Champions: Mission Possible….?

Or, will we throw it all away in the final games of the season?

I don’t think I can take much more of this, to be honest.

Our next fixtures:

-home to Recreativo Huelva

-away to Espanyol

-home to Deportivo la Coruna

-away to Valencia

This will be the longest four weeks of our lives.

Meanwhile, we are linked with Oporto’s Argentine left winger, Lucho Gonzalez. What’s more, he has expressed interest in the speculation by saying that we’re a great club with two top Argentines in the squad (Kun & Maxi).

This is a rumour, but it got me thinking about our current wingers:

Maxi.
Will he stay or will he go? He has been rather disappointing this season, I think. I only hope returns to a more consistent form soon.

Simão.
Untouchable as far as I’m concerned! Easily one of the best additions to the midfield.

Luis García.
Surplus. Better suited as a sub coming off the bench than as a starting 11 player.

Jurado.
He is linked with a move out of the club, it seems. Mallorca?

Reyes.
More negative news on him than positive news when it comes to him. He claims he wants to stay at the club, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was shown the door.

Jornada 34: Getafe v Atlético de Madrid

The Other Madrid Derbi.

#4 Atleti 54

…

#13 Getafe 41

STARTING 11: Leo Franco; Antonio López, Pablo, Perea, Pernía; Camacho, Raúl García, Maxi, Luis García; Forlán and Agüero.

SUBS: Abbiati, Zé Castro, Seitaridis, Cléber, Jurado, Miguel, Mista.

This lineup frightens me a little bit, I won’t lie. Will they do enough to get the job done? I would’ve preferred to see Miguel in the starting 11 than Luis, but that’s just me.

Anyway, Zé Castro, Mista, & Jurado return to the bench.

And Motta, Simao, & Reyes are unselected due to injury.

Getafe’s squad list: Pato, Ustari, Contra, Cata Díaz, Belenguer, Licht, David Cortés, Tena, Mario Cotelo, Gavilán, De la Red, Sousa, Casquero, Pablo Hernández, Granero, Manu, Albín & Kepa.

Getafe’s Recent five results:
3-1 away loss against Levante.
0-0 home draw against Zaragoza.
0-0 away draw against Barcelona.
0-2 home loss against Osasuna.
1-0 away loss against Athletic.

Dreadful run of form at the moment, which surprises me a bit because they were doing so well until they were dumped out of the UEFA Cup and Copa del Rey.

PREVIOUS GETAFE V ATLETI FIXTURE RESULTS
06/07 season: 1-4 win for us.
05/06 season: 0-3 win for us.
04/05 season: 1-1 draw.
03/04 season: Getafe were in the 2nd division.
02/03 season: Getafe were in the 2nd division.

Not a bad record at their stadium, but this is a tricky fixture considering how desperate they are to pick up 3 points. That said, we seriously cannot afford to lose or draw– only a few points separate us from Racing and Sevilla. A loss would drop us to #5.

Let’s just win! I don’t care how we do it…let’s just leave there with 3 points.

Meanwhile, Maxi is still with a move out of the club (Juventus & Liverpool monitoring his situation), but President Cerezo has said he is staying put…

Lucho Gonzalez is rumoured to be one of our summer targets as is Hilario Navarro, goalkeeper of Racing Club…

Anything missing? Share!

Today’s Good News/ Bad News

I can’t even bring myself to discuss yesterday’s game. It’s like a bad taste that just won’t go away.

Anyway:

Good News: Ajax have confirmed our signing of Heitinga- 10 million euros.

Bad News: Simao‘s injury this past weekend might mean that he’ll be out for the rest of the season.

 

Jornada 33: Atlético de Madrid v Real Betis

#4 Atleti 54 points.
#13 Betis 41 points.

We played Betis in their stadium back in December and won them (0-2).

Now we must play them at home…

Here’s Aguirre’s starting 11:
STARTING 11: Leo Franco; Seitaridis, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López; Cléber, Raúl García, Maxi, Simão; Agüero & Forlán.

SUBS: Abbiati, Eller, Pernía, Luis García, Reyes, Miguel, Camacho.

New faces in the starting 11: Cléber & Seitaridis. Any predictions on how this will affect our play?

PREVIOUS ATLETI V BETIS RESULTS IN PAST SEASONS:
06/07 season: 0-0 draw.
05/06 season: Betis were in the second division.
04/05 season: 1-2 loss for us.
03/04 season: 2-1 win for us.
02/03 season: 1-0 win for us.

Betis will be without injured Edu & Caffa. Plus, their Argentine striker Pavone will be serving a suspension.

Betis’ recent five results:
Betis 0 Levante 1
Zaragoza 0 Betis 3
Betis 3 Barcelona 2
Osasuna 0 Betis 1
Racing 3 Betis 0

Fairly inconsistent run for Beticos, which explains their position in the league table.

