These predictions may be a little late, but they’re up and being the last game of the season ‘n all, I think I could be forgiven. Our friends at Heads or Tails, who have done a remarkable job all year providing us with La Liga predictions suggest that even though the title will stay in Barcelona, they have to be weary of Valladolid who 4 years ago foiled the Blagauruna’s attempts at claiming the title, allowing Madrid to celebrate instead.
Lastly, seeing as none of the other positions have been decided going into the final round, this weekend is definitely going to see some tough battles and possibly even some surprises.

For the last time this season, here’s how they picked the rest of ‘em.

Predictions:
Atletico Madrid 1 v 2 Getafe
Almería 1 v 2 Sevilla
Osasuna 1 v 3 Xerez
Valencia 1 v 2 Tenerife
Malaga 1 v 3 Real Madrid
Barcelona 3 v 1 Valladolid
Athletic Bilbao 3 v 1 Deportivo
Zaragoza 1 v 2 Villarreal
Mallorca 3 v 1 Espanyol
Racing Santander 2 v 0 Sporting Gijón

As we prepare for the second last round of the La Liga season, our friends at Heads or Tails claim that Real Madrid are Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo and 9 other players… and given the Portuguese poster boy’s excellence against a second rate Mallorca, if Sevilla can do the job against Barcelona this weekend, Real might just be in with a sniff at the title. Things are still very alive at the top!

And here’s how he predicted the rest of ‘em.

Predictions:
Sporting Gijón 2 v 1 Atletico Madrid
Sevilla 2 v 1 FC Baracelona
Real Madrid 3 v 1 Athletic Bilbao
Villarreal 3 v 1 Valencia
Xerez 2 v 1 Zaragoza
Getafe 2 v 1 Malaga
Deportivo 1 v 1 Mallorca
Tenerife 2 v 1 Almeria
Valladolid 3 v 1 Racing Santander
Espanyol 1 v 1 Osasuna

Uh oh, Pellegrinios! Somebody’s in trouble and our amigos at Heads or Tails (along with the rest of the Spanish media) are pointing their fingers at the man in the hot seat. And the question being asked is who will replace him? More importantly though, I ask who would want to replace him? Real Madrid seems to be one of the hardest teams in world football to manage and even if he were to win the title or Champions League, he’d probably still have to watch his back… heck Capello did after winning the title in ’08.

And here’s how they picked the rest of ‘em this mid week:

Predictions:
Almería 1 v 2 Real Madrid
FC Barcelona 4 v 1 Deportivo la Coruña
Sporting Gijón 3 v 1 Tenerife
Getafe 1 v 2 Villarreal
Zaragoza 3 v 2 Mallorca
Valladollid 1 v 2 Sevilla
Racing Santander 1 v 1 Espanyol
Atletico Madrid 3 v 1 Xerez
Osasuna 2 v 1 Malaga
Valencia 3 v 1 Athletic Bilbao

Finally the big kahuna is here! The match that will almost certainly decide the winner of the 2009/10 La Liga season. Our amigos at Heads or Tails say it’s going to be a tough one to call. Sure both teams are kicking arse in their own respective ways with their own superstars, but how can you resist the form of Lionel Messi at the moment or even deny Manuel Pellegrini’s mistakes in big matches so far this season. Whatever the case, this match is set to be the showcase of the weekend so forget measly FA Cup semi-finals or even the rest of the matches taking place this weekend around the world… there is only one games this weekend!

Predictions:
Málaga 1 v 3 Sevilla
Osasuna 3 v 2 Zargoza
Athletic Bilbao 1 v 0 Almeria
Xerez 1 v 1 Getafe
Villarreal 2 v 1 Sporting Gijón
Espanyol 1 v 0 Atlético Madrid
Deportivo 1 v 0 Rácing Santander
Real Madrid 2 v 2 FC Barcelona
Tenerife 2 v 1 Real Valladolid
Mallorca 2 v 1 Valencia

While the world awaits the decisive La Liga battle next weekend at the Santiago Bernabéu, our amigo at Heads or Tails talks to us of the new journalistic opportunities he will be pursuing in the crazy and unpredictable world of Spanish sports [Factual.es]. Well done Juan, we look forward to Google translating your articles!
He also mentions the walk-overs that Barca and Real will experience this weekend in preparation for their mammoth battle next week. Look out Bilbao and Racing, this weekend you will be no challenge for The Blaugrana and Los Merengues. And here’s how he picked the rest of ‘em:

