Jornada 30: Villarreal v Atlético de Madrid

Anyone remember how our home game against The Yellow Submarine ended earlier this season? Heartbreak.

Here’s the current table (again):
1 Real Madrid  62
2 Barcelona  58
3 Villarreal  56
4 Atlético  50

We aren’t in a position to leap over them in the league table if we win, but a win would still increase our chances of retaining a Champions spot and perhaps leap-frogging them in a future round if they slip up.

STARTING 11: Abbiati; Antonio López, Pablo, Perea, Pernía; Ignacio Camacho, Raúl García, Maxi, Luis García; Forlán and Kun Agüero

SUBS: Leo Franco, Zé Castro, Seitaridis, Cléber, Miguel, Jurado, Mista.

The big loss for us is Simao, who injured himself mid-week.

Their squad list is available, however:
GK: Diego López & Viera.
D: Javi Venta, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila, Ángel y Josemi.
M: Josico, Marcos Senna, Pires, Cazorla, Bruno, Mati Fernández, Eguren & Cani.
F: Nihat, Rossi & Tomasson.

Top Scorers:
Nihat 12 goals
Rossi 11 goals

Villarreal’s recent five Liga results:
1-2 away win against Levante
2-0 home win against Zaragoza
1-2 away win against Barcelona
0-0 away draw against Osasuna
1-2 away win against Athletic

Not bad at all, then again, with the exception of Barcelona, they have played some fairly average, mid-table teams. So, truth be told, I’m unimpressed with their current string of results.

In terms of the game, I don’t think it will be a goal-scoring free-for-all like earlier this season. For some reason, I see this being a rather tight affair.

Here’s hoping for a win, either way.

Vamos Atleti!

John Heitinga Set to Sign for Atlético

A couple blog commentators have already mentioned this in a below entry- thanks, Derek and Mohammed!

08/09 project is officially underway: John Heitinga is set to wear Atlético kit next season. A 24 year old Dutch international & Ajax youth product. Without a doubt a step in the right direction– Heitinga can play as both centre-back & right-back, two areas that we have shown signs of weakness.

We’re rumoured to be shelling out 8 to 10 million euros for the Dutchman, due to his clause with Ajax.

Heitinga on the move (De Telegraaf):
“I am trembling with joy…This is a beautiful new phase in my career.”

Meanwhile, on a completely different note, Diego Costa, Brasilian striker who is currently on loan to Celta Vigo, has said that even though he is property of Atleti, he would be happy to stay with Celta.

 

It’s still Tuesday!

It’s been a busy few days for me– that time of year– you know how it is! But here’s a new entry with some of this & some of that.

Firstly, Jornada 29: Sevilla 1 Atleti 2.

Not much to say except that it’s a massive boost for our goal of securing a Champions spot!

Abbiati; Antonio López, Pablo, Perea, Pernía; Camacho (Jurado 90’), Raúl García (Cléber 51’), Maxi, Simão; Forlán & Kun Agüero.

OUR GOALS
18′ Maxi (good work by Forlán)
57′ Agüero (assist by Antonio López)

You’ve seen it already, but it’s worth posting it up here, as a reminder:

1 Real Madrid 62
2 Barcelona 58
3 Villarreal 56
4 Atlético 50
5 Racing 47
6 Sevilla 45

A 3-point cushion– let’s not lose it, for the love of God! As Raul said, “We’re in the driving seat” now.

CRUNCH-TIME!
Next five fixtures:

-away to Villarreal
-home to Almeria
-away to Real Valladolid
-home to Real Betis
-away to Getafe

Not a bad set of games coming up. In fact, I fancy our chances against all of these teams. The Yellow Submarine and SuperGeta are the toughest of them all, I think.

Meanwhile, DUTY CALLS!

INTERNATIONAL DUTY, THAT IS.
ARGENTINA: Maxi & Agüero
GREECE: Seitaridis
PORTUGAL: Simão
U-21 SPAIN: Raúl García & Jurado

Key players will be playing for their countries. Here’s hoping everyone returns uninjured.

Jornada 29: Sevilla v Atlético de Madrid

[Firstly, good news for those of us in the USA: the game will be on TV (en vivo) at 5.00pm (NY TIME).]

Secondly, here are two entries on our 4-3 win against Sevilla at home in round 10: here and here. A glorious yet peculiar game that ended in a last-gasp win for us..

Saturday’s fixture is a big one, in terms of maintaining our Champions spot:

1 Real Madrid 62
2 Barcelona 55
3 Villarreal 53
4 Atlético 47
5 Sevilla 45
6 Espanyol 45
7 Racing 44

Sevilla’s sporting director, Monchi, is calling it a 7-pointer and I completely agree: ” I would say that it is a match worth seven points: the three that the winners gain, the three that the losers do not get and the goal average.”

