Spanish La Liga, Round 16 Preview: Real Madrid Faces Reeling Sevilla, Barcelona Plays Espanyol In Local Derby

Almost all of the games are off in England, but the snow has steered clear of sunny Spain, so feel free to get your footy fix from another part of the globe this weekend! Villarreal and Mallorca face off in one of the earliest game on Saturday, leading into a Barcelona derby and a match-up between two top half sides in Valencia and Real Sociedad. Sunday’s action is highlighted by Malaga vs. Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid vs. Sevilla.

Villarreal currently sit comfortably in third place and have established themselves as the true third banana behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. We all knew what two teams would control the top two spots for the majority of La Liga’s season, but the Yellow Submarine have stepped up in a wide open race for the other UEFA Champions League spots. Nilmar and the little man from Dirrrrrrrrty Jerzy, Giuseppe Rossi have formed a killer strike partnership, and Santi Carzola has been brilliant in support. They will be favorites against a Mallorca side that Michael Laudrup has done well to get into the top half with their serious financial issues.

Another pleasant surprise, even more so than Mallorca, has been Espanyol. Barcelona’s cross-town rivals sit in fourth place thanks to some impressive team chemistry and an ability to keep themselves from giving away points in matches they should win. Goalkeeper Carlos Idriss Kameni has been very solid and they have shown off some surprising depth. Of course, they will be hard pressed to seriously challenge Barcelona, who are on an absolute tear. Lionel Messi and Xavi are working on putting themselves in a category of their own. Messi has 17 goals and eight assists while Xavi has completed over 90% of his passes. Derby matches can always go any way, but Barca are Barca.

Real Sociedad and Valencia close out the Saturday fixtures with an interesting tie in San Sebastien. The new boys from the Basque Country have been a pleasant surprise, sitting in the top half when most tipped them for a relegation fight. Joseba Llorente, Raul Tamudo, and especially Xabi Prieto have been great so far. Valencia will provide a very stiff test, though, despite their recent mediocre form. Aritz Aduriz and Roberto Soldado have proven to be solid signings up top and Ever Banega is starting to get back into the groove after an injury to start the year.

After an atrocious performance two weeks ago against Levante, Atletico bounced back last week by taking all three points against Deportivo la Coruña. However, it doesn’t take much to get a home win against them. Atletico’s biggest problem has been central midfield, and while Elias will arrive after the winter break, they must play this game with what they have. Likely, this means relying on Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan do do most of the work in attack with the defense and David De Gea doing the work on the other side of the ball. Midfield? Who needs ‘em. The good news for them is that Malaga have been poor so far. They also should have reinforcements arriving in January, but the team that they have at the moment is shaky. Atleti will be favored, even on the road.

The last match of the week in La Liga is usually a marquee affair, but Sevilla are sinking without a trace, despite recently hiring Gregorio Manzano. If their form continues, they might be paying two guys a decent chunk of money to not coach their team. Their problem isn’t talent, since Sevilla might be the third most talented team in La Liga. Their problem doesn’t seem to be tactics, since multiple things have been tried and their most common setup, a pretty basic 4-4-2, has worked well in the past. It seems like confidence and chemistry are the problems, which is better than a lack of talent, I guess. Their opponents, Real Madrid, have recovered well from their drubbing in El Clasico and look like the side that went into the match at almost even money. Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil have been stunning thus far, as have the Real defense. With Sevilla currently down in the dumps, Los Merengues will be favorites.

Villarreal and Mallorca kick off our coverage on Saturday morning at 12 pm ET.