Raúl is the hero. Huelva upset at Iturralde.

For nth time this season the Madrid press have come out with cover pages stating how Barcelona were once again aided by referees. For the nth time this season, the Catalans respond by saying that Juande's Madrid won with coma-inducing style.

The word of the month for As and Marca was chorreada. In simple English the vulgar translation is "the shits"- the kind that runs down your leg, to be more graphic. This month the new word is villarato. There is no translation for this one. The closest you can come up with is the relationship that Joan Laporta has with Spanish Federation president José María Villar. I guess the Madrid press are saying that the fix is on. So does the Madrid press think that Sports Director Fernando Hierro is in on Barcelona winning as well?

Marca hinting that Madrid is on a roll with Juande.

This is the way Spain's biggest rivalry has been brewed for decades. This time around chorreadas that are being said (and I use in the verbal diarrhea context) is like the pot calling the kettle black. It is borderline asinine and they seem to talk out of both sides of their mouth. Somehow everyone in Madrid forgot about the era from 1939-1975 when this guy Franco was in charge. There were very few beneficiaries, and Real Madrid was one of them. I am sure that El Generalísimo had way more power in the federation than Villar. The Madrid press will never admit to this-ever.

This past weekend was a prime example. A foul that was called by Basque ref Iturralde González on Marco Ruben on Victor Valdés. Valdés hit Ruben with his shoulder and Iturralde called a free kick outside of the box. He also did not call a handball inside the area by Sylvinho.

What the Madrid press does not mention is that there was a handball inside the box on the other side and Iturralde González did not see it either. Ramírez Domínguez must not have been told of the fix since he did not call a blatant penalty in favor of Valladolid when Goitom was knocked down. The no-call led to a Madrid counter-attack and eventual second goal of the match.

So for the Madrid media, Barcelona is not being helped any more or any less than Los Merengues. This is the typical drivel that you hear in leagues all over the world' regardless of sport.

If there is something that we can agree upon in all of this is that there is no fix in Spanish football- the refs just suck. They aren't that good to fix a game.

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