Previous Results For This Fixture (Sevilla v Atleti):
06/07 season: 3-1 loss for us.
05/06 season: 0-0 draw.
04/05 season: 2-1 loss for us.
03/04 season: 1-0 loss for us.
02/03 season: 1-1 draw.

A rather dreadful record at Estadio Pizjuan. Here’s hoping for a change in history- it CAN happen.

Here’s Sevilla’s recent five results:
*1-2 away win against Valencia
*2-1 home win against Levante.
*2-1 away loss against Deportivo.
*5-0 home win against Zaragoza.
*2-4 away win against Espanyol.

Not bad at all.

In terms of us, the good news is that Maxi has fully recovered from his injury and will be available to play. The truth is, I’d actually play Luis Garcia over him. But that’s just me.

SQUAD LIST:

2 Seitaridis.
3 Antonio López.
4 Pernía.
6 Cléber Santana.
7 Forlán.
8 Raúl García.
9 Luis García.
10 Agüero.
11 Maxi.
12 Eller.
13 Abbiati.
15 Jurado.
19 Miguel de las Cuevas.
21 Perea.
22 Pablo Ibáñez.
24 Simão.
25 Leo Franco.
29 Ignacio Camacho

How can we best beat this rejuvenated, always threatening Sevilla side? What is the best plan of attack?

Let’s hope for a great game and, more importantly, a win.

Jornada 28: Atlético de Madrid 3 Levante 0

Three goals scored, we’re still in Champions– a good day at the office for Atleti.

Abbiati; Antonio López, Pablo, Perea, Pernía; Cléber Santana, Raúl García (Ignacio Camacho 56’), Luis García (Miguel 62’), Simão (Jurado 83’); Forlán & Kun Agüero.

GOALS
24′ Simão header
38′ Forlán, assist Simão.
52′ Forlán

Great build-up to the goals, but the finishing for two of the three was downright ugly. Still, a goal is a goal is a goal and that is all that matters.

Injured list is still short: Valera, Maxi, and Motta.

Speaking of which, Motta‘s surgery was a ‘success’ and he will now begin the recuperation process. We can only hope that he has an equally successful recuperation before the start of the 08/09 season- that way we can offload him.

Here are a couple questions that were asked to Ignacio Camacho during his interview on AS (my translation):

 

How do you feel after that tremendous ovation that the supporters gave you on Sunday?
How am I supposed to feel! I play amongst top players and then the supporters react like that– well, it makes one very happy. The supporters are responding, they want players from the cantera…

 

The supporters whistled at Cleber because he played instead of you…
I have to keep myself out of that. The people’s opinion is one thing, what the manager says is another […] Yesterday [Cleber] had a great game.

 

Supporters’ abuse towards Pablo and Cleber has escalated to the point where even Aguirre has mentioned in press talks, claiming it ‘unjust’ treatment. Hell, you can hear it on TV!

What I think? Let the abuse continue- these players’ times as colchoneros is running out anyway. Why should supporters pretend they appreciate their presence on the team? They’ve proven to be rubbish time and time and time again.

Anyway, here’s our next five fixtures:
-away to Sevilla
-away to Villarreal
-home to Almeria
-away to Real Valladolid
-home to Real Betis

Anything missing? A lot I’m sure!

Jornada 28: Atlético de Madrid v Levante

#4 versus #20.

A Team With Highly Paid Players versus A Team with Unpaid Players.

If we can’t win this game, then we are in deeper trouble than previously thought.

…and that’s all I have to say about this game.

Back from the dead.

When Atleti lose, it demotivates me…a lot. All I want to do is sing their praises here, but when they lose against the likes of Zaragoza in such a disgraceful manner, it’s, well, discouraging…to the point where I can’t even bring myself to blog about the mayhem.

Hence, the blog-laziness.

/rant over.

Moving on…

INJURY LIST
It’s short. Motta is still in the USA recuperating from his latest knee operation while Valera continues to recuperate from the knock he picked up against Zaragoza.

Maxi left the latest training session early because he had a bit of pain…precautionary decision.

Seitaridis has been participating in training sessions after nearly three months out with injury. Same goes for Leo Franco, but I doubt the Argentine will play much.  Should Abbiati continue on as 1st choice keeper or should Leo Franco reclaim his spot? I’d stick with Abbiati at this point.

RUMOUR GOOD NEWS!
Word is we’re looking for a club for Reyes, easily the worst signing of 07/08. …12 million euros down the drain, but thank goodness he’ll be shown the exit at the end of the season.

Anyway, next up? #20 Levante at home…

…be back with an entry on that.

Anything missing? Share.

Jornada 27: Zaragoza v Atlético de Madrid

Remember our home game against Zaragoza in October (Click here & here)? We expected a tough, hotly contested match, but we ended up steam-rolling them, 4-0. I expect the same sort scenario: despite their current poor run of form, I predict a tight match, but I think this will completely go our away.

