 6 away games, whilst Racing have the second worst home record in the league with just two wins. Zaragoza’s win over Seville last week took them out of the bottom three and sent Valladolid into the drop zone. Sunday’s a massive game for them both, with the hosts on 17 and the visitors on 20 points.

Getafe vs Almeria, Espanyol vs Deportivo (17.00):
Getafe also lost their cup semi final, to Seville, and they will want to bounce back with a win over Almeria, whilst Deportivo visit Espanyol in need of points to confirm their top four ambitions after just 1 win in their last 4 games.

Seville vs Osasuna(19.00)
Although they’ve fought their way through to the Cup Final, Seville have lost five of their last seven league games, whilst in contrast, Osasuna have won all four of their last games and another at the Sanchez Pijuan would propel Camacho’s team into European contention and seriously dent Seville’s strive for a Champions League spot.

Monday:

Tenerife vs Mallorca(21.00):
La Liga decided to re-introduce Monday night games earlier this year and the first fixture sees fourth placed Mallorca at next-to-bottom Tenerife. Gregorio Manzano’s team have the best home record in the league, ,which has catapulted them into the top four but their away form is terrible, having won just once and things hit rock bottom a fortnight ago when they lost in Jerez. Tenerife won’t be an easy ground either – the Canary Islands’ team have lost just four games at home – three of them to top four teams.