Predictions:
Zaragoza 3 v 1 Malaga
FC Barcelona 3 v 0 Athlétic Bilbao
Sevilla 2 v 1 Tenerife
Getafe 3 v 1 Espanyol
Atlético Madrid 1 v 0 Deportivo La Coruña
Racing Santander 1 v 3 Real Madrid
Sporting Gijón 1 v 1 Xerez
Valladolid 1 v 3 Villarreal
Valencia 2 v 1 Osasuna
Almería 2 v 1 Mallorca

This week the lads at Heads or Tail take a look back and discuss the hot subject of the week, brutality. While Valladolid’s use of force on Portuguese pin-up boy Cristiano Ronaldo has generally been condemned in the media, their coach Onesimo claims CRon is a provocative player who got his justs worth… I’m claiming that his slicked back hair and plucked eyebrows had more of a role to play in the inflicted malice but, that’s metrosexuality these days.
Never the less over on the other side of the country, we face a bag of challenges as it looks like the brutaliy dangerous Barcelona and Lionel Messi are hitting top form again and scoring at will… look out world even Thierry Henry has woken from his mid-season siesta and has started scoring again. Are Barca well on their way for more silverware!?

And this is how they picked the rest of ‘em.

Predictions:
Xerez 3 v 2 Tenerife
Deportivo La Coruña 1 v 1 Valladolid
Athletic Bilbao 2 v 1 Getafe
Real Madrid 3 v 1 Sporting Gijón
Espanyol 1 v 2 Sevilla
Osasuna 3 v 1 Racing Santander
Zaragoza 1 v 1 FC Barcelona
Mallorca 2 v 1 Atletico Madrid
Malaga 1 v 2 Villarreal
Valencia 2 v 1 Almería

While the lads at Heads or Tails reckon we’re stuck in a twilight zone; that being in August all Spanish media say the same thing: “A new era of football adorns us, ‘The Galacticos’ will dominate the world blah, blah, blah”… 6 months later those same Galacticos are no more revered as “terrestrial beings”, instead they’re just plain old beings capable of getting their butts kicked out of major European competitions. Let’s see if they can keep things moving at the top of La Liga this weekend and this is how we picked the rest of ‘em.

Predictions:
Sevilla 3 v 1 Deportivo la Coruña
Villarreal 3 v 1 Xerez
Atletico Madrid 1 v 1 Osasuna
Sporting Gijón 3 v 2 Athletic Bilbao
Tenerife 1 v 0 Espanyol
Getafe 1 v 1 Mallorca
Valladolid 1 v 2 Real Madrid
Racing Santander 1 v 2 Zaragoza
FC Barcelona 3 v 1 Valencia
Almería 1 v 1 Malaga

While I gather my thoughts on last night’s amazing performances, the European madness continues tonight and it just wouldn’t be Europe without my lame attempt to predict the unpredictable outcomes of what can only be described as a place where anything can and will happen!
So instead, think beautifully tanned women bathing topless, think greased up men wearing extremely short swimming shorts (ok maybe not), like cheesy Euro-dance and lastly think far-out hairstyles and gel ‘a’ plenty!… or simply think David Beckham, he’s Europe personified and once again all of tonight’s hype is about that man, returning to his roots and hopefully helping his turn round a 3-2 deficit from a fortnight ago… fat chance! And here’s how I picked the rest of ‘em.

I predict:
Real Madrid 3 v 1 Lyon
Manchester United 2 v 2 AC Milan

1st leg predictions

It’s no wonder Sergio Ramos was so excited, overnight Los Blancos claimed a threesome of good fortunes.
1. They played some amazing high speed football to come from behind and win
2. They scored three well worked goals and
3. They leap frogged champions Barca to claim top spot in Spain.
I wonder if this was the turning point of the season and if Barca will have a response or if the two teams will just continue to maul every other team they come up against till they meet in the league and an out ‘n out winner is decided… whatever the case, we’re in for a mouth-watering run to the end of the season. You best believe that!

La acción in pictures:

Match highlights:

Short and sharp this week, our amigos at Heads or Tails were really impressed with the Cristiano Ronaldo show last week against Villarreal and this week they expect easy wins for the two Spanish giants… and this is how they picked the rest of them.