IF we don’t win this game, then the win against Barcelona would essentially mean nothing.

STARTING 11 [Update]: Abbiati, Valera, Perea, Pablo, Antonio López, Maxi, Cléber, Raúl García, Simão, Forlán, Kun Agüero.

SUBS: Falcón, Pernía, Zé Castro, Camacho, Miguel, Reyes,  Luis García.

Previous results for this Zaragoza v Atleti fixture:
06/07 season: 1-0 loss for us.
05/06 season: 1-0 loss for us.
04/05 season: 0-0 draw
03/04 season: 0-0 draw.

Not a particularly great fixture for us in recent seasons…however, this season might be different because…

Zaragoza’s recent 5 games:
Levante 2 Zaragoza 0
Sevilla 5 Zaragoza 0
Zaragoza 1 Barcelona 2
Osasuna 1 Zaragoza 0
Zaragoza 1 Athletic

Only one win in their last five games…desperate, humiliating times for Zaragocistas. They’re currently #17 in the league table.

Zaragoza’s chosen squad:  César, López Vallejo, Diogo, Paredes, Óscar, Ayala, Luccin, Sergio García, Juanfran, Oliveira, Gabi, Pavón, Celades, Matuzalem, Zapater, Diego Milito & Chus Herrero.

Biggest threats are Diego Milito, Sergio, & Oliviera.

Two ex-Atleti players: rubbish Luccin and Gabi.

Here’s hoping for another big win…

Midweek Hodgepodge/Talking Points

A bit of a busy few days for me recently- I apologise for the lack of entries and commenting on other blogs. I hope to get back to my normal routine soon enough.

KUN TALK OF THE TOWN

Ever since his performance against Barcelona, the press have been gushing about him- and rightly so. KUN is world-class and arguably one of the best strikers we’ve ever had at the club.

Meanwhile, Maradona on our defence after the Barcelona game:
“How did I see my ‘son-in-law’ against Barcelona? When Ronaldinho scored early on, I thought Barça were going to run all over them, but then Sergio awakened…He showed his quality and began to make life hard for Milito and Puyol…However, of course, the Atletico defence is like that of Flandria, but in the end everything went well.”

OK, I know what you’re thinking: Who cares what Maradona thinks. I normally don’t pay much mind to his press talks, but this is Atleti-related so I had to include it.

INJURY UPDATE NEWS
Leo Franco has officially recovered from his injury. He’s back to full training with the squad. I don’t expect him to play right away, but his return to 100% match fitness means the eventual end of Falcón’s time as second choice goalkeeper. I wonder, then, What will become of the promising young goalkeeper this summer– Will we keep him? Or…?

Seitaridis is nearing the end of his recuperation and is expected to re-join the team during training sessions soon.

Simão seems to have picked up a slight knock and trained lightly recently– nothing severe, thankfully.

Motta? Well, he’ll be out for the rest of the season. It’s a shame we didn’t sign him on a pay-as-you-play contract during the pre-season…

OUR NEXT FIVE FIXTURES
Zaragoza v Atlético
Atlético v Levante 
Sevilla v Atlético
Villarreal v Atlético
Atlético v Almeria

Not a bad schedule, all things considered. Sevilla & Villarreal away will be the toughest of the bunch.

Simão on the rest of the season:
“All of the twelve games left are important, and we must start with a win against Zaragoza, who are having a difficult time at the moment, but have a lot of quality and do not deserve to be in the position they currently occupy. It will be a difficult encounter, but we come into it in good spirits and must continue a positive run.”

RUMOUR-MILL ON FIRE
Fiorentina’s Czech defender Ujfalusi has once again been linked to us.

AS also reports that we might be ‘fishing’ for talent at Liverpool this summer: Benitez, Xabi, and Reina. Xabi, in particular, appears to be a player that has fallen our of favour at Liverpool. Reina’s father played for Atleti many years ago, so he would be more than welcome to the club.

Anything missing?

Jornada 26: Atlético de Madrid 4 Barcelona 2

Pim, pam, pum… ¡Agüero!

Abbiati; Valera, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López; Ignacio Camacho (Cléber 67’), Raúl García, Maxi (Reyes 84’), Simão; Forlán & Agüero (Jurado 88’).

GOALS
35′ (1-1) Agüero
41′ (2-1) Maxi (suberb combination with Agüero)
61′ (3-1) Forlán (spot-on penalty; Puyol pushed Agüero)
70′ (4-1) Agüero

Be back tomorrow with some general thoughts once I’ve seen the game with my own eyes. GolTV will replay it in the afternoon, thankfully.

As always, thanks to all the blog visitors who left comments on the game! Great commentary as usual.