League football returns to Spain, albeit only for one round before the new contrived Super Copa takes place in Saudi Arabia next weekend. Real Madrid were unable to finish their chances leading to three successive draws going into the break. The bad news then is that their next opponents are Getafe at the Coliseum and they are few sides better at making life difficult than Jose Bordalas' tough nuts. So expect another scrappy draw. The other highlight fixture is the Catalan derby, with bottom of the table Espanyol on their third manager. Logic suggests a Barcelona romp, but Abelardo does have a knack of bloodying noses, hence it wouldn’t surprise me to see his men give the Blaugrana a run for their money. Sevilla host Athletic in what looks like a tricky test for Julien Lopategui’s men. Athletic have the 2nd best defence in the league and Sevilla are not exactly rampant goalscorers, so this could turn out to be a tense battle of attrition. Finally, for the purists, I am expecting an exhibition of technical attacking football when an artistic Sociedad welcome a gung-ho Villarreal. Let’s live a little and hope for a crazy high-scoring draw!
Round 19 Picks
Valladolid 0 Leganes 2
Sevilla 1 Athletic 1
Valencia 2 Eibar 0
Getafe 1 Real 1
Atletico 1 Levante 0
Espanyol 2 Barca 3
Granada 3 Mallorca 1
La Real 3 Villarreal 3
Alaves 1 Betis 2
Celta 1 Osasuna 1