Here’s a likely lineup:
Ricardo (or Casto), Ilic (or Damiá), Juanito, Melli, Fernando Vega; Arzu, Capi (or Juande), Odonkor, Xisco (or Babic); Sobis & Fernando.

Biggest threats, I think, are Sobis & Odonkor.

A win is crucial for us to secure a Champions spot! I don’t care how we do it… let’s just collect the three points.

In other news, it looks like Abbiati is set to return to Milan at the end of the season. A good long-term decision, I would say.

Meanwhile, Jurado could be headed to Mallorca as the club seek to improve and offload several players ahead of the 08/09 season.

Anything missing? Share!

Saludos y Aupa Atleti

Quick Poll

Who should be our manager for next season?

The season isn’t over, but that shouldn’t stop us from thinking about our 08/09 campaign– it’s right around the corner…

Personally, I don’t like Aguirre: it’s time for a change. But who? I’m not so sure.  I like the idea of Laudrup as the next in charge. A blog commentator brought up his name in a previous entry. There are other quality managers as well, though. It all depends on their availability, unfortunately.

Unrelated:

RUMOUR-MILL
Chelsea are after Kun? Apparently Abramovich has his eyes set on signing our star striker. Will it happen? I doubt it.

Seitaridis to Aston Villa…for 10 million euros?! Bizarre rumour…considering the amount.

Jornada 32: Real Valladolid 1 Atlético de Madrid 1

Simply: We’re still in a Champions spot…after a lacklustre performance, which led to conceding a goal in the 90th minute…

Photo says it all, really?

We’re literally scraping by . We can’t afford to drop anymore points (how many times have we said that this season?)… especially  now that only 1 point separates us from Racing:

1 Real Mandril 69
2 Barcelona 60
3 Villarreal 59
4 Atlético 54
5 Racing 53
6 Sevilla 51

It would be DISASTROUS if we ended this season without securing a Champions spot.

Meh.

This & That

WORDPRESS, the site that hosts my blog, has changed a few things recently. Long story short, I finally figured out how to update my sidebar with the goals.

Next five games:
-away to Real Valladolid
-home to Real Betis
-away to Getafe
-home to Recreativo Huelva
-away to Espanyol

With the exception of SuperGeta and perhaps Espanyol, I think we have a fairly good run of games coming, no?

JEERS & TAUNTS
Reyes and Cleber continue to receive abuse from supporters. Keep it coming– both players need to be continually reminded that they are not wanted at the club.

EL URUGUASHO MAKES HISTORY

After Sunday’s game,Forlán enters the history books of Uruguay and Liga as the highest scoring Uruguayan to play in Liga. 68 goals and still going strong! Congratulations to him!

AJAX SUPPORTERS SHOW APPRECIATION FOR HEITINGA
The Dutchman was thanked for his 150 appearances for the club by supporters– a large banner was created and supporters sang songs in his honour. 

RUMOUR-MILL
We’re linked with Bolton’s El Hadji Diouf. Sorry, but I don’t care for this player. NO THANKS. I hope this rumour remains a rumour.

Meanwhile, according to Tuttosport & MARCA, Juventus continue to ‘dream’ of signing Maxi this summer. I highly doubt it.

Anything missing? Share!

Saludos y Aupa Atleti

Jornada 31: Atlético de Madrid 6 Almería 3

Destination: Champions League!

Did anyone catch the game? Share comments in this entry!

 I was unable to watch it, but hope to watch a replay at 5.00pm (my time).

Abbiati; Antonio López, Perea, Pablo, Pernía; Raúl García (Cléber 58’), Camacho (Miguel 70’), Maxi, Simão (Reyes 65’); Forlán & Agüero.

OUR GOALS
2′ Antonio López 
5′ Forlán
33′ Simao
45′ Simao 
53′ Agüero 
69′ Agüero

Midweek, Late-Night Entry

REYES, BLACK-LISTED
I hate Reyes, you hate Reyes, we all hate Reyes, including Aguirre, who was apparently called an ‘hijo de puta’ by the Ultrerano. Yet another reason why this piece of rubbish must leave once the season is over. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care for Aguirre, but players must respect the manager no matter what. You don’t hear about Luis García behaving in such a disgraceful way, for instance.

REYES: An absolute waste of 15 million, plain and simple. Nothing but a whiney trouble-maker.

RUMOUR-MILL AGAIN

IN…?
Manchester United’s Piqué? (possibility)
Getafe’s Uche? (rubbish rumour)
Getafe’s Manu del Moral (Atleti canterano)? (rubbish rumour)

And, in closing, Agüero shares his thoughts on the future:
“I hope I can stay here for many years. I want to stay here for as long as the club wants me and then I hope to be able to go back to Independiente. I do not want to play in any other team.”

Kun has a busy summer ahead of him: friendlies and the Olympics in China.

Saludos y Aupa Atleti.