Predictions:
Sevilla 3 v 1 Athletic Bilbao
Atletico Madrid 1 v 1 Valencia
Getafe 2 v 1 Zaragoza 2-1
Racing Santander 1 v 1 Alemeria
Valladolid 3 v 1 Mallorca
Villarreal 3 v 2 Deportivo La Coruña
Tenerife 1 v 4 Real Madrid
Sporting Gijón 1 v 1 Osasuna
Xerez 2 v 1 Espanyol
FC Barcelona 3 v 1 Malaga

…was it!?

I mean no disrespect to Lyon for their achievement, but when one of the most expensive teams in the world strolls over to your neck of the woods like a big bad wolf, unless you’re a big bad wolf yourself, you’re not likely to flip them a one fingered salute and claim your turf. Instead you’re going to carefully plan your attacks and when they least expect it get Little Red Riding Hood on their asses… and voilà that’s exactly what the former French champions did!

Match highlights:

The Champions League is back tonight and if you haven’t already had an aneurysm cause of the rush of blood, then sit tight… tonight may just be your night bro!
Lack of matches and change of knock-out format aside, tonight’s games will pit a couple of stars against the teams that made them who they are… and I’m not even pretending that I’m interested in Benzema’s return to Lyon.
Nope tonight is all about Becks 7yr absence from United and about how the Red Devils trip to the San Siro to face a neither her, nor there AC Milan could just be a tricky one… pfft, and don’t even get me started on that mutton again!

I predict:
Lyon 1 v 2 Real Madrid
Milan 1 v 1 Man. United

As expected both Real and Barca took their respective teams to the cleaners this weekend… I have the receipt if you don’t believe me, even though Barca finished the match with 9 men against a resilient Getafe. It was an amicable performance by the visitors, cause playing against 9 men of Barca is similar to playing any other full strength team in La Liga… outside of the top two. As for the rest of the round is was pretty average and so were the predictions by our friends Heads or Tails.

Gameweek score:
5 out of 10

Results:
Valencia 2 v 0 Valladolid
FC Barcelona 2 v 1 Getafe
Real Madrid 3 v 0 Espanyol
Athletic Bilbao 3 v 2 Xerez
Mallorca 1 v 0 Villarreal
Zaragoza 2 v 1 Sevilla
Racing Santander 1 v 1 Atletico Madrid
Malaga 0 v 0 Deportivo La Coruña
Osasuna 1 v 0 Tenerife
Almeria 3 v 1 Sporting Gijon

The Spanish giant’s in action:

Match highlights – Barcelona 2 v 1 Getafe:

Our amigos over at Heads or Tails are telling me that both Barca and Real will have a stroll in the park this weekend… so I’m off to have one too. And this is how they’ve picked the rest of ‘em this weekend:

Predictions:
Valencia 3 v 1 Valladolid
FC Barcelona 3 v 1 Getafe
Real Madrid 4 v 1 Espanyol
Athletic Bilbao 2 v 0 Xerez
Mallorca 1 v 2 Villarreal
Zaragoza 1 v 1 Sevilla
Racing Santander 2 v 1 Atletico Madrid
Malaga 1 v 0 Deportivo La Coruña
Osasuna 3 v 1 Tenerife
Almeria 1 v 1 Sporting Gijon

Red cards and broken noses aside, tonight Los Blancos travel to Estadio Riazor for what our friends at Heads or Tails describe as “a night in Hell!”. Without CRon on deck, it may seem a big ask for Real as their last win at this stadium was in fact a mere 18 years ago… 18 years!!!! That’s some time between drinks. Never the less, we’re being told that Deportivo are in short supply of anything but defenders at the moment, so other than parking the proverbial bus and playing out a draw, they won’t have much to throw at Madrid and tonight this hoodoo may be broken. Well that’s what they’re predicting anyway.

Predictions:
Espanyol 1 v 1 Athletic Bilbao
Sporting Gijón 1 v 3 FC Barcelona
Deportivo La Coruña 1 v 4 Real Madrid
Sevilla 2 v 0 Valencia
Getafe 3 v 2 Racing Santander
Xerez 1 v 1 Mallorca
Tenerife 2 v 2 Zaragoza
Villarreal 3 v 1 Osasuna
Valladolid 3 v 2 Almeria
Atletico Madrid 3 v 1 